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Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian
animation studio An animation studio is a company producing animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales or rentals o ...
and entertainment company owned by
Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian mass media company. Formed in 1999 as a spin-off from Shaw Communications, it has prominent holdings in the radio, publishing, and television industries. It is headquartered at Corus Quay in Toronto, Ont ...
. Founded in 1971 by Michael Hirsh,
Patrick Loubert Patrick Loubert (born 1947 in Toronto, Ontario) is one of the founders of the Canadian animation studio, Nelvana Limited, along with Clive A. Smith and Michael Hirsh. He has produced, and executive-produced, much of the company's most memorable f ...
and
Clive A. Smith Clive A. Smith (often credited as Clive Smith) is a British expatriate director and animator who, with Michael Hirsh and Patrick Loubert, founded Canadian animation studio Nelvana in 1971.
, it was named after
Nelvana of the Northern Lights Nelvana of the Northern Lights is a Canadian comic book fictional character, character and the first Canadian national superhero, debuting in Hillborough Studios' ''Triumph-Adventure Comics'' #1 (Aug. 1941). She is also Superhero#Growth in diversi ...
, the first Canadian national superhero, who was created by Adrian Dingle. The company's production logo is a
polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear spec ...
looking at Polaris, the North Star. The company is based in
Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, and it maintains international offices in France, Ireland and Japan, as well as smaller offices in the top three cities in the U.S. Many of its films, shows and specials are based on licensed properties and literature, but original programming is also part of its roster. Although the company specializes in children's media, Nelvana has also co-produced adult animations like ''
Clone High ''Clone High'' (occasionally referred to in the United States as ''Clone High USA'') is an adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Bill Lawrence. The show centers on a high school populated by the c ...
'', '' John Callahan's Quads'', '' Bob & Margaret'', and '' Committed''. Nelvana International distributes
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
's '' Taina'', and the first five seasons of ''
The Fairly OddParents ''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda who grant him ...
''."Corus' Nelvana expands strategic relationship with Nickelodeon for international distribution of "Taina's World" and "The Fairly Odd Parents""
The Free Library. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
, its library comprised more than 1,650 cumulative half-hours of original programming.


History


1960s

Founders Michael Hirsh and Patrick Loubert first met at
York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and sta ...
in 1967, and were also filmmakers, making films with other students. This was Loubert's first experience with filming, as he commented on it: Since a television and film industry in Canada was scarce at the time, Loubert, Hirsh and their friends Jack Christie and Peter Dewdney from York University, began running a small company named Laff Arts. The studio would be involved in the production of small experimental films during their lifetime. It was then on a phone call when they would first meet Clive A. Smith. He actually had a history with himself, beginning his career in 1964, being an animator on
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
and
The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...
. Smith then moved to Canada to work on short films and commercials. Smith designed the
business card Business cards are cards bearing business information about a company or individual. They are shared during formal introductions as a convenience and a memory aid. A business card typically includes the giver's name, company or business af ...
for the company. It showed a suited businessman on the front. When you opened the card, his pants would fall down. At one point, at the end of the company's existence, people from an ad agency told the company that they had to quit using the Laff Arts name because it was too wacky. Hirsh recalled: By the early 1970s, Laff Arts was no longer being used as a name.


