An Ely author and illustrator will see his family-friendly animated characters brought to life on the CBBC by TV stars Judi Love and Julian Barratt.

Matty Long's Super Happy Magic Forest book series has been turned into a television series by the BBC, which will launch next week.

Matty, who was associate producer, has lived and worked in Ely for the last six years during which four books from the series have been created and published.

In the show, which has been in the works 2016, actors Julian and Judi voice Hoofius and Blossom respectively.

"Getting a show off the ground takes a long time and there are no guarantees at all that you'll even be able to do it," Matty said.

"You need (often multiple) broadcasters on board to raise the budget necessary to get into production.

"It was a really long (and sometimes bumpy) road," he said, adding that everything was signed off in February 2023.

"I jumped on a call where we I learned we had the green light to start production.

"And then things got very busy very quickly - it has been a lot of hard work, but very fun and rewarding too."

Having been consulted and given feedback on all aspects of production, from reading scripts to judging voice talent for the characters, he even got to sit in while Judi and Julian recorded their lines.

"Judi was amazing to be around - she's quite a character," Matty said, adding that he actually met the voices behind all five heroes and give them a picture of the character they played.​​​​​​​

"I helped shape the world we see on screen and made sure it was compatible with what came before in the book," he added. 

"I gave my thoughts on music and theme tune ideas. I feel really lucky to have been as deeply involved as I was, and I can only thank Tiger Aspect, the production company, for welcoming my input so warmly."

Matty added that, although he didn't write any episodes (mostly because he's busy enough writing books), there was "a team of talented writers to do that.

"I got to read all their pitches and outlines and scripts and give my thoughts and sagely wisdom at every stage," he said.

"There are plenty of my own lines and jokes in there though because sometimes I would suggest something and they'd actually put it in!"

Matty also got to work on character design: "This allowed us to be consistent between page and screen and make sure everything had the right Super Happy Magic Forest feel to it.

"So even if I didn't think up the character, I could make it look like I did."

When it came to the animation aspect of the series, Matty even got to visit Florence in Italy where the team at Doghead Studios were busy bringing his story to life.

"It was super insightful and humbling to see everyone working so hard on the show," he said, adding that they all watched an episode with Italian dubbing.

Talking about how the TV show fits with what happens in the books, Matty added: "You'll notice little differences here and there, like Blossom being female and Tiddlywink having a different name.

"I consider the books and TV show to be separate from each other, even though we did our best to make sure they look and feel part of the same world."

In total, Matty has had 13 books published by Oxford University Press, of which three picture books and four chapter books are from his Super Happy Magic Forest series.

The Super Happy Magic Forest series, which is 26 episodes long, will be aired on CBBC at 4.35pm on October 7. Episodes will also be available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

(Image: Matty Long) (Image: Matty Long) (Image: Matty Long) (Image: Matty Long)