Any kid that grew up in the 70’s and early 80’s had at least a couple of the Mr. Men and Little Miss books in their house. While they may have faded into the background with only the occasional licensed product popping up here and there for the nostalgia ridden fools like me to buy, they’re making a comeback next year courtesy of the Cartoon Network in the form of an animated sketch comedy show. Having a toddler in the house, I have the perfect cover for watching the darn thing.

Based on the original Mr. Men and Little Miss books created in the 1970s by Roger Hargreaves, “The Mr. Men Show” represents an inspired re-imagining of a classic property, which has sold in excess of 100 million copies worldwide

With a blend of sidesplitting, fast-paced physical humor and verbal wit, The Mr. Men Show is the first animated program to bring sketch comedy to young children.

Full press release after the jump.

LONDON, April 12 /PRNewswire/ — Chorion Ltd has announced that Cartoon Network will be the US home of “The Mr. Men Show”, a new 52×11-minute animated sketch comedy series, which will launch in January 2008. The broadcaster will also co-produce the series, with Chorion handling all ex-US television and media sales, and licensing and merchandising worldwide.

Based on the original Mr. Men and Little Miss books created in the 1970s by Roger Hargreaves, “The Mr. Men Show” represents an inspired re-imagining of a classic property, which has sold in excess of 100 million copies worldwide

With a blend of sidesplitting, fast-paced physical humor and verbal wit, The Mr. Men Show is the first animated program to bring sketch comedy to young children.

Twenty-five Mr. Men and Little Miss characters will be featured in the new series. To complement the new animation style, some of the characters are being refreshed and some completely re-worked - but all will remain true to the essence of the original Mr. Men and Little Miss creations.

Brought to life by talented writer-producers Kate Boutilier and Eryk Casemiro, the series is being animated in Los Angeles by Renegade Animation. Boutilier and Casemiro have achieved worldwide success with animated properties such as “Rugrats”, “The Wild Thornberrys” and “Rugrats in Paris”. Renegade has delivered three seasons of “Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi” to Cartoon Network US.

Welcoming today’s announcement, Nicholas James, Chief Executive of Chorion, said:

“We are extremely happy to partner with the Cartoon Network for the new Mr. Men series. Chorion’s ability to add value to such classic brands and infuse them with a contemporary appeal makes it unique within the global market. The production adds to the company’s fast-growing production slate.”

Bob Higgins, senior vice president of programming and original animation, Cartoon Network, said:

“We are very excited to be working with Chorion to bring these characters to a new generation of viewers. We have jointly developed a unique and fresh approach by adopting the sketch comedy show formula for kids. We feel this is a funny and engaging show and that it sits firmly with Cartoon Network’s comedy roots and will appeal to our younger audience.”

Chorion Ltd will launch the broadcast sale of the series for international territories at MipTV in Cannes, France, 16-20 April.

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