1970s

Nelvana started in 1971 when two graduates of
York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and sta ...
, Michael Hirsh and
Patrick Loubert Patrick Loubert (born 1947 in Toronto, Ontario) is one of the founders of the Canadian animation studio, Nelvana Limited, along with Clive A. Smith and Michael Hirsh. He has produced, and executive-produced, much of the company's most memorable f ...
, teamed up with a
Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one ...
animator-designer
Clive A. Smith Clive A. Smith (often credited as Clive Smith) is a British expatriate director and animator who, with Michael Hirsh and Patrick Loubert, founded Canadian animation studio Nelvana in 1971.
in
Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. Hirsh and Loubert, who had a passion for
underground film An underground film is a film that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre or financing. Notable examples include: John Waters' ''Pink Flamingos'', David Lynch's ''Eraserhead'', Andy Warhol's '' Blue Movie'', Rosa von Praunheim's '' ...
making, had founded a small company called Laff Arts in the late 1960s. Smith, whose interest was in
rock n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...
music, had previously been among the crew for
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
'
animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...
and their 1968 film, '' Yellow Submarine''. Hirsh has commented on the background of Nelvana's founding: Soon after they saw a collection of local
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
s from the 1940s and acquired the ownership rights. In turn, they made a half-hour television documentary for the CBC focusing on Canadian comics. Their two-year traveling tour of the art from the
National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...
, "Comic Art Traditions in Canada, 1941–45", gave locals a chance to revisit the country's past heritage in that field. Meanwhile, Hirsh and Loubert collaborated on a related primer from Peter Martin and Associates, '' The Great Canadian Comic Books''. Amid all this success, Hirsh, Loubert and Smith named their new enterprise Nelvana—after a Canadian comic book
superheroine A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, o ...
from
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
,
Nelvana of the Northern Lights Nelvana of the Northern Lights is a Canadian comic book fictional character, character and the first Canadian national superhero, debuting in Hillborough Studios' ''Triumph-Adventure Comics'' #1 (Aug. 1941). She is also Superhero#Growth in diversi ...
, who was one of the characters in the ''
Canadian Whites Canadian Whites were World War II-era comic books published in Canada that featured colour covers with black-and-white interiors. Notable characters include Nelvana of the Northern Lights, Johnny Canuck, Brok Windsor, and Canada Jack. The perio ...
'' canon. A derelict apartment in downtown Toronto served as the company's first building, and a homemade wooden stand mounted over a toilet was among its first camera equipment. "To create zooms," Hirsh recalled of his early experience with this machine, "we would pile up phone books under the art work." During their first year and a half, the trio lived off a superfluous
Chargex Visa Inc. (; stylized as ''VISA'') is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded cred ...
credit card that Loubert received at university, spending up to C$7,500 on it before they reclaimed double that cost as their first ever transaction. Under those conditions, Nelvana was involved in the production of documentaries and live-action films during the early 1970s. In the area of part-time animation work, they made ten C$1,500 fillers for the CBC. Among the studio's first productions was a low-budget CBC
short subject A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
