The Mr Men and Little Miss characters created by Roger Hargreaves and continued by his son Adam Hargreaves, are set to star in their own feature film from the producers of Paddington. David Heyman, whose Heyday Films produced Paddington and Paddington 2, will join forces with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, White Noise, and the UK arm of French media company, StudioCanal, to make the film which will feature much-loved characters like Mr Tickle, My Bump, Little Miss Sunshine and Little Miss Naughty.
In a statement, Heyman said that the books “offer an irresistible opportunity for a bold and imaginative feature film adaptation.”
The books by English author and illustrator, Roger Hargreaves, began with Mr Men, publishing from 1971 with the first six titles. The very first title was ‘Mr Tickle’, a book inspired by his son Adam, who had asked him what a tickle might look like. Roger bought a tickle to life as a round orange figure with long, bendy arms and a little blue hat.
Roger Hargreaves wrote 39 Mr Men stories with a further three ghost-written by Viviane Cohen and Evelyne Lallemand, and illustrated by Colette David under Roger Hargreaves’ name. He also penned and illustrated 20 Little Miss titles, while books twenty-two (Little Miss Busy) to thirty (Little Miss Somersault) were ghostwritten by Viviane Cohen and Evelyne Lallemand, and illustrated by Colette David under Roger Hargreaves’ name. The remaining titles across both series were written and illustrated by his son Adam who picked up the reins after his father’s death in 1988.
According to WordsRated, in 2023 the series had sold 250m copies and was the fourth bestselling children’s book series of all time.
The characters of the Mr and Little Miss books have found it to the screen several times before, including a TV series for the BBC. The upcoming feature film will provide a new chance to see the much-loved characters on screen and bring the book to a new generation.
