They might not seem the most obvious movie stars, but the Mr Men and Little Misses are about to get their own Hollywood film.

Fox Animation, who made Ice Age and Rio, have signed a deal to bring Mr Tickle, Little Miss Chatterbox and Roger Hargreaves’ other much-loved characters to the big screen.

It will be produced by Shawn Levy, who was behind the Night At The Museum series, although no director or writer has been announced.

Some Mr Men and Little Miss characters
These guys are about to be movie stars (Jon Buckle/EMPICS)

There has been talk of a film version for years with Fox indicating in 2011 that an adaptation was on the cards.

Levy said: “I loved reading these books as a kid, and now I love reading them to my own kids. Their humour, wit and uniquely specific tone make this a truly classic series. I can’t wait to help shepherd them to the big screen.”

The books first went into print in 1971, with 85 characters created over the years, and one of the books in the series is sold every 2.5 seconds around the world. Hargreaves died in 1988 but his son Adam continued to write more stories.

Adam Hargreaves with a selection of Mr Men and Little Miss books
Adam Hargreaves continued to write the Mr Men and Little Miss books after his father died (Ian West/PA)

The characters have previously been brought to life in short TV cartoons, with actor Arthur Lowe – best known as Captain Mainwaring in Dad’s Army – providing the voice for many of the animations. He was later succeeded by Geoffrey Palmer.