series, '' Small Star Cinema'', which combined live-action and animation to tell stories of ordinary life from a child's point of view. It was followed by Nelvana's first ever television special '' Christmas Two Step'' in 1975, a similarly styled special in which a girl tries to be a lead dancer at a Christmas pageant. When Nelvana was founded in 1971, their original goal was to create live-action productions involving animation in them during their early days. Nelvana worked on their first television specials: ''
A Cosmic Christmas ''A Cosmic Christmas'' is a 1977 American-Canadian Christmas animated television special, premiering on CBC Television, CBC in Canada and in syndication in the United States on 4 December 1977. A Cosmic Christmas is the first special in the 1977 ...
'' (1977), ''
The Devil and Daniel Mouse ''The Devil and Daniel Mouse'' is a 1978 Canadian animated Halloween television special, based on the 1936 short tale ''The Devil and Daniel Webster'' by Stephen Vincent Benét. ''The Devil and Daniel Mouse'' is the second television special prod ...
'' (1978), ''
Romie-0 and Julie-8 ''Romie-0 and Julie-8'' is a 1979 Canadian animated television special, inspired by William Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet''. Set in the future, the two romantic leads in this version are androids who fall in love despite a taboo against their ki ...
'' (1979), ''Please Don't Eat the Planet'' (better known by its subtitle, ''
Intergalactic Thanksgiving ''Intergalactic Thanksgiving'', sometimes known as ''Please Don't Eat The Planet'', is a 1979 Canadian Thanksgiving animated television special that premiered on CBC and in the United States in syndication on November 22, 1979. ''Intergalactic Th ...
'') (1979), '' Easter Fever'' (1980) and '' Take Me Up to the Ball Game'' (1980). During that time,
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the '' Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as c ...
, who was impressed with ''A Cosmic Christmas'', commissioned the company to work on a 10-minute sequence for the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
and
CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...
TV film, ''
Star Wars Holiday Special The ''Star Wars Holiday Special'' is a 1978 American television special that originally aired on November 17, 1978, on CBS. It is set in the universe of the sci-fi-based ''Star Wars'' media franchise. Directed by Steve Binder, it was the first ...
'' in 1978. This short scene, officially entitled "The Faithful Wookiee", would not only feature the original character's voices including
Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...
,
Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the '' Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards ...
,
Carrie Fisher Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress and writer. She played Princess Leia in the ''Star Wars'' films (1977–1983). She reprised the role in'' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015), ''The Last ...
,
Anthony Daniels Anthony Daniels ( ; born 21 February 1946) is an English actor and mime artist, best known for playing in 10 '' Star Wars'' films. He is the only actor to have either appeared in or been involved with all theatrical films in the series, and ...
and
James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...
, but also introduce audiences to the villainous bounty hunter
Boba Fett Boba Fett ( ) is a fictional character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise. First appearing in the ''Star Wars Holiday Special'' (1978), where he was voiced by Don Francks, he is an armored bounty hunter featured in both the original and prequel ...
, who would not make his first theatrical appearance until two years later in 1980's ''
The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a stor ...
''. This first animated appearance created a great buzz around the new character. Nelvana also started to use the polar bear as its mascot.


