Well, this sounds like it could be a whole load of fun. Yes, as the headline suggests, Willy Fog is to get the feature-film treatment.

From Apolo Films – as first picked up on by Simon Brew over at Film Stories – a new Around the World with Willy Fog movie is in the works. Apolo Films is also the group behind the in-development Dogtanian and the Muskehounds picture that was announced this past February, and this Willy Fog offering will likewise be a 90-minute CG adventure.

The early official word on Around the World with Willy Fog reads:

Willy Fog is an eccentric English student who bets all the fortune of his family against the son of England’s bank director and other members of the University Residence, claiming he will be able to complete a round-the-world trip in 80 days, with London as the departure and arrival point. He embarks on an adventure full with action and comedy, accompanied by his friends Rigodon, Tico, and Romy, an Indian princess with a mysterious past. Inspired by one of the most famous novels by Jules Verne.

Similarly loosely based on the 1873 Jules Verne novel, the original Around the World with Willy Fog was a cartoon series that ran for a total of 26 episodes in 1983 (or 1984 for UK viewers). Seeing a gaggle of anthropomorphic characters embark on all kinds of antics across the globe, the show still remains a huge favourite of many to this very day.

A sequel series – titled simply Willy Fog 2 – served up a further 26 episodes in 1993, plus a couple of TV movies, and even a 2008 live-action musical show in Spain.

Expect more on this new Around the World with Willy Fog as we get it. In the meantime, we couldn’t not dig up this absolute delight…