Three-time Academy Award-winning prodco Passion Pictures has secured exclusive rights from Hachette to produce half-hour animated specials inspired by the children’s books by author Rachel Bright and illustrator Jim Field. The charming, educational animal books include The Lion Inside, The Squirrels Who Squabbled, The Way Home for Wolf, The Pandas Who Promised, The Koala Who Could, The Whale Who Wanted More and The Gecko and the Echo.
Altogether, the series of titles has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide and been translated into 42 languages. Passion did not reveal which critter tale will be the first to screen. The studio’s long-form animation division is developing the project; no network home has been announced.
Passion Animation is led by Academy Award-winning Director Andrew Ruhemann (The Lost Thing), MD/EP Marc Bodin-Joyeux Executive Producer Debbie Crosscup and Academy Award-winning Creative Director Alan Barillaro (director of Pixar short Piper). The studio’s work includes Zima Blue and ICE for Netflix’s Love, Death + Robots, Marvel’s Rocket & Groot shorts, Robert Valley’s Pear Cider and Cigarettes and Disney Channel’s 101 Dalmatian Street.
