King Features, Henson take Hagar to screen

Hagar The Horrible is set to become an animated family sitcom

Hearst-owned King Features and The Jim Henson Company are partnering on an animated series based on syndicated comic strip Hagar The Horrible.

King Features is behind classic characters and comic strips including Popeye, Olive Oyl, Mutts and Blondie, while The Jim Henson Company is known for series including The Muppets and Fraggle Rock.

Eric Ziobrowski, of ABC’s Fresh Off The Boat, has joined the animated family sitcom project as a writer.

Lisa Henson, CEO and president of The Jim Henson Company, and Halle Stanford, president of television for The Jim Henson Company, will executive produce, along with CJ Kettler, president of King Features.

The series will be brought to life using the Emmy-winning Henson Digital Puppetry Studio, a proprietary animation technology that allows Henson’s puppeteers to manipulate animated characters in real time.

Hägar was created in 1973 by Dik Browne and is one of several properties King Features is currently developing for television and film.