Nelvana facts for kids
Logo used since 2016
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| Subsidiary | |
| Traded as | TSX: NEL (until 2000) NASDAQ: NELV (until 2000) |
| Industry |
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| Predecessor | Laff Arts |
| Founded | July 30, 1971 |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters |
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Canada
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| Products | Consisting mainly of children's animation; see also list of Nelvana programs |
| Revenue | C$600 million (2001) |
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Number of employees
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200+ (2021) |
| Parent | Corus Entertainment (2000–present) |
Nelvana Limited is a Canadian animation studio. It is also an entertainment production company. Corus Entertainment has owned Nelvana since 2000.
Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert, and Clive A. Smith started the company in July 1971. They named it after Nelvana of the Northern Lights. She was the first Canadian national superhero. The company's logo shows a polar bear looking at Polaris, the North Star.
Nelvana is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It also has offices in France, Ireland, and Japan. The company makes many films, shows, and specials. These are often based on popular books or characters. Nelvana also creates its own original shows. While it mostly makes shows for kids, Nelvana has also helped produce some animated shows for adults.
Nelvana International helps distribute some Nickelodeon shows. These include Taina, the first five seasons of The Fairly OddParents, and The Backyardigans. By 2001, Nelvana had created over 1,650 half-hours of original shows.
Contents
History of Nelvana
How it All Started: Laff Arts
Michael Hirsh and Patrick Loubert became friends at York University in Canada in 1967. They enjoyed making films with other students. Loubert was inspired by an Italian film director he met while traveling.
At that time, the Canadian film industry was just beginning. Loubert, Hirsh, and their friends Jack Christie and Peter Dewdney started a small company called Laff Arts. They made short, experimental films. Vitaphone animator-designer Clive A. Smith joined them in Toronto. Smith had worked on the Beatles' animated series and the 1968 film Yellow Submarine.
Smith designed the company's funny business card. Laff Arts was later closed because an advertising agency said its name was not professional.
The Birth of Nelvana
Hirsh, Loubert, and Smith founded Nelvana in 1971. Hirsh remembered that there was no animation or TV production industry in Canada then. They wanted to create shows for sale around the world.
They bought the rights to old Canadian comic books from the 1940s. Then, they made a TV documentary about Canadian comics for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). They also toured art from the National Gallery of Canada. This tour, "Comic Art Traditions in Canada, 1941–45," showed Canada's comic heritage. Hirsh and Loubert also wrote a book called The Great Canadian Comic Books. During this time, the new company was named Nelvana. It was named after the World War II-era Canadian comic book superheroine Nelvana of the Northern Lights.
Nelvana's first office was an old apartment in downtown Toronto. They even used a homemade camera stand over a toilet. Hirsh said they would stack phone books under the artwork to create zooms. For their first year and a half, they used a credit card to pay for things. Nelvana made documentaries and live-action films in the early 1970s. They also made ten short animated films for the CBC.
One of their first shows was Small Star Cinema for the CBC. It mixed live-action and animation to tell stories from a child's view. Then came Nelvana's first TV special, Christmas Two Step, in 1975.
Nelvana also worked on other TV specials. These included A Cosmic Christmas (1977) and The Devil and Daniel Mouse (1978). In 1978, George Lucas liked A Cosmic Christmas. He asked Nelvana to create a 10-minute animated part for the Star Wars Holiday Special. This part, called "The Faithful Wookiee," introduced the bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Nelvana in the 1980s
In the early 1980s, Nelvana decided to make its first full-length movie, Rock & Rule. This movie was inspired by The Devil and Daniel Mouse. It took five years to make and cost $8 million. The film was released in 1983 but did not do well financially. To survive, the company focused on children's TV series.
These shows included their first live-action series: The Edison Twins, 20 Minute Workout, and Mr. Microchip. They also worked on the first season of Inspector Gadget.
Nelvana also made TV specials based on American Greetings characters. These included The Magic of Herself the Elf and three Strawberry Shortcake specials. They also made shows based on AmToy toys, Madballs and My Pet Monster.
One of Nelvana's biggest successes came with the Care Bears. Nelvana got the rights to these characters from American Greetings. In 1985, the first Care Bears movie earned a lot of money. This success led to two more movies, A New Generation and Adventure in Wonderland. It also led to a TV series.
Nelvana also co-produced Droids and Ewoks. These were Saturday-morning shows based on Star Wars.
In 1987, Michael Hirsh co-produced Nelvana's first live-action comedy movie, Burglar. It was the first live-action movie the company had co-produced.
In 1988, Nelvana and Scholastic Corporation made a video series called The Video Adventures of Clifford the Big Red Dog.
The company's fourth live-action series, T. and T., started in 1988. It starred Mr. T and Kristina Nicoll. Nelvana faced financial trouble when the show's U.S. distributor went out of business. But they found a new distributor and were saved. Nelvana also had a facility for making TV commercials called BearSpots until 1993.
