For their next quest, Jack and Annie will be exploring a whole new medium.

The acclaimed children’s book franchise Magic Tree House is being adapted as an animated series by LA-based Spuree. The fledgling company, formerly known as Cheehoo, was set up earlier this year by Dan Lin’s banner Rideback (Lilo & Stitch (2025)), which is attached to this new project as a producer. With backing from high-profile investors, Spuree had previously raised US$10 million in funding to support its push into animation with the help of an AI-assisted workflow.

The kidlit series created by Mary Pope Osborne follows a brother and sister who use books and an enchanted tree house to travel to different places and time periods, from the prehistoric age, where they must escape dinosaurs, to a moon base in the year 2030. The franchise first hit bookshelves in 1992. Random House has since published more than 100 titles, with nearly 194 million copies sold worldwide. 

It’s a TV adaptation that feels overdue, given the series’ fan following and the breadth of the source material. The books’ time-travel format offers kid-friendly lessons on different cultures (medieval Ireland, Mongolia, an Indian jungle, and Elizabethan England, to name a few) as well as notable historic events like the American Civil War and the first-ever Olympic games in ancient Greece. 

We don’t have too many specifics on the series yet, although Spuree has set up a dedicated website showcasing a first look at the CG-animated characters while teasing more updates to come.

According to Variety, the toon will launch on digital and streaming platforms while also exploring educational channels such as parent, teacher and librarian networks. Plans are also underway to ensure localizations for a wide global reach.

Osborne is executive producing the series along with her spouse Will Osborne, who will work on the screenplay with Jenny Laird. Randy Courts, who worked on the Magic Tree House stage musicals, has been tapped to compose original music for the TV adaptation. 

Magic Tree House was also adapted as a same-name 2012 Japanese anime film produced by Media Factory. In 2016, Lionsgate had also scooped up film rights to the books, though its plans for a live-action take didn’t materialize.

Pictured: The first graphic novel adaptation of Magic Tree House published by Random House in 2021.