Netflix is now adapting popular Roald Dahl stories for you to obsess over again

Netflix will adapt the beloved stories of children's author Roald Dahl, including Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, The Twits, and more. The new versions will be animated series as opposed to previous live-action film adaptations.

“Netflix is known for innovative and high-quality storytelling,” added Gideon Simeloff, Strategy Director for The Roald Dahl Story Company, in a Netflix press release. “There is no other place in the world that can deliver animated entertainment for the whole family at such quality and scale.”

“Immersing ourselves in the extraordinary worlds of Roald Dahl stories has been an honor and a massive amount of fun, and we are grateful for the trust the Roald Dahl Story Company and the Dahl family have placed in our team to deliver more moments of shared joy to families around the world,” commented Melissa Cobb, Vice President of Kids & Family Content at Netflix. “We have great creative ambition to reimagine the journeys of so many treasured Dahl characters in fresh, contemporary ways with the highest quality animation and production values.”

The full list of titles currently in the Netflix agreement is: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, The Twits, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, George’s Marvellous Medicine, Boy – Tales of Childhood, Going Solo, The Enormous Crocodile, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, Henry Sugar, Billy and the Minpins, The Magic Finger, Esio Trot, Dirty Beasts, and Rhyme Stew.

The animation ensures that these adaptations don't overlap significantly with popular film versions of Dahl's work – particularly 1996's Matilda, starring Mara Wilson, and 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder. The series can remain faithful to the books, as with A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix, and animation offers freedom (even though live-action CGI has developed enough for a 2016 attempt at The BFG).

“Our mission, which is purposefully lofty, is for as many children as possible around the world to experience the unique magic and positive message of Roald Dahl’s stories,” said Dahl's widow Felicity. “Roald would, I know, be thrilled.”