Paris-based studios Dada! Animation and Wizz have signed a development deal with Canal+ to adapt decades-old French comic book series Pif Gadget (pictured) for TV.

Aiming for six- to 10-year-olds, Pif & Hercule se mettent au vert (26 x 2.5 minutes) introduces a new character named Pifi, who will join adventurous dog Pif and Hercule the cat as they explore Earth and encourage kids to protect the planet.

“Pif Gadget is an old brand that we—and many families in France—have grown up with,” says Jean-François Ramos, a producer at Dada! Animation. Its first title was published in 1969, and seven million copies sold over the next 10 years. The franchise’s most recent issues since 2021 have each sold more than 150,000 copies.

The IP was turned into an animated series called Spiff and Hercules that ran from 1989 to 1990, but there’s a lot more parental nostalgia to tap into.

Dada! and Wizz have also orchestrated a partnership with French environmental app The Explorers to provide real-life images of places around the world as backgrounds and settings for the show.

Canal+ is betting on Pif Gadget’s existing fanbase, and its comedic characters, to make learning about the environment fun, says Géraldine Soto, the net’s head of kids acquisitions, pre-buys and co-productions.

“The environmental issue is a major challenge and a subject that concerns everyone, especially kids,” says Soto. “With Pif, they will continue to open their minds and their consciousness to find solutions.”