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Best-selling author R. L. Stine and illustrator Marc Brown have signed a deal with Splash Entertainment to create animated onscreen content based on two book properties.
Splash will develop, produce and distribute content based on the picture book The Little Shop of Monsters, written by Stine and illustrated by Brown (Arthur), as well as Stine’s comedy book series Rotten School.
The deal was made with Lookout Entertainment, the licensing agent for Stine (Goosebumps). Lookout’s Dan Bernard and Yvonne Bernard will serve as executive producers.
The Little Shop of Monsters, which won the 2016 Children’s Choice Book Award for kindergarten to second grade book of the year, invites readers to “come on in” and choose a favorite creepy, crawly, spooky, scary new friend to bring home to their family.
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The Rotten School book series follows the funny adventures of Bernie Bridges, a fourth-grader who lives at a boarding school with his friends.
Splash Entertainment specializes in children’s entertainment, with a portfolio that includes Chloe’s Closet, Dive Olly Dive, Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch and the animated Norm of the North family feature films.
“We’re thrilled to join forces with Lookout Entertainment to take The Little Shop of Monsters and Rotten School beyond the book shelf and onto the screen,” said Steve Rosen, Co-CEO, Splash Entertainment.
“We’ve found the right partner in Splash Entertainment to bring these timeless brands to the next level,” said Yvonne Bernard, CEO of Lookout. Lookout develops and produces original and branded live-action and animated content for feature films and television.
In addition to representing Stine’s library, Lookout’s projects include Thomas Kincade’s Cape Light and a four-part docuseries titled What Happened to Elisa Lam.
“Working with Splash Entertainment to produce R. L. Stine’s Rotten School and R. L. Stine and Marc Brown’s The Little Shop of Monsters is an honor,” added Lookout executive vp Dan Bernard.
Stine is one of the best-selling children’s authors of all time. His Goosebumps series, which debuted in 1992, has more than 350 million English-language books in print and an additional 50 million international copies in print in 32 languages. The property was adapted into a TV show, which can be seen on Netflix, and two feature film adaptations starring Jack Black as Stine were released in 2015 and 2018. His other popular children’s book series include Fear Street, Mostly Ghostly and The Nightmare Room.
More recently, Stine’s anthology TV series, R. L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour, won an Emmy three years in a row for best children’s show.
Said Stine: “Thanks to Yvonne Bernard, Lookout Entertainment and Splash Entertainment, The Little Shop of Monsters will soon be open for business. Marc Brown and I had great fun dreaming up the craziest monsters ever. We can’t wait to see them all come roaring to life in this new series. And I’m looking forward to school being in session with my most rotten book series, Rotten School, onscreen for the first time too.” Brown is the author and illustrator of the best-selling Arthur book series, which have sold 75 million copies, and is executive producer of Arthur on PBS. The show has won seven Emmys, the Peabody Award and is now the longest-running animated children’s show in history. Little Shop of Monsters is the first collaboration with Stine. A second book, Mary McScary, was published recently, and they are currently working on another book.
Said Brown: “I am excited to see The Little Shop of Monsters come alive through animation with the talented folks at Splash and Lookout Entertainment,” said Brown. “This was my very first collaboration with my friend R. L. Stine, and it was great fun to illustrate an entire book without one aardvark. Sorry, Arthur.”
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