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Netflix will adapt Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and other stories from author Roald Dahl into family-oriented animated series under a deal with the late author’s family.
The streaming giant and the Roald Dahl Story Company will produce “animated event series” and specials based on a number of Dahl’s works, also including The BFG, The Twits, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator and George’s Marvellous Medicine.
“Our mission, which is purposefully lofty, is for as many children as possible around the world to experience the unique magic and positive message of Roald Dahl’s stories,” Dahl’s widow, Felicity Dahl, said Tuesday in a statement. “This partnership with Netflix marks a significant move toward making that possible and is an incredibly exciting new chapter for the Roald Dahl Story Company. Roald would, I know, be thrilled.”
Netflix says it will “remain faithful to the quintessential spirit and tone” of Dahl’s work, while also building an “imaginative story universe” that extends beyond the author’s books.
“Immersing ourselves in the extraordinary worlds of Roald Dahl stories has been an honor and a massive amount of fun, and we are grateful for the trust the Roald Dahl Story Company and the Dahl family have placed in our team to deliver more moments of shared joy to families around the world,” said Melissa Cobb, vp kids and family content at Netflix. “We have great creative ambition to reimagine the journeys of so many treasured Dahl characters in fresh, contemporary ways with the highest quality animation and production values.”
The Dahl series are part of a major animation push at Netflix. The company is opening its own in-house animation studio and has greenlit a number of new series in recent months. It has also acquired the cult anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion and plans to release two films based on the series in 2019.
The first of Netflix’s Dahl projects will go into production in 2019; no release dates have been set. Endeavor Content brokered the deal.
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