The film stars Atkins and his daughter Leah as Mosley and Rue respectively, with Rhys Darby, Lucy Lawless, Temuera Morrison, and John Rhys-Davies in supporting roles.

Mosley and his family are also acquainted with Turpin, who serves as a beast of burden to traveling salesman Bemus and his associates Shank and Ollie.

To save their son, Bera convinces Mosley to escape the following day and return to the caves in order to seek clues on how to find the "Uprights."

In response, Bemus convinces Simon to hire the services of the ruthless, tattooed bounty hunter Warfield to bring back Mosley alive.

Warnie and his companions agree to bring Mosley back to their city Kineserath, under the pretense that the Uprights are a species of great warriors.

They also have several adventures including avoiding death at the cursed "Great Orchard" and escaping Warfield with the help of the fireflies, who can communicate with Mosley and Gailin.

[11] Atkins and Romanillos traveled to Spain to begin development on "Beast of Burden" but unfortunately, while in Salamanca, Pres was diagnosed with Leukemia, leading to a long battle with the disease.

Devastated, Atkins continued privately on his story while working as a screenwriter in a small Tennessee town with his wife, Priscilla, and two young children.

During an interview with the New Zealand Herald's senior entertainment writer Karl Puschmann, Atkins said that he would spend any spare moment working on the film, adding that "I loved the world and the characters and the idea of it so much I couldn't quit playing with it."

By the time Atkins' daughter Leah had turned seven years old, he was ready to begin pre-production, having completed a full storyboard treatment of his script and the dialogue.

It was a beautiful, unhindered performance...[12]In October 2014, Huhu Studios sought help from the New Zealand Film Commission in finding co-production and distribution partners for Beasts of Burden.

[13] The film's executive producers have included Tony Bancroft, Ye Changchun, John Dunn, Jeremie Guiraud, Wu Hongling, Deng Jianxin, Wang Jinle, La Peikang, Jack Sheehan, Zhao Yan, Nathan Yang, and Trevoy Yaxley.

[1] Cast member Rhys Darby promoted the film during an interview with New Zealand Herald journalist Karl Puschmann in early October 2019.

[15] Liam Maguren of the New Zealand film and cinema website "Flicks.co.nz" described Mosley as "a worthy all-ages adventure" while warning about a heartbreaking moment in the opening act.

While describing Mosley as "slickly animated and impressively rendered," he opined that the film "lacked the narrative sparkle and sheen of a Pixar or Dreamworks feature."

Despite its "uneven tone," Croot praised the film for what he regarded as a "decent amount of action", its familiar voices, and a "couple of clever twists and turns.

Francesca Rudkin of the New Zealand Herald gave the film four stars and praised Atkins for presenting Mosley's "hefty themes in a way that people of all ages could relate to."

She described the film as a "family affair", praising Atkins and his daughter Leah for their voice work as Mosley and Rue.