{"id":744316,"date":"2026-06-18T11:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/744316\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T11:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:11:09","slug":"toto-the-ninja-cat-dermot-oleary-book-becoming-animated-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/744316\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Toto The Ninja Cat’: Dermot O’Leary Book Becoming Animated Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: UK TV personality Dermot O\u2019Leary\u2019s book series Toto the Ninja Cat<\/a> is being adapted into an animated series by Studiocanal<\/a> and Superprod<\/a>. Check out first look image below.<\/p>\n

\n\tO\u2019Leary, a former X Factor host, will see his book turned into a 52-episode action-comedy show by Emmy-winning head writers Nick Ostler and Mark Huckerby (Danger Mouse).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe novels follow the titular character, who\u00a0is the newest member of a secret league of international ninja cats. Partially sighted from birth, she has turned her visual impairment into a ninja superpower, using heightened senses to navigate the city and outsmart villains. O\u2019Leary has previously said he based the character on his real pet, a blind moggy he adopted in Italy.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudiocanal<\/p>\n

\n\tBased on Nick East\u2019s illustrations, the six books have been published over the past decade and the first was turned into a stage play that premiered earlier this year. A seventh book, Toto the Ninja Cat and the Football Fiasco, is coming out later this year. They have been translated into 19 languages and sold more than half a million English-language copies. <\/p>\n

\n\tO\u2019Leary is a British TV stalwart who previously hosted The X Factor and currently fronts ITV\u2019s This Morning with Alison Hammond and the popular BBC Radio 2 Saturday breakfast show. He is EPing the project with Dee Koppang O\u2019Leary, a director on Rivals. <\/p>\n

\n\tStudiocanal is making the series from its nascent Studiocanal Stories adaptations label, which is overseen by\u00a0Sarah Reese Geffroy and has adaptations of Beth O\u2019Leary\u2019s Swept Away and Freida McFadden\u2019s The Divorce<\/a> upcoming. Hachette, which along with Studiocanal is part-owned by the\u00a0Bollor\u00e9 Group<\/a>, publishes O\u2019Leary\u2019s books. Last month, Hachette Livre and Studiocanal announced a strategic book-to-screen adaptation<\/a> JV called On Screen, although the O\u2019Leary adaptation pre-dates this JV. Hachette Children\u2019s Group manages TV and film rights for the series.<\/p>\n

\n\tO\u2019Leary said: \u201cI am thrilled that Toto is about to become the star of her own television series. I am often asked what inspired me to write my children\u2019s books and I cannot think of a better inspiration than Toto herself; with her kind nature and the simply wonderful idea that Toto is a loving mild-mannered kitten by day and a Ninja by night. I am inspired by the work that Studiocanal and Superprod have been developing in the family space and I can only begin to imagine Toto\u2019s continued journey with their belief and infectious enthusiasm for her potential.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tStudiocanal Worldwide TV MD M-K Kennedy said she is \u201cover-the-moon\u201d to be welcoming Toto to a Studiocanal family alongside iconic characters like Paddington and Miffy. \u201cThe vibrancy, comedy\u00a0and values in Dermot O\u2019Leary\u2019s beautifully crafted books is so\u00a0utterly\u00a0compelling, with characters that burst from the page with unique voices and laugh-out-loud antics,\u201d she added. \u201cThough Toto may not have 20\/20 vision, she\u2019s a bold, aspirational and inspirational reminder to kids of all ages that nothing should hold us back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe news comes with the Annecy<\/a> International Animation Film Festival kicking off in a few day\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

\n\tStudiocanal Kids & Family is handling worldwide sales of Toto. O\u2019Leary is repped by Jadeen Singh at John Noel Management. East\u00a0is repped by Heather Richards at Tallbean.\u00a0Ostler and Huckerby are repped by\u00a0Cathy King and Alex Bloch at 42.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: UK TV personality Dermot O\u2019Leary\u2019s book series Toto the Ninja Cat is being adapted into an animated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":744317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[326099,358331,64,63,254908,134,344,28474,358332,358333],"class_list":["post-744316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-annecy","tag-annecy-international-animation-film-festival","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dermot-oleary","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-studiocanal","tag-superprod","tag-toto-the-ninja-cat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=744316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/744317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=744316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=744316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=744316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}