Mr. Men and Little Miss Headed To Big Screen

Fox Animation, makers of the Ice Age and Rio franchises, has acquired the motion picture rights to the Mr. Men and Little Miss characters. Fox had previously announced in 2011 that they were working on bringing the franchise to the big screen, but now Night at the Museum director/producer Shawn Levy is attached to produce through his Fox-based 21 Laps Entertainment.

No director or writer has signed on to the project yet and it’s unclear whether Fox’s Blue Sky Studio would be involved as the animation producer. Whichever studio becomes involved, we’re expecting CGI, because what better technique could there be than computer animation to capture the expressive charm of simple, hand-drawn characters?

“I loved reading these books as a kid, and now I love reading them to my own kids,” Levy said in a statement. “Their humor, wit and uniquely specific tone make this a truly classic series. I can’t wait to help shepherd them to the big screen.”

The British children’s book series was introduced in 1971 by Roger Hargreaves. Hello Kitty owners Sanrio bought the book series in 2011. The most recent animated version of the characters was a 2006 Flash animation series The Mr. Men Show produced by Renegade Animation.

“In addition to Sanrio’s ‘kawaii’ character family, the Mr. Men Little Miss characters are the perfect blend of self-expression, humor and nostalgia in a classic, contemporary brand,” said Ray Hatoyama, CEO of Mister Men Limited and Managing Director of Sanrio. “We are excited to take Roger Hargreaves’ creations to a new level for their loyal fans from around the world and continue to expand our global business with this portfolio.”