Artemis Fowl Animated Series Ordered by Disney
Image Courtesy of Disney.
Disney has greenlit an animated television adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl novels for Disney Channel and Disney+. Colfer announced the project on October 11 during a New York Comic Con panel celebrating the first book’s 25th anniversary.
The author will serve as an executive producer alongside Ben Juwono, whose credits include Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and Big Hero 6: The Series, and Colleen Evanson, who has worked on DuckTales and Monsters at Work. Disney says Colfer’s involvement will help the adaptation explore the characters and mythology of his books in greater depth. Disney Plus Press
The series follows 13-year-old Artemis as he discovers an underground civilization of technologically advanced fairies. His plan involves capturing one of them and stealing its magic to heal his dying mother and save his family.
That description already points to changes from the original novel. In the book, Artemis is a 12-year-old criminal mastermind who kidnaps fairy police officer Holly Short and demands a ransom to restore his family’s fortune. His willingness to manipulate and exploit others makes him an unusually morally complicated lead for a children’s fantasy series. How the animated adaptation handles that side of his character remains to be seen. Disney Plus Press
First published in April 2001, Artemis Fowl grew into an eight-novel series concluding with The Last Guardian. According to Disney’s announcement, the books have sold more than 35 million copies worldwide and been translated into 48 languages. Colfer later expanded the universe through The Fowl Twins, a spin-off trilogy following Artemis’s younger brothers, Myles and Beckett. Eoin Colfer
This will be Disney’s second screen adaptation of the property. Kenneth Branagh directed the 2020 live-action film, starring Ferdia Shaw as Artemis alongside Lara McDonnell, Josh Gad and Judi Dench. Originally intended for cinemas, it premiered on Disney+ on June 12, 2020. Its story focused on Artemis attempting to rescue his kidnapped father, giving the new series a different starting point. Eoin Colfer
The television format could give the adaptation more space to develop the books’ relationships and competing human and fairy interests. However, Disney has not outlined which novels it intends to adapt or how closely it will follow them. A premiere date, voice cast and episode count have also yet to be announced.
