L.A.-based Twentieth Century Fox Animation, the studio behind Ice Age and Rio, has scooped up the film rights for Sanrio’s Mr. Men Little Miss property.

Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day) will produce the film through his Fox-based prodco 21 Laps Entertainment. A director and writer have yet to be announced.

Fox Animation Production VP Ralph Millero is overseeing the Mr. Men project for the studio, while Will Rack and Emily Morris are overseeing on behalf of 21 Laps.

Sanrio acquired the rights to the Mr. Men Little Miss characters in December 2011 from the now-defunct UK entertainment company Chorion.

The characters starred in an animated TV series called The Mr. Men Show, produced by Chorion and Renegade Animation, which debuted on Cartoon Network in the US and UK-based Channel 5’s Milkshake block in 2008, running for two seasons.

The beloved book series that launched the property was created by Roger Hargreaves in 1971. The first book, Mr. Tickle, was inspired by his son asking what a tickle looks like. There are now 85 characters and more than 120 million books have been sold worldwide, with a Mr. Men Little Miss book purchased every 2.5 seconds.