New PIPPI LONGSTOCKING animated series announced

Villa Villekulla is opening its doors again with a new Pippi Longstocking adaptation from STUDIOCANAL and Heyday Films. Announced via Variety, Pippi’s 3D CGI animated television adaptation will be produced by Submarine, in partnership with The Astrid Lindgren Company. The project was originally floated back in 2019 as a feature film before the team pivoted to a TV format.

Pippi Longstocking originated as a trio of chapter books Astrid Lindgren published between 1945 and 1948, introducing the super-strong, freckled orphan who lives alone at Villa Villekulla with her horse, her monkey Mr. Nilsson, and a suitcase of gold coins while waiting for her sea-captain father to return. American audiences are likely most familiar with 1988's The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking, a live-action musical starring Tami Erin. However, the character's first animated version arrived in 1997, with a Pippi Longstocking film, a Swedish-Canadian-German co-production that spun off into an animated series running through 1998. The new STUDIOCANAL/Heyday series marks Pippi's first major new screen adaptation since then.

Photo Credit: Puffin Modern Classic

The series will run 52 episodes at 11 minutes each, rendered in 3D CGI animation, with production kicking off in October. Sara Daddy, whose credits include The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland, Olga da Polga, and Tulipop Tales, is attached as head writer and screenwriter. She's described the project as a dream assignment, tracing her own connection to Pippi's free-spirited independence back to a childhood spent sailing with her seaman father. David Heyman, Rosie Alison and Rob Silva are producing for Heyday Films alongside Simon Quinn and Karen Davidsen, with Ron Halpern overseeing for STUDIOCANAL. Heyman and Alison previously teamed with STUDIOCANAL on the Paddington franchise.

Daddy said, "To be entrusted by the Lindgren family and the brilliant Heyday and Studiocanal teams with the keys to Villa Villekulla is such a privilege. As the daughter of a seaman who overturned convention and took me out of school to sail around the world, I have always felt a connection with Pippi. I am having so much fun honoring her fiercely independent spirit, free-thinking ways and of course, superhuman strength. With the brilliant wit and warmth of Astrid Lindgren’s voice as our guide, our aim is to ensure Pippi remains a joyful, empowering icon for today’s children. It is a dream project."

STUDIOCANAL chief executive Anna Mars and The Astrid Lindgren Company's Max Hallén both framed the series as part of the character's longer trajectory. Lindgren's books have sold more than 90 million copies in 80 languages and still move roughly 1.5 million copies a year; Pippi marked her 80th anniversary in 2025.

"Astrid Lindgren’s stories continue to grow their audience around the world, reaching new generations of children across markets, platforms and formats," said Hallén. "Pippi Longstocking remains at the heart of that journey. Her courage, independence and playful way of challenging the world around her have inspired children around the world for over eighty years and continue to do so today."

The announcement isn't limited to the series. A companion feature film — also drawing from Lindgren's original stories — is in development, with Heyman, Jeffrey Clifford and Alison producing. And the business side is already lined up: STUDIOCANAL will handle worldwide distribution, STUDIOCANAL Kids & Family will handle merchandising and licensing in France and the U.K., and Rights & Brands will step in as the global merchandising agent everywhere else.

No premiere window or streaming home has been confirmed yet — worth watching as production begins in October.