“Artemis Fowl” is getting an animated series on Disney Channel and Disney+. Author Eoin Colfer revealed the greenlight Sunday during the “25 Years of Artemis Fowl” panel at New York Comic Con, and he will serve as an executive producer on the show. The series follows 13-year-old genius Artemis Fowl as he discovers a hidden underground world of armed, high-tech fairies. His plan is to capture one and steal its magic to heal his dying mom and save his family. Disney has not announced a premiere date or voice cast yet.
Artemis Fowl joins a growing Disney+ animation slate that includes Dragon Striker, Phineas and Ferb and Big City Greens, with Messi and the Giants, Warrior Cats, Journey and the Kingdom Hearts series still on the way. We were in the room at D23 in August when Disney greenlit Kingdom Hearts, and the pattern is easy to spot. Both franchises are close to 25 years old, and Disney is handing both to a new generation through Disney Channel and Disney+. The news follows Disney’s recent greenlight of a new Darkwing Duck series starring Mark Hamill.
Colfer is joined by two executive producers with strong Disney animation credits. Ben Juwono, an Emmy and Annie Award winner, worked on Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and Big Hero 6: The Series. Colleen Evanson’s credits include Prep and Landing: The Snowball Protocol, DuckTales and Monsters at Work. Colfer said he feels sure “the fairy world is in excellent hands.” Ayo Davis, president of Disney Kids & Family, said the show is a chance to bring Artemis to a new generation of kids while still honoring the readers who grew up with the books.
The timing lines up with a big anniversary. The first Artemis Fowl novel came out in 2001, and the series has since sold more than 35 million copies in 48 languages. This is also not Disney’s first try at bringing Artemis to the screen. The 2020 live-action movie, directed by Kenneth Branagh, skipped theaters for Disney+ and got a rough reaction from critics and many longtime readers who felt it drifted too far from the books. Having Colfer as an executive producer this time is the detail book fans will care about most.
