‘Neverlanders’ Graphic Novel Getting Animated Feature Adaptation From Australia’s Pixel Zoo

Australian animation house Pixel Zoo Studios is bringing Neverlanders, the award-winning graphic novel by Tom Taylor and Jon Sommariva, to the big screen.

Pixel Labs, the studio’s originals division, has secured the feature adaptation rights to the work, and is developing the project as a teen and family animated feature.

Taylor, known for his acclaimed runs on the comics Nightwing, Superman: Son of Kal-El, and Injustice: Gods Among Us, will write the screenplay. Sommariva (Batman/TMNT Adventures, Star Wars Adventures) will serve as art director. Pixel Zoo’s head of studio, Sebastian Gonzalez, is attached as the film’s executive producer.

Described as a darker, YA reimagining of the iconic Peter Pan story, Neverlanders follows a group of modern-day runaways who are drawn into a war-torn Neverland. Guided by a battle-tested Tinker Bell and her army of fairies, the young heroes must help defeat a ruthless band of pirates threatening to destroy what’s left of the magical realm.

According to Gonzales:

It has always been important for Pixel Zoo to champion talent, original stories and world class animation in Australia, so we are thrilled to partner with the brilliant Tom Taylor and Jon Sommariva. Our team will work closely with Tom and Jon to ensure we stay true to the soul of Neverlanders while expanding the graphic novel into the kind of cinematic adventure only animation can deliver.

Originally published by Penguin Random House in 2022, Neverlanders earned the 2023 Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year for Older Readers and France’s Prix des Collégiens de la Somme in 2025. A sequel, Neverlanders: Get Lost, is set to hit the shelves in 2026.

Brisbane-based Pixel Zoo, an MGA Studios company, is best known for its commercial animation work with Hasbro, Spin Master, and Moonbug Entertainment. With Neverlanders, the studio expands further into original IP, aiming to deliver a high-energy, cinematic fantasy adventure from two of Australia’s leading comic creators.

Among the company’s current development pipeline are the CG-animated action-adventure show The Secret Explorers, graphic novel adaptation You Wish; an animated magical home makeover show titled Fixie Pixies, and a new original series, Kitty Witch, about a young girl discovers her pet is a member of a secret coven of cat witches.