Rachel Bright and Jim Field‘s series of children’s books are being given the animated TV treatment by Searching for Sugar Man producer Passion Pictures.
Passion has secured the exclusive option from publisher Hachette for half-hour specials that could include The Lion Inside, The Koala Who Could, The Squirrels Who Squabbled, The Way Home for Wolf, The Whale Who Wanted More, and The Gecko and the Echo.
The heart-warming series of educational books about animals, which is written by Bright and illustrated by Field, has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 42 languages.
“The creative vision Passion Pictures have for adapting our books to the screen is beyond anything I could have imagined,” said Bright. “Both Jim and I feel like it’s a perfect-fit homecoming for our stories and that Passion understand the very soul of them.”
Passion’s long-form team will develop the animations. No network is attached as of yet. Animated children’s book specials have in the past proved lucrative for broadcasters such as the BBC, which has made a number of Julia Donaldson Christmas specials.
In 2022, the London-headquartered company signed Oscar-winning Pixar vet Alan Barillaro as Creative Director for its animation division. Last month, we revealed that it had brought in a head of features to supercharge documentary projects from female directors.