Creator Marc Brown is pivoting from aardvarks to frogs for his first kids TV project since his iconic series Arthur ended its run on PBS KIDS last winter.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s super-streamer Max has ordered Hop, a new 2D-animated preschool series co-created by Brown and fellow Arthur alums Tolon Brown (writer/producer) and Peter Hirsch (writer).

Designed to teach young kids about embracing people’s differences, the comedy centers around Hop—an empathetic six-year-old frog with one leg shorter than the other—and his eclectic group of animal friends. Hop is voiced by Broadway actor and disability advocate David Connolly, who happens to be a below-knee double amputee and is the first amputee to have performed on Broadway. Another main character, Filipa the squirrel, happens to be neuro-divergent and is voiced by Charlotte Walker, a new voice actor and current student at George Brown College in Toronto who also happens to be autistic.

Canadian prodco Epic Story Media is producing the series, with animation services provided by its Quebec-based subsidiary, Loomi Animation. Epic founder Ken Faier launched Loomi in 2020 with Steve Couture to focus on original animated content and third-party projects.

Respectability—a leading advocacy org for people with disabilities—has also joined the team working on Hop as a consultant.

Brown came up with the show concept before Arthur ended, and drew inspiration from the work of Fred Rogers, he said in a release. Characters with disabilities were occasionally introduced in Arthur, but they never played a meaningful or lasting role. In Hop, some of the ensemble have disabilities, but their disabilities won’t define who they are or what they can achieve, said Brown.

Max hasn’t yet announced a launch date for the new show or elaborated on how many episodes it has ordered.

The greenlight reinforces the streamer’s recent push into programming more kids content. Max recently ordered  Atomic Cartoons’ 2D-animated series Mermicorno: Starfall for an exclusive US launch in 2025.