Jeff Kinney’s long-running Diary of a Wimpy Kid children’s novel series went through four different live-action film adaptations in the past decade. But its latest iteration takes a much more animated approach that stays true to the visual styles of the source material. Disney relaunches the franchise by turning Diary of a Wimpy Kid into an all new animated adventure that centers on middle school student Greg Heffley (Brady Noon) who illustrates his life in a diary – which he tells himself is a journal in order to avoid bullying from older kids.

In the film, Heffley is a scrawny but ambitious kid with an active imagination and big plans to be rich and famous – he just has to survive middle school first. To make matters worse, Greg’s lovable best friend Rowley seems to coast through life and succeed at everything without even trying! As details of his hilarious – and often disastrous – attempts to fit in fill the pages of his journal, Greg learns to appreciate true friends and the satisfaction that comes from standing up for what is right.

The Nerds of Color had a chance to speak to Kinney, who also wrote the screenplay, and Noon about their respective contributions to the upcoming film including which of the 16 books they’d like to see be adapted, the freedom of improv, the screenwriting process, and more.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid debuts exclusively on Disney+ on December 3, 2021.