Toronto toonco Nelvana is in production on George and Martha, based on the popular books written and illustrated by the late James Marshall, an animated, 13-part, half-hour preschool series about the exploits of two best friend hippos.

Supervising producer Jocelyn Hamilton says: ‘We’re really excited about the series because it has really subtle humor, and we think that eventually it could be a prime-time children’s series.’

In production until next April, George and Martha is budgeted slightly higher than the average Nelvana production, and will premiere as part of the HBO Family launch in January.

Author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, whose character Little Bear is a Nelvana series, is overseeing the production of George and Martha. While Nelvana has the worldwide television rights to the series, Sendak is thought to hold the licensing and merchandising character options.

Hamilton says George and Martha will use traditional cel animation with computer generated backgrounds and paint.