Nickelodeon has won the rights to Dana Simpson’s comic strip Phoebe and Her Unicorn. Viacom studio is eyeing the property as a multi-platform franchise across an TV animated series, movies and more. According to Deadline, Nickelodeon intends to create a multi-platform franchise with the IP, spanning television and film.
Vertigo Entertaiment’s Roy Lee and Miri Yoon, in co-operation with Bridget McMeel of Andrews McMeel Entertainment (the entertainment arm of the publishing company), will work to produce Phoebe and Her Unicorn, including animated television shows and films. Roy and Yoon will oversee development. Based in Kansas City, Andrews McMeel Universal is currently co-producing Big Nate, also at Nickelodeon, as well as financing an independent animated Marmaduke feature in production now. Currently, there are still certain details of the deal that must be settled.
Phoebe and Her Unicorn follows the adventures of a nine-year-old girl and her friend, a unicorn, who possesses a number of magical abilities such as a Shield of Boringness, which prevents others from perceiving her as anything magical; control over the weather, a horn that can act as a wifi hotspot, and more.
The comic strip was originally titled Heavenly Nostrils and debuted as a webcomic in 2012. By 2015, the comic had been printed in more than 100 newspapers.