Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds, the popular 1980s animated series, is being belatedly adapted into a feature film of the same name — and Asian studio Cosmos-Maya has joined the project as co-producer. Here are the details:

Cosmos-Maya is partnering with Spain’s Apolo Films to produce the cg film, which is being directed by Apolo’s Toni García. The script comes courtesy of veteran animation writer Doug Langdale (The Book of Life, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness).

Based in India and Singapore, Cosmos-Maya has 25 years’ experience producing 2d and 3d animation for young audiences in India and abroad. Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds will mark its first foray into feature filmmaking.

Universal has taken SVOD rights for several key territories, including the U.K., France, and Germany. Cosmos-Maya will handle distribution in Asia. TVE, Lusomundo, and A Contracorriente in Spain are also partners on the film, which has financial support from ICO, Banco Santander, Sodena, and Sonagar.

The original series retold Alexandre Dumas’s classic adventure novel The Three Musketeers with a cast of anthropomorphized dogs (among other animals). Produced in Japan, it was first broadcast in 1981, and went on to find a global audience. It is still airing in more than 100 territories today.

The feature adaptation has been on Cartoon Brew’s radar for a while. Back in 2018, it was pitched at Spain’s 3D Wire (since renamed Weird Market), at which point it was being developed by Apolo.

In a statement, García said, “Dogtanian is very close to our hearts and no stone will be left unturned to recreate this magical IP. The partnership with Cosmos-Maya has been very favorable as they too are very enthusiastic about the venture. It is fascinating to see the levels of workmanship at the studio. There is a culture of sharing and learning, which positively impacts the quality of the output and delivery time. One for all and all for one.”

Anish Mehta, CEO of Cosmos-Maya, added, “Dogtanian marks Cosmos-Maya’s resolute entry into the international feature film business. With 25 years of rich experience in animation production, and the backing of American Private Equity firm KKR, which has a controlling stake in Cosmos-Maya, we are well poised for all round growth. A state-of-the-art independent studio has been set up for high quality feature films, and we’re thrilled to have Dogtanian as our debut project in the feature film division.”

Claudio Biern Boyd, president of Apolo Films, said, “Dogtanian will entertain children as it used to do their parents 40 years ago, following our philosophy: make kids happy. We are very proud of the co-production deal with Cosmos-Maya mixing creativity, high quality, and worldwide known brands. We’re beginning a strong relationship.”