As the 1980s ended, Nelvana had another big success with a film and an HBO TV show based on Jean de Brunhoff's Babar books. This was their first international co-production. In September 1989, ABC started airing Beetlejuice. This show was co-produced by Nelvana and based on Tim Burton's film.
Nelvana in the 1990s
After Babar became popular, Nelvana got the rights to animate other famous stories. These included The Adventures of Tintin, Little Bear, The Magic School Bus, and Rupert Bear. Nelvana also had its own successful shows like Eek! The Cat, Dog City, and Ned's Newt.
In 1993, Nelvana signed a deal to co-produce five movies for Paramount Pictures. These movies were based on books by E. B. White, Clive Barker, and Graeme Base. However, none of these films were fully completed.
Other Nelvana movies were released by different companies. A 1993 live-action thriller called Malice was released by Columbia Pictures. In 1997, Nelvana's Pippi Longstocking movie came out. Babar: King of the Elephants was released in Canada in 1999. Only Malice did well at the box office in North America.
In 1993, Nelvana co-produced Cadillacs and Dinosaurs for CBS. It was based on a comic book and lasted only one season.
In September 1995, Nelvana co-produced Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys TV series. These were based on the popular book series. However, these shows were canceled in December.
In 1997, a small computer animation company called Windlight Studios joined Nelvana. Scott Dyer, one of its founders, later became a senior vice-president at Nelvana.
In late 1997, Nelvana and the United Kingdom's Channel 4 started working on Bob and Margaret. This was Nelvana's first animated show for adults since Rock & Rule. It was based on an Academy Award-winning short film.
In 1998, Nelvana made a deal with CBS to create a new Saturday morning animation block. This block, called CBS Kidshow, featured six new series based on children's books. All shows followed U.S. educational programming rules. In August 1998, Nelvana bought Kids Can Press. This company publishes children's books like Franklin and Elliot Moose. This made Nelvana an "integrated company."
The company's first two computer-animated shows premiered in 1998. These were Donkey Kong Country and Rolie Polie Olie.
In March 1999, Nelvana's earnings increased a lot. This was due to more original shows, sales of its existing shows, the deal with CBS, and buying Kids Can Press. In August 1999, Nelvana announced a big deal to produce six new series for a PBS block. These shows, including Corduroy and Timothy Goes to School, launched in September as part of PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch. That same month, Nelvana got the North American rights to its first anime show, Cardcaptor Sakura. It was renamed Cardcaptors for its English version.
Nelvana in the 2000s
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In April 2000, Nelvana planned to launch two new digital TV channels. "The Nelvana Channel" would show the company's library of material. "Booknet" would focus on adaptations of books. These channels were approved but never launched.
On April 14, 2000, Nelvana bought Klutz Press, a children's book publisher. This was Nelvana's biggest purchase at the time.
In September 2000, Corus Entertainment bought Nelvana for $540 million. Corus saw this as a good fit for its children's TV networks, like YTV and Treehouse.
A year after Corus bought Nelvana, co-founders Loubert and Smith left the studio.
In 2001, Nelvana got the rights to the English version of another anime series, Medabots. In January 2002, Beyblade became its third anime property.
On November 5, 2001, Nelvana bought all rights to Babar, except for the publishing rights.
In October 2002, Corus announced that Hirsh was leaving. Paul Robertson became the new leader of the studio.
In September 2003, Corus launched their home entertainment division. This division distributed Nelvana titles like Redwall and Tales from the Cryptkeeper. Later, Shout! Factory took over home video distribution for Nelvana's shows.
In May 2006, NBC Universal and Nelvana, along with other companies, created Qubo. Qubo was a children's educational TV brand in the U.S.
In September 2006, Nelvana's studio operations joined Corus' children's TV division. Scott Dyer became the head of this division. Nelvana then focused on distributing its shows internationally and licensing its characters.
In October 2006, Nelvana made a deal with Spin Master and Japanese partners to create the new anime show Bakugan Battle Brawlers. The series started in Canada in 2007 and became very popular. In 2008, Cartoon Network bought the merchandising rights for the U.S. The show ran for four seasons and made billions in merchandise sales.
Nelvana in the 2010s
After Bakugan, Nelvana worked on another anime show, bringing back Beyblade. Beyblade: Metal Fusion started in 2010 and ran for many episodes. It also inspired other shows.
Their next show, Mike the Knight, started in 2011. It was a co-production with HIT Entertainment.
Detentionaire was produced between 2011 and 2015. It aired on Teletoon and internationally.
In 2012, Corus Entertainment bought Toon Boom, a Canadian animation software company. Nelvana had already used Toon Boom's software for shows like 6teen and Ruby Gloom. After this, all of Nelvana's 2D animated shows used Toon Boom's products.
