Classic Children's Books 'Elmer The Patchwork Elephant' Animated Series in The Works

If you've been a child- or a parent of a child- at any point over the past 30 years, there's a chance you've come across Elmer The Patchwork Elephant. The elephant with a distinctive multi-colour patchwork look was created by British children's author and illustrator David McKee, and starred in a series of books that have sold over 10 million copies and been translated into more the 50 languages. This week it has been announced that as part of his 30th anniversary Elmer is getting his own animated series.

The series is being produced by publishers Anderson Press in association with animation studio Factory (producers of the new Clangers series). The producers say that the new series will be visually stunning and bring the series's message of diversity and inclusion to today's children.

"Elmer is one of the most iconic and widely read children’s book series of all time and we are so excited to be teaming up with Andersen Press and David McKee in bringing Elmer to life for a brand new generation of children” says Phil Chalk, Factory's Managing Director.

Anderson Press's Klaus Flugge added "Publishing David McKee’s Elmer books for the past 30 years has been one of the greatest achievements of my career. As we see Elmer continue to grow in success in the UK and internationally, David McKee, myself and everyone at Andersen Press are excited to partner with Phil Chalk and his prize winning team at Factory to bring Elmer to a new audience through what promises to be fantastic animated films celebrating the very things at Elmer’s core; friendship, inclusivity and celebrating your own true colours." 

This is just the latest in a long line of classic British kid's TV created by McKee. In an incredible career, he brought Mr Benn, King Rollo, and more to life through his animation company King Rollo Films. And that's on top of his career as author, which has seen him produce not only more than 40 Elmer books, but also classics such as Not Now, Bernard and even illustrate the most recent Paddington books. As part of the celebration of Elmer's 30th birthday, Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books will hold the first retrospective exhibition of his career.

No release date has been announced for the new series.

[Source: Sundae communications]