Nickelodeon has greenlit a combination live-action/animated TV movie adaptation of its animated series "The Fairly OddParents" that will follow the adventures of a now 23-year-old Timmy Turner, to be played by Drake Bell.
"Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!" also will star Jason Alexander and Cheryl Hines as Timmy's live-action godparents.
Timmy's animated fairy godparents will be played by Daran Norris and Susanne Blakeslee, who are the voices for the animated series characters.
In the movie, Timmy will no longer be 10, but he'll still be in the fifth grade because of his arrested development. When he meets a girl he likes, he must decide if he wants to grow up to be with her or stay young to keep his fairy godparents.
The film will premiere sometime in 2011 and will be executive produced by the series creator Butch Hartman, and Lauren Levine. Hartman and Scott Fellows, a former writer on the series, will do the script.
"I think fans of the series will love seeing the characters in this new way," Hartman said in a statement. "Our mix of live-action and special-effects animation will make them look hyper-real, and our goal is to make this movie as visually exciting as it will be funny."
Bell began his career at Nickelodeon with an appearance on "The Amanda Show," and then went on to star in the network's series "Drake & Josh," which aired for five years and averaged 2.6 million viewers per episode.
"The Fairly OddParents" premiered on Nick in 2001 and has continued to be one of the network's most popular shows among the kids 2-11 audience. But the series now has an audience make-up of 57 percent of teens and adults and is watched by 36 million viewers a month, according to Nielsen Cume Data.
