Stretch Armstrong is Netflix's next big star
The retro plaything is coming to TV
Netflix is developing an original children's show based on the classic, elastic Stretch Armstrong toy.
The animated series, slated for 26 episodes from Hasbro Studios, is an action-comedy starring teenager Jake Armstrong and his best buds. The three receive superhuman stretching powers a la Mister Fantastic after exposure to an experimental chemical - a must-have for any good toy-centric kids show.
The original Stretch Armstrong figure hit the market in 1976 from Kenner. Made of latex and guts of corn syrup, the toy could stretch upwards of five feet in length while still being able to revert to its original shape.
This won't be the limp and limber toy's first attempt to make it on screen, with a film adaptation being passed on by both Relativity Media and Universal Pictures in 2013.
The Netflix series will debut in 2017 alongside The Greenhouse, an adaptation of the Nickelodeon UK show of the same name that was also announced today. That show features rival school houses teaming up to thwart an impending evil.
The third series also revealed today, Lalaoopsy, is a show based on the line of children's dolls made by MGA Entertainment, which will begin its 13-episode run this fall.
"With roughly half of our 75 million members regularly watching kids content, we're happy to expand our original slate with these three great series," said Andy Yeatman, director of kids content at Netflix. "We know kids love Netflix and that's in part because they never really outgrow us."
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Top Image Credit: Alex Beattie (via Flickr)