The Rastamouse Company, rights holder of the Rastamouse brand, has begun production on the stop-motion animated preschool series "Rastamouse," 52x11, for CBeebies. The show is scheduled to air in early 2011.

The series will be produced by Greg Boardman and Eugenio Perez of independent production company Three Stones Media in association with Dinamo Productions and publisher Little Roots. DHX Media subsidiaries Decode Enterprises and DHX Licensing will handle worldwide TV sales (excluding the U.K.), and worldwide licensing and merchandising.

EMI Music Publishing has recognized the potential of Rastamouse as a music brand and will be supporting and investing in the show. The reggae-inspired soundtrack will be produced by The Rastamouse Company and U.K. composer Andrew Kingslow. Further investment in the production comes from the Wales Creative IP fund.

"Rastamouse" is based on the books by Michael De Souza and Genevieve Webster. The main character, Rastamouse, together with Scratchy and Zoomer, make up the "easy crew;" a crime-fighting, mystery-solving, special agent, reggae band.