Netflix is getting into the golden-ticket business. The company announced Tuesday that it will develop an “original animated event series†based on Roald Dahl’s children’s books. The Netflix–Roald Dahl Story Company pact will include the following titles: 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. Production on the first of the Netflix Dahl animated series is expected to begin in 2019.
In an October interview with Variety, Melissa Cobb, Netflix’s VP of kids and family content, suggested that the Dahl stories could “potentially overlap.†The project has the blessing of Dahl’s widow Felicity. “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.â€