Northern Star: Nelvana celebrates 50 years of memorable animation

*** This article originally appeared in the June / July '21 issue of Animation magazine (No. 311) ***

If you are a fan of animation, the image of a polar bear observing the North Star will immediately remind you of the famous logo of the Canadian animation studio Nelvana, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in July. Founded by Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith, the studio is best known for a long line of animated TV series and feature films, many based on popular children's books, that have entertained global audiences for five decades.

The studio's list of quality animated hits is pretty amazing: Babar, Clifford the great red dog, Rupert, Franklin, Rolie Polie Oil, Bob and Margaret, Donkey Kong Country, The strange enoughGenitori, Computer tracking, Max & Ruby, High clone, 6 teenager, The Backyardigans, Beyblade, Mike the Knight, Bravest warriors e Esme & Roy are just a few of the many outstanding titles Nelvana has produced over the years. And the studio, which is a subsidiary of Canadian Corus Entertainment, shows no signs of slowing down.

According to Nelvana's president, Pam Westman, who joined the company five years ago, the studio is experiencing a highly productive period. "With the goal of enhancing our development list, expanding our studio's capabilities and maximizing the value of our vast catalog, Nelvana has created an impressive portfolio of content that strengthens our animation expertise and attracts some of the best partners. of content production to the world ".

Mentions the 2020 Emmy awarded to Nelnet studio's internal cloud-based VFX project management system, partnerships with Sesame Workshop on the show Esme & Roy, with Mattel on Thomas & friends: all engines go!, with Nickelodeon on Ollie's package and the next ZJ Sparkleton e The hamster showand catchy titles like The show of dogs and ponies, Agent Binky: Animals of the Universe and the recently announced Super desire to exhibit.

Explore new frontiers

“We are expanding into new content formats, including digital short films, with shows like Miss Person e Cartoon bop, making it a priority to be where kids consume content and feature films, "observes Westman." We also produced our first short film, The most magnificent thing, which has won 27 awards. The short kicked off our program to produce more short films in the future and allowed our team to push our studio's capabilities both technically and creatively, translating key teachings into our other 3D animations such as Agent Binky. "

Among the priorities of the Toronto-based studio in 2021 is the continuation of the production of live-action series such as The Hardy Boys, which premiered on Hulu in the US last year and performed very well for Canada's YTV as well. The studio is also expanding into feature films, having recently announced a partnership with Duncan Studios. "Ken Duncan actually started his career in Nelvana, which helps make this partnership perfect," says Westman. “We already have two films in the works, including This was our deal?, produced with Duncan Studio and Peter Dinklage's Estuary Films, based on the award-winning graphic novel by Ryan Andrews. This magical family adventure will be adapted from wolfwalkers writer Will Collins. The second film is Mother Nature, a richly layered sci-fi fantasy set in a futuristic society. "

The studio, which currently employs around 300 to 325 employees, is also drawing on its in-house talent to develop new concepts and IPs - a recent example is Super desire, a new show created by Nelvana's Vanessa Esteves and Emmy winner Adrian Thatcher. The 2D animated series received the green light from redknot, Nelvana's joint venture with Discovery.

Westman points out that the studio is focusing on fostering internal talent and continuing relationships with global children's entertainment entities such as Sesame Workshop, Nickelodeon and Scholastic. "We have tremendous talent in our studio and access to some of the world's leading children's content creators, but due to some past merchandising hits, there's a misconception that we're more business-oriented," points out. "However, we believe that great storytelling and merchandising success are not mutually exclusive, with dedicated teams supporting both sides to find the right way forward."

Another challenge is the constant need to attract and retain high-level talent in the world of animation. “With the animation industry constantly growing and changing, there is an increase in demand for top-tier talent. We are always looking for unique stories and characters mainly, but not exclusively, in the preschool space. The perfect animated property for Nelvana is one that tells unique stories with multiple seasons distributed globally, challenges our animators to produce cutting-edge content, and leads a successful merchandising program. The ultimate goal is to produce an evergreen brand loved all over the world ".

Make an impact

Westman, who came to Nelvana after many years as a senior vice president at HIT Entertainment (formerly the headquarters of Barney, Angelina Ballerina e Thomas & Friends), says that working in the children's content industry has taught her the impact these programs can have on children around the world. Remember: "I quickly realized that even though I was focused on the business side, the content was what each child individually touched and those memories would stay with them for life. Not many other industries can give you this in your career!"

She says she loves the people who work at Nelvana because they are passionate about the children's content industry. "They are creative and sympathetic to art and to each other," he says. "Their attitude brings joy to our daily working life and you can see it on the screen and feel it in the culture within the studio."

“You have to love our evergreen brands Max & Ruby, Babar e Franklin"says Westman." They have stood the test of time and are loved by generations of children. When you do shows that make their way into children's lives and become fond memories, you have to celebrate it. I also have a special love for Agent Binky: Animals of the Universe as that series combines our Kids Can Press books with our studio talent and our partnership with Discovery to produce a show that's gaining ground around the world.

Looking ahead to the studio, Westman says, "This is a great time to work in animation. The industry is continuing to grow rapidly and we are currently in an animation boom. Animation, mostly in Western markets, it's made for kids, but I think we'll see that evolution in the future as the demo expands into more mainstream content for adults. "

She is also pleased with the study's rapid response to the challenges of last year's pandemic. "We moved Nelvana Enterprises and Nelvana Studio into a safe home-based work environment, sending over 280 workstations to artists and crew members across the Greater Toronto Area, keeping all seven current animation productions on schedule." he claims. Additionally, working closely with the team to accelerate development, we jumped at the opportunity to connect with creators, writers and showrunners who would otherwise have been busy on set and given the green light for five new productions in the game. autumn 2020 and spring 2021. "

Finally, what does Westman hope the animation community will remember about Nelvana, who is named after a Canadian comic book superhero created by Adrian Dingle in the 40s? "The studio is led by the creators," he notes. “We always seek to work with creators to find, develop and produce innovative content, regardless of format. We are also placing a huge emphasis on cultivating our internal talent. We have had so many animation greats starting their careers in Nelvana and we are looking to promote the next wave of renowned talent over the next 50 years! "

For more information, visit www.nelvana.com.

Out of this world

One of Nelvana's hot new titles is the CG animated show Agent Binky: Animals of the Universe. Based on the books by Ashley Spiers, the show centers on a space cat on a mission to protect her human family from interstellar threats with the help of four pets in a secret agency. The second season of the production, produced by redknot (a joint venture of Nelvana and Discovery), will launch in the spring of next year. As older preschoolers can enjoy fantasy and pretend, the creative team behind it Agent Binky they enjoyed imagining the world through their pets' eyes, playing at what they would perceive as threats if they were actually part of an organized protection agency. The show is also part of Nelvana's adventure into CG fur and hair, using Maya's interactive Xgen for the characters' fur and hair.