Roger Hargreaves’ beloved children’s book series Mr. Men is being adapted into an animated feature by Fox.
Almost every kid I knew had one of these (if not more) books lying around the house. You remember, Mr. Tickle, Mr. Nosey, Little Miss Sunshine, etc. Well according to the Hollywood Reporter, producer Shawn Levy is joining Twentieth Century Fox Animation to bring us an animated adaptation of the British author’s works.
Levy, who is best known for directing and producing Night at the Museum and its subsequent sequel, does not have a director or writer attached to the project as of yet.
This isn’t the first time the Mr. Men have been animated, this will actually be the fifth adaptation, although the previous efforts have been for television. The first was produced in 1975 by Flicks Films and broadcast by the BBC, the second, in 1983 and also by Flicks Films, featured the Little Miss characters. In 1995 came Mr. Men and Little Miss which was aired in the US as well as the US. And finally, the Cartoon Network got a hold of the franchise in 2006 and created The Mr. Men Show with Renegade Animation.
Hargreaves wrote 48 Mr. Men books and 42 Little Miss books until his son Adam Hargreaves took over after his death in 1988. Since their inception in 1971, they’ve become a pop-culture phenomena and a standard in children’s books. Throughout the years artists have created their own Mr. Men in an homage to the creator and series. Last year someone even did a huge series of superhero characters in the Mr. and Miss likeness.
