Barry Loser books to become 52-part animated series with ITVX Kids aboard

Barry Loser is coming to television.

Jim Smith's children's books are being turned into an animated series by the U.K.'s Big Little Fish Television with Italian co-producer Frog Head, according to Variety. The plan is 52 episodes of 11 minutes each, with production targeted for 2027.

The producers will pitch the show to buyers and financiers at Rome's MIA Market. It is part of the market's newly launched Animation Series Gap-Financing Market, a section where producers seek the final slice of funding to get series made. The 12th edition of MIA Market runs 19 to 23 October in Rome, according to Screen Daily.

A U.K. home is already set. ITVX Kids has picked up the series, meaning it has secured the British rights to show it.

The books give the team plenty to work with. The franchise spans 11 books and graphic novels, has sold more than one million copies worldwide and has been translated into 17 languages. It also won the Roald Dahl Funny Prize.

For fans, this means more of what the books do best. Big Little Fish Television describes the world on its company page as silly jokes, pranks, funny drawings and plenty of burps and farts. The company calls Barry Loser its lead project as it moves into animation.

Behind the show are two young companies. Big Little Fish Television launched in 2019, led by chief executive Mark Procter and chief operating officer Georgina Surtees. In 2023 it produced the 20-part series Meet the McQueens for CBBC.

Illustration is coming from Florence-based DogHead Animation. That studio was founded in 2019 by Movimenti Production and is now part of Banijay Kids & Family.

What happens next is financing. The Rome pitch will decide how quickly the 2027 production target can be met.