Actor Liam Neeson is lending his voice talents to the latest animated film from Cape Town, South Africa’s Triggerfish Animation Studios entitled Khumba.

Neeson has signed on to play a malevolent leopard in Khumba, which tells the story of a half-striped zebra who leaves his home in search of a magic waterhole where legend says the first zebras got their stripes.

The film is represented by LA-based sales agent CMG and will be theatrically distributed by Millennium Entertainment in the US later this year. The rest of the cast includes stars Jake T. Austin (Rio, New Years Eve), AnnaSophia Robb (The Carrie Diaries, Soul Surfer) and Joey Richter (A Very Potter Musical).

Neeson is a veteran when it comes to voicing animated characters. He is also the voice of Narnia‘s Aslan and will be appearing in the upcoming animated film Lego.

Triggerfish produced last year’s animated film Adventures in Zambezia.