Scott Dyer became president of Nelvana in 2015. The next year, Pam Westman became head of Nelvana.
On October 19, 2016, Nelvana changed its logo for its 45th anniversary. This also showed a new focus on creator-driven projects and international co-productions. At MIPCOM that year, Nelvana showed new shows like Esme & Roy, Hotel Transylvania: The Series, and Mysticons. They also presented Bravest Warriors and Corn & Peg.
In October 2017, Nelvana and Discovery Communications started a new company called "redknot." This company creates children's content for Canada, Latin America, and other parts of the world. Their first projects included The Dog & Pony Show and Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe.
In 2018, Nelvana chose Cinedigm as its new U.S. home video partner. In late 2018, the company relaunched Bakugan with Bakugan: Battle Planet.
The studio released its first short film, The Most Magnificent Thing, in 2019. This film showed off their technical skills. Later that year, Dyer retired, and Westman took his place.
Nelvana in the 2020s
In October 2020, Nelvana agreed to co-produce Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go with Mattel Television. This was a new 2D-animated version of the original Thomas & Friends series. That same month, the company made a deal with Duncan Studio to produce animated movies. The first movie announced was based on the novel This Was Our Pact.
In July 2024, Corus Entertainment made budget cuts and layoffs. Some positions at Nelvana were removed, and development of new projects was paused. Corus said they were making tough decisions to focus on efficiency. In 2023, Corus sold its software company Toon Boom Animation to help pay down its debt.
Nelvana's Popular Shows and Movies
Nelvana has made many TV shows based on characters from other companies. Most of these started as books or comic books. Some examples include Blazing Dragons, Stickin' Around, Wayside, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, The Adventures of Tintin, Babar, Franklin, Little Bear, The Magic School Bus, Pippi Longstocking, Redwall, and Rupert.
Nelvana has also had great success with animated shows based on toys. The Care Bears are a very well-known example. They also made shows and specials based on Strawberry Shortcake, Madballs, My Pet Monster, and Rescue Heroes.
The company has also adapted big movies into TV shows. These include Star Wars (with Droids and Ewoks), Beetlejuice, An American Tail, Free Willy, and The Neverending Story. Nelvana even made a show based on a video game, Donkey Kong Country.
In the world of anime, Nelvana has the North American rights to Cardcaptor Sakura. It also has international rights to Beyblade, Medabots, and the Bakugan shows.
Nelvana also has many original shows and characters. Some of their notable animated series that were not adapted from older works include 6teen, Clone High, Birdz, Corn & Peg, and Eek! The Cat.
By 2008, the studio had made almost 25 feature films for theaters, home video, and TV. Famous movies include Rock & Rule, the first five Care Bears films, two Babar films, and the 1997 Pippi Longstocking.
Live-action projects have been a part of Nelvana since its early days. The company made its own live-action movies like Burglar and Malice. They also helped with Star Wars Holiday Special and Three Amigos. On TV, Nelvana has made live-action shows such as The Edison Twins, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and Life with Boys.
On February 5, 2013, Nelvana launched the Treehouse Direct channel on YouTube. In April 2015, they launched another YouTube channel called "Nelvana Retro," which later became "YTV Direct" and then Keep it Weird.
Nelvana Around the World
The Fairly OddParents was distributed by Nelvana outside the U.S. from 2001 to 2005. This show was very popular on Nickelodeon, YTV, and the BBC. It was also successful in Europe, Latin America, Australia, and Canada. Nickelodeon's Taina was also distributed by Nelvana in 2001 and 2002. Nick Jr.'s The Backyardigans was co-produced and distributed by Nelvana outside the U.S.
In the United States, Nelvana's shows have been broadcast on TV networks and streaming services. Internationally, they have been shown on over 360 TV stations in more than 180 countries, in about 50 languages.
People Who Worked at Nelvana
Many talented people have worked at Nelvana over the years. Some well-known animators include Wayne Gilbert, Peter Hudecki, and Vincenzo Natali. Famous voice actors who have worked for the studio include Tara Strong, Cree Summer, Maurice LaMarche, and Michael Cera. The British and Canadian duo of Alison Snowden and David Fine won an Academy Award for animation before working for Nelvana.
Some former Nelvana employees went on to work at Walt Disney Feature Animation and DreamWorks Animation. For example, Roger Allers worked on The Lion King and Cars. Lenora Hume, who worked at Nelvana in its early years, is now a senior vice-president at DisneyToon Studios and Pixar.
See also
In Spanish: Nelvana Limited para niños
- Cinema of Canada
- History of Canadian film
- History of Canadian animation
- List of Nelvana programs
Related Canadian Companies
- National Film Board of Canada
- Cookie Jar Group
- CinéGroupe
- WildBrain
Related International Companies
