Disney’s new girl hero is the one and only Fancy Nancy

Consider your childhood dreams officially realized. Fancy Nancy is coming to small screen in a big way. The Disney Junior channel just optioned the popular children’s book for an animated TV movie, series, and lots and lots of merchandising.

The Fancy Nancy book series, celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, is about a plucky young girl, Nancy, who has an adorably silly concept of what fancy means. Basically, she comes up with really creative ways to be more grown-up, or at least, her version of what grown-up looks like.

The print franchise has sold over 28 million copies of the 60 titles and has been translated into more than 20 languages, further proving that just about everybody loves Fancy Nancy, obvs. Did we mention one Fancy Nancy book spent a hundred weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List? No bigs.

The Disney Junior network is a natural fit for the series, as they both target you kids and focus on developing girls’ creativity and self-esteem. Nancy may like to turn everyday objects into “fancy” items, but at heart, she’s all about being her own empowered little girl. (She’s kind of like our other childhood book-bestie, Eloise, in that way.)

“She just likes to make a mark,” explained author Jane O’Connor in an interview with People. “It’s not about being a princess, it’s more about do-it-yourself fanciness. She has a plain room, but she’s rigged up a canopy bed by using a sheet and a broom and a mop to make it into a four-poster.” And don’t think she’s your typical girly-girl character, either. “She plays soccer, has a nature club and does things herself,” adds O’Connor.

Now that Nancy is coming off the page and onto the small screen, O’Connor and illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser are both totally thrilled. O’Connor told Variety, “This is definitely one of those ‘pinch me’ moments. . . Disney Junior was the plus-perfect home for ‘Fancy Nancy.’ ”

The Disney Junior folks are just as glad to be a part of the collaboration, and another Nancy (Gettner, chief of Disney Junior) says, “We are very eager to give her an even bigger stage on which to perform.”

As long as it’s fancy, we think Nancy would approve.

(Images , via)