Tezuka Productions, Shibuya Productions and Caribara Animation this morning officially announced plans for a television reboot of Astro Boy, the beloved robot created by manga and anime legend Osamu Tezuka. Shibuya had teased the announcement on Sunday with the release of a poster.

Variety reports the series, which will consist of 26 half-hour episodes, will target viewers ages 8 to 12 with a mix of 2D and CG animation. Astro Boy will boast contemporary designs in a present-day setting, and will feature of mix of old and new characters and elements. Tezuka Productions is also collaborating with Yomiuri TV Enterprises on Little Astro Boy, a series of five- to seven-minute "edutainment" shorts geared to pre-schoolers.

The first teaser for the new Astro Boy is expected in September.Introduced in a manga series published from 1952 to 1968, Astro Boy is a powerful robot created by the head of the Ministry of Science, Dr. Tenma (aka Dr. Astor Boyton II), to replace his dead son. The scientist soon rejects Astro Boy, who eventually ends up in the care of the kind, new head of the Ministry of Science, where he fights evil and injustice.

Astro Boy has been adapted several times for television, most famously in 1963, and most recently for the big screen in 2009 in a CG-animated film that grossed just $44 million worldwide.