I’m sure, like many of you, I grew up on the works of Roald Dahl. Now Netflix and The Roald Dahl Story Company have joined forces to bring together the likes of Willy Wonka, The BFG, Matilda, The Twits, and of course, Oompa-Loompas, to create a new extension of the Roald Dahl universe.
The two companies have today announced they are extending the Roald Dahl universe of stories with an exclusive new slate of original animated event series, based on the books from the acclaimed and award-winning author’s best-selling library. These include ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘Matilda’, ‘The BFG’, ‘The Twits’, and many other beloved titles. For the first time, Netflix will bring together the highest quality creative, visual, and writing teams to extend the stories in this first-of-its-kind slate of premium animated event series and specials for audiences of all ages and for families to enjoy together. Netflix intends to remain faithful to the quintessential spirit and tone of Dahl while also building out an imaginative story universe that expands far beyond the pages of the books themselves.
“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,” comments Roald Dahl’s widow, Felicity Dahl, “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.”
The list of titles in the agreement between Netflix and the Roald Dahl Story Company includes ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘Matilda’, ‘The BFG’, ‘The Twits’, ‘Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator’, ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’, ‘Boy – Tales of Childhood’, ‘Going Solo’, ‘The Enormous Crocodile’, ‘The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me’, ‘Henry Sugar’, ‘Billy and the Minpins’, ‘The Magic Finger’, ‘Esio Trot’, ‘Dirty Beasts’, and ‘Rhyme Stew’.
“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,” adds Melissa Cobb, Vice President of Kids & 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.”
Production is set to begin on the first of the Netflix Dahl animated series in 2019.
