“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” stars Ellie Kemper and Tituss Burgess are set to reunite for Paramount+’s new animated children’s show “The Elephant & Piggie Show!,” an adaptation of storybook characters from writer and animator Mo Willems.
Kemper and Burgess will star as Piggie and Elephant Gerald, respectively.
The project is described as “a warm, comedic pre-K series about the hilarious and sometimes challenging work of ‘best-friending.’ The series takes place in the small, walkable neighborhood of Willemsburg, which is full of new locations audiences will love. Elephant Gerald is careful; his best friend Piggie is not. Gerald worries so that that Piggie does not have to and together, along with young audiences, they will celebrate the messy and joyful art of friendship.”
Kemper and Burgess starred alongside one another as Kimmy Schmidt and Titus Andromedon in the hit Netflix original comedy, which wrapped its four seasons in 2019.
“The Elephant & Piggie Show!” comes as one of two Mo Willems series ordered at Paramount+, with “The Pigeon Show! Starring The Pigeon” also on the way at the streamer. That project’s voice cast will be led by Emmy Award winner Neil Patrick Harris as The Bus Driver.
“The Pigeon Show! Starring The Pigeon,” according to Paramount’s official press release, is “about the day-to-day struggles of a pigeon who just wants to be listened to. He will be your best friend if you have a bus and you let him drive it. The series features familiar characters from Willems’ books, such as the adorable Duckling who always seems to get what she wants, plus new characters, like The Pigeon’s 150-million-year-old pterodactyl grandmother, Nana-Dactyl, and his best wing-pals, Ima Pigeon and Doug Pigeon.”
Back in December, Paramount+ shared that it greenlit two animated adaptations of Willems’ work as part of its collaboration with the author’s multi-platform kids and family entertainment business, Hidden Pigeon Company.
