"The Chosen," the hit television show about the life of Jesus and his disciples, is expanding its programming to new audiences. Now, the multi-season TV phenomenon is releasing an animated version of the series for children as the increasingly popular live-action version is also being translated into more than 50 languages. 

"The Chosen Adventures" is a new animated series created by the same team.

It "follows nine-year-old Abby and her best friend Joshua as they navigate life in the ancient city of Capernaum," the series synopsis explains. "When the children encounter a wise craftsman and teacher, Jesus of Nazareth, he changes the way they see the world."

Dallas Jenkins, creator, writer, and director of "The Chosen," says he has envisioned this project since season one. 

"When we were first devising Season 1, I remember specifically saying, 'I'd love to do an episode where we are really spending time with Jesus and we are seeing him through the eyes of children,'" he said in a YouTube announcement last year. 
 

An episode entitled "Jesus Loves the Little Children" premiered during Season 1, but Jenkins and his team wanted to take it a step further.

"We did have this thought of, 'Boy, it would be interesting to kind of dive deeper,'" Jenkins continued. "Like what happens to those kids after they've met Jesus."

The creative team admits that the new series, which will feature some of the original cast including Jonathan Roumie as Jesus and Paras Patel, Brandon Potter, Noah James, and George H. Xanthis as their respective characters, will take a lighter approach to the retelling of the Gospels. 

"So what this show offers me the opportunity to do is to give you a break and to say, have an enjoyable walk with Jesus," said creator, executive producer, and writer Ryan Swanson.

"Now kids can see Jesus through the eyes of kids," Jenkins added. 

"The Chosen Adventures" will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on October 17. 

Meanwhile, The Chosen is one step closer to translating the entire series into more than 600 languages.

Jenkins previously explained that the series has partnered with The Come and See Foundation, a nonprofit, to make it more globally accessible and free to people around the world.

"Fewer than 5% of global Chosen viewers pay to watch the show, and that's because of the people around the world who donate to keep the show free and easy to watch and translated into as many languages as possible. This free global launch is why we do what we do," said Jenkins.

"The Chosen" is now a Guinness World Records holder because Season 1 of the Bible series as been dubbed into 58 languages and given closed captions in 86 languages.

Come and See is also working to make sure that all seven seasons of the show will be available and free to watch. The creative team recently announced that Season 5 is now available for streaming on the series' official app. 

"We are so pleased the moment millions have been waiting for is finally here – Season 5 of The Chosen is now accessible and free to all, no matter where they are in the world," said James Barnett, CEO of Come and See. "We were thrilled to see people engage with The Chosen in theaters, but there is something incredibly powerful about knowing this story and experience are now truly free to the world with this release on the app." 

All episodes of The Chosen are also available in The Chosen Lite app, a simplified, lighter version of the flagship app designed specifically for audiences in low-bandwidth regions or for those using older devices.

***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***