Netflix Orders Animated World War II Series From A+E Studios

Netflix has picked up an animated series chronicling a World War II infantry regiment's journey across Europe, leading to the liberation of a German concentration camp.


The Liberator comes from Die Hard and The Fugitive screenwriter Jeb Stuart, A+E Studios and Unique Features and is based on a book of the same name by Alex Kershaw. It tells the story of U.S. Army officer Felix Sparks and the 157th Infantry Regiment of Oklahoma, a National Guard unit that was almost continuously engaged in battle for 500 days, from the invasion of Sicily in 1943 to the liberation of the Dachau camp in April 1945.


The pickup adds to Netflix's roster of animated series. Though The Liberator comes form an outside provider, the streaming giant is launching its own in-house animation studio to fuel the explosion in animated content aimed at adults.


The four-part series will be produced with a hybrid animation process called Trioscope, a new technology that blends CGI and live-action performance. (Concept art for the series is at the top of this post.)


Grzegorz Jonkajtys (Pan's Labyrinth, The Revenant) developed Trioscope with L.C. Crowley of the animation studio School of Humans. Both are executive producers on the project, and Jonkajtys will direct all four episodes.


The Liberator was initially developed for History Channel, a corporate sibling of A+E Studios. It is the first project from the studio to land at Netflix.


Along with Stuart, Jonkajtys and Crowley, executive producers include Bob Shaye, Michael Lynne and Sarah Victor of Unique Features; Brandon Barr and Mark Apen of School of Humans; and Barry Jossen of A+E Studios. Author Kershaw is a co-producer.