Tales from Outer Suburbia Getting Animated Adaptation

The multi-award-winning illustrated book Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan is being developed as an animated series by Flying Bark Productions, with support from the Australian Children’s Television Foundation.

Tales from Outer Suburbia has been translated in 28 territories across the world. The TV adaptation tells the story of clever “almost 13-year-old” Klara and her younger brother Pim, who begin experiencing weird and miraculous phenomena as they go about their everyday life in Australian suburbia.

Tan and producer Sophie Byrne (Highly Spirited) are working with Barbara Stephen and Alexia Gates-Foale from the award-winning animation studio Flying Bark Productions on the project.

The Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) has provided development investment, which has enabled the creative team to develop the concept and scripts for the 12×30-minute series and produce a teaser.

Tan said: “Our intention is to create a playful series, at once fun and thought-provoking, that ignites children’s imaginations. Ordinary life is anything but ordinary, but we often need good, smart storytelling to remind us of this. With Tales from Outer Suburbia, we hope to awaken that fantastic realization that fiction and reality are never very far from one another and that there is really no such thing as a normal life.”

Byrne said: “Drawing upon the much-loved stories from the original book, we have developed a new work with its own voice and aesthetic, which shows that the world around us is not always what it seems. In every episode, the audience should be able to see something of their own worldly problems in an otherworldly context.”

Stephen said: “Shaun Tan is a visionary and an Australian icon whose work has inspired our team. It’s an honor for us to be collaborating on the story and visual adaptation of this much-loved literary work. We are drawing on both CG and 2D artistry to build a rich world full of vibrant characters, sophisticated cinematography and realism. The result is the rich textured look and feel of stop-motion animation with Shaun’s unmistakable visual motifs. The work is digitally handcrafted to reflect Shaun’s intricate and distinctive style of illustration.”

ACTF Executive Producer Bernadette O’Mahony said: “This is a clever, beautiful and unique project with an incredible team behind it. Shaun’s work is recognizable and well-loved right across the world, and we are so excited to be able to bring his illustrations to life on-screen. With a world-class creative team and animation studio behind it, this production will be like nothing seen before.”