Artemis Fowl Gets a Second Shot: Disney Greenlights Animated Series at NYCC

NEW YORK

One of the biggest fantasy book franchises of the past 25 years is getting another shot at the screen — and this time, the man who built the fairy world is in the room. Disney announced at New York Comic Con on Sunday that Eoin Colfer’s bestselling Artemis Fowl books have been greenlit for a new animated television series that will air on Disney Channel and stream on Disney+, Parade reported. The news broke during the “25 Years of Artemis Fowl” panel, where Colfer announced it himself, per BroadwayWorld.

Here’s what we know, who’s making it, and why this one feels different from the last attempt.

The announcementA 25th-birthday gift, delivered live

The timing is no accident. The first Artemis Fowl novel was published in 2001, which means the franchise is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year — and Disney chose the “25 Years of Artemis Fowl” panel at New York Comic Con to make the greenlight official. Colfer delivered the news to the crowd in person, announcing the animated series himself, according to BroadwayWorld. Per Parade, the series will air on Disney Channel and stream on Disney+, joining a growing Disney+ animation slate that includes Phineas and Ferb and Big City Greens, along with upcoming adaptations of Kingdom Hearts and Warrior Cats.

The biggest news for longtime fans isn’t just that the show exists — it’s who’s steering it. Colfer himself will be heavily involved as an executive producer, and Disney says his involvement will allow the series to dig deeper into the characters and lore of the books. That sentence reads like a direct answer to every fan who felt the last adaptation flattened the source material into something unrecognizable.

The author“The fairy world is in excellent hands”

Colfer didn’t hold back on his enthusiasm. “I am proud and delighted to be part of the formidable team that is putting the ‘Artemis Fowl’ animation on screen,” he said in a statement reported by Parade. “Everyone is so talented and so positive that I feel certain the fairy world is in excellent hands.”

His involvement is the whole ballgame for fans. The Artemis Fowl books have a devoted readership precisely because of Colfer’s voice — dry, arch, and full of affection for a protagonist who spends much of the series running cons and heists. Having the author in the room as an executive producer signals that this adaptation intends to keep that voice intact rather than sanding it down for a broader audience.

The teamAn animation A-list behind the camera

Joining Colfer as executive producers are two heavyweights of kids’ animation, per BroadwayWorld. Ben Juwono is an Emmy and Annie Award winner whose credits include Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and Big Hero 6: The Series. Colleen Evanson’ résumé includes Prep & Landing: The Snowball Protocol, DuckTales, and Monsters at Work.

That’s a serious lineup, and it tells you what kind of show Disney wants this to be. Juwono’s Moon Girl work was some of the most visually inventive, emotionally sharp kids’ television of the past decade — a show that trusted its audience with big feelings and bigger ideas. Evanson’s DuckTales tenure proves she knows how to reintroduce a beloved property to a new generation without alienating the people who grew up on it. Between the two of them, Artemis Fowl has exactly the combination a tricky adaptation needs: reverence for the source and the confidence to make it sing on screen.

The storyHigh-tech fairies meet a 13-year-old criminal mastermind

For the uninitiated, here’s the setup. The action-adventure fantasy series follows 13-year-old genius Artemis Fowl as he uncovers an underground world of armed and dangerous — and surprisingly high-tech — fairies, BroadwayWorld reports. Artemis launches a plan to capture one and steal its magic to heal his dying mom and save his family.

It’s a delicious inversion of the classic fairy-tale formula: the kid isn’t the chosen hero, he’s the antagonist of his own story — a brilliant young criminal mastermind who has to learn, across the books, that some things can’t be stolen. That moral arc, plus a cast of unforgettable side characters and one of the great fictional underworlds in kids’ literature, is why the series has endured a quarter-century. Animation, with its ability to make the impossible look effortless, feels like the medium this story was always meant for.

The redemptionWhy the second chance matters

Let’s not dance around it: the 2020 live-action Artemis Fowl movie, directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Ferdia Shaw, was poorly received by fans and critics alike. The film, originally intended for a theatrical release, ultimately debuted on Disney+, Parade reported — and it was removed from the service in 2023. For fans of the books, it’s a chapter they’d rather forget: a version of the story that stripped out nearly everything that made the character special.

Which is precisely why today’s news landed the way it did. This isn’t just another adaptation — it’s a second chance, and it comes with the author in the producer’s chair and two of animation’s best behind the desk. The contrast with 2020 couldn’t be more deliberate. Disney isn’t pretending the last attempt didn’t happen; it’s building the new one around the thing the last one lacked: the people who actually understand this world.

The numbers25 years, 35 million copies, 48 languages

The scale of the franchise is worth sitting with for a moment. Since the publication of the first novel in 2001, Artemis Fowl has become a global phenomenon: more than 35 million copies sold worldwide, translated into 48 languages, across 11 books in the original series, BroadwayWorld reports. That’s the kind of readership that spans generations — kids who read Artemis in 2001 are now parents with kids of their own, which is exactly the audience Disney is betting on.

“For more than two decades, Eoin Colfer’s ‘Artemis Fowl’ books have captivated readers around the world with unforgettable characters, imaginative world-building, and gripping adventures,” said Ayo Davis, president of Disney Kids & Family, in a statement reported by BroadwayWorld. “Bringing this beloved franchise to life as an animated series gives us the opportunity to introduce a new generation to Artemis’ world while honoring the longtime fans who have cherished these stories for years.”

What’s nextNo cast, no date — yet

Disney has not yet announced a premiere date or voice casting for the new series, Parade reported, and we won’t be guessing at either. What’s certain is that this is a story to watch closely — an animated fairy underworld, a beloved anti-hero, and an author-led creative team is the kind of combination that can define a generation’s childhood the way the books defined the last one. Track it on our Coming Soon page as the series develops, and catch up on the week’s TV news in our development sweep — plus today’s other big Disney story, Abbott Elementary filming its 100th episode at Disneyland.

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