Highlights
- The potential for a Walking Dead animated series is exciting, but obstacles with AMC are currently preventing its development.
- Co-creator Robert Kirkman is enthusiastic about the idea but noted that it can’t happen until rights are regained from AMC.
- Despite past limited exploration of animation, many fans and creators are eager for a faithful animated adaptation of the beloved comic books.
An animated series based on The Walking Dead holds immense potential for instant success. Despite receiving the green light from its creators, it has encountered a significant obstacle, leading to uncertainty about its future development.
Up until now, The Walking Dead has seen adaptations into comics, video games, and a live-action series, and the next project in line could potentially be an animated series. Fans would certainly welcome this idea, particularly knowing that the original creators would be closely involved in bringing a faithful adaptation of the beloved comic books to the screen. However, this exciting prospect has been put on hold as the creators encountered a major obstacle in the development process.
According to Comicbook.com, Robert Kirkman, one of the co-creators of The Walking Dead franchise, has shown interest in developing the comics into an animated series but is encountering difficulties with AMC. In response to a fan inquiry in The Walking Dead Deluxe #85‘s “Letter Hacks” column about a potential animated show, Kirkman expressed his enthusiasm for the idea. However, he mentioned that this cannot happen until the creators regain the rights from AMC. While he did not outright dismiss the idea, he noted, “I’d love to see it happen someday, but I don’t think it’ll be possible until I get the rights back from AMC,” leaving room for future development.
Reiterating the potential for future development, Amanda LaFranco, editor of Skybound’s The Walking Dead, stated, “There’s definitely been developments over the years for something like this, and there’s a lot of fans over here that would still very much love to make that happen.” The idea of a Walking Dead animated series is not new, but a full-fledged animated series has not materialized yet. In 2010, AMC released an eight-minute motion comic that adapted 13 pages from The Walking Dead #1. Additionally, AMC explored comic-style animation further by creating an animated segment for the web series The Walking Dead: Red Machete. Scott M. Gimple, the chief content officer for AMC’s Walking Dead Universe, has expressed interest in incorporating animation into future episodes of the spinoff series Tales of the Walking Dead. However, the franchise has only begun to delve into this format, with limited exploration so far. However, it appears that AMC is not enthusiastic about pursuing this idea in the near future.
AMC acquired the rights in 2009, and the series premiered in 2010. Since then, spanning 11 seasons, the show has emerged as one of AMC’s most successful series to date. Despite the immense popularity of the live-action adaptation, it is known that the AMC show did not adhere strictly to the source material. However, should Kirkman’s vision come to life, fans would be treated to a faithful animated adaptation of the comics. A faithful adaptation would mean including elements excluded from the series, thus presenting these crucial moments to a wider audience and potentially rectifying past oversights. Currently, it remains to be seen what both the creators and AMC will decide regarding the animated series. Nevertheless, if this project comes to fruition in the future, it is bound to be a hit.
The Walking Dead is available on AMC and Netflix.
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