As Universal Pictures and Imagine Ent. get set to bring Curious George to the big screen with a 2D theatrical feature, Universal Home Ent. Prods. (UHEP) has announced that an animated preschool series based on the classic children’s books is also in the works with Imagine Ent. and PBS affiliate WGBH Boston.
Slated to join the line-up in early 2006, the show will encourage kids to explore their own environments and the way people and animals interact with objects and machines. It will also satisfy requirements for early childhood science and math educational content.
UHEP’s animation production facility, Universal Cartoon Studios (UCS), will oversee physical production of the series, which will employ different animation teams.
The feature version of Curious George is currently in pre-production for theatrical release on November 4, 2005. The Brian Grazer-Ron Howard production stars Will Farrell (Elf, Old School) as the voice of the Man with the Yellow Hat. Jun Falkenstein (The Tigger Movie) will direct from a screenplay by Michael McCullers (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Austin Powers in Goldmember, the upcoming Thunderbirds), Joe Stillman (Shrek, the upcoming Shrek 2) and the writing team of Daniel Gerson and Rob Baird (Monsters Inc.).
Authors H.A. Rey and Margret Rey published the first Curious George book in 1941. Six more tales would follow and sell a combined total of 27 million copies worldwide.