1980s

At the beginning of the 1980s, Nelvana was offered the chance to work on '' Heavy Metal'', an animated anthology of science fiction stories that studios in Canada and other countries were working on. Nelvana declined this opportunity, instead going on to concentrate on the production of its first feature film, ''
Rock & Rule ''Rock & Rule'' (known as ''Ring of Power'' outside North America) is a 1983 Canadian adult animated musical science fantasy film featuring the voices of Don Francks, Greg Salata and Susan Roman. It was produced and directed by Michael Hirsh, Pa ...
''. Based heavily on the earlier special ''The Devil and Daniel Mouse'', and originally titled ''Drats!'', the film was produced for five years using all of the studio's resources, totalling $8 million. Upon its release by MGM/UA in 1983, it received little promotion in the U.S. and quickly disappeared at the box office. The financial demise of ''Rock & Rule'' would have ended Nelvana's operations altogether, had the company never saved themselves from debt by working full-time on children's television series. On its agenda at that time were its first three live-action franchises, ''
The Edison Twins ''The Edison Twins'' is a Canadian children's television program which ran for six seasons on CBC Television from March 3, 1984 to December 17, 1986. The Disney Channel also picked up the rights in the mid-1980s. Six seasons were produced by Nelv ...
'', ''
20 Minute Workout ''20 Minute Workout'' is a Canadian-produced aerobics-based television program that ran from 1983 to 1984, in which "a bevy of beautiful girls" demonstrated exercise on a rotating platform. Series background ''20 Minute Workout'' was created by ...
'' and '' Mr. Microchip''. With
DIC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production com ...
, Nelvana worked on the first season of ''
Inspector Gadget ''Inspector Gadget'' is a media franchise that began in 1983 with the DIC Entertainment animated television series '' Inspector Gadget''. Since the original series, there have been many spin-offs based on the show, including additional animated ...
'', and animated the pilot episode of ''
The Get Along Gang ''The Get Along Gang'' is a group of characters created in 1983 by Tony Byrd, Tom Jacobs, Ralph Shaffer, Linda Edwards, Muriel Fahrion, and Mark Spangler for American Greetings' toy design and licensing division, "Those Characters from Cleveland" ( ...
''. Early in the decade, the company worked on four television specials based on
American Greetings American Greetings Corporation is a privately owned American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards. Based in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, the company sells paper greeting cards, electr ...
properties. They were ''
The Magic of Herself the Elf ''The Magic of Herself the Elf'' (also known by its on-screen title, ''The Special Magic of Herself the Elf'') is a 1983 American animated television special that premiered in the United States on July 30, 1983 in broadcast syndication. The specia ...
'', based on
Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in mor ...
's
toy line A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include Toy block, toy blocks, Board game, board games, and Doll, dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed sp ...
; '' Strawberry Shortcake: Housewarming Surprise''; ''
Strawberry Shortcake and the Baby Without a Name ''Strawberry Shortcake and the Baby Without a Name'' is an 1984 American animated television special that first premiered on March 24, 1984, in New York City and on March 30 in Los Angeles, California. This is the second Strawberry Shortcake televi ...
''; and '' Strawberry Shortcake Meets the Berrykins'', the last three of which featured the eponymous doll. There were two shows from Nelvana based on the AmToy properties, ''
Madballs ''Madballs'' is a series of toy foam balls originally created by AmToy, a subsidiary company of American Greetings (Now Cloudco Entertainment) in the mid-1980s, later being revived by Art Asylum (2007–2008) and Just Play, Inc. (2017–2019). ...
'' and ''
My Pet Monster My Pet Monster is a character that began as a plush doll first produced by American Greetings in 1986. It has horns, blue fur, and a fanged smile, wearing breakaway orange plastic handcuffs. The property was sold to Saban Brands in 2012. Then in ...
''. Despite the successes of their earlier works, perhaps its greatest success at the time came in the form of the
Care Bears Care Bears are multi-colored bears, originally painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. In 1983, the characters were turned into plush teddy bears. The characters headlined their own televis ...
, thanks to its acquisition of the character rights from American Greetings, the franchise owners. In early 1985, the first film based on the toy line turned the company's assets around, grossing US$23 million in the U.S., and another $1.5 million in its native Canada. Its tremendous success gave way to two more feature films, '' A New Generation'' and '' Adventure in Wonderland'', as well as a
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
. In the area of science fiction, Nelvana produced '' Droids'' and '' Ewoks'', two Saturday-morning series based on ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
''. At one point, there was talk of an animated CBS show from the studio, based on BBC's ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...
''; the plan never came to fruition, but concept art was created by Ted Bastien. For
Orion Pictures Orion Pictures (legal name Orion Releasing, LLC) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Amazon through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsidiary. In its original operating period, the company produced and released films ...
' 1986 live-action western comedy, ''
Three Amigos ''Three Amigos'' (stylized as ''¡Three Amigos!'') is a 1986 American Western comedy film directed by John Landis, written by Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, and Randy Newman (who also wrote the film's songs), and starring Chevy Chase, Steve ...
'', the company made use of lip-sync animation for a musical sequence in which the main characters sing a song at a campfire, with their horses singing along. In 1987, Michael Hirsh produced Nelvana's first self-made film of this calibre, the comedy feature ''
Burglar Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murd ...
'', which was the first live-action feature film the company had ever produced. Also in 1987, the company, along with independent filmmaker Pierre David, film, video, and television production company Malofilm Group, and home video distributor New Star Entertainment, formed Image Organization, an independent production company that mainly specialized in the thriller genre and tied itself to over 100 films in the international market by 1996. Nelvana and New Star would sell their shares in the company to David and Malofilm in 1989. In 1988, Nelvana and
Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...
produced a video series of The Video Adventures of Clifford the Big Red Dog based on the 1962 book. It was also distributed by
Family Home Entertainment Family Home Entertainment (FHE) was an American home video company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California. History The company was founde ...
on the video releases. The company's fourth live-action series, '' T. and T.'', premiered in 1988 on Canada's
Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...
network. The show's titular duo was
Mr. T Mr. T (born Laurence Tureaud, May 21, 1952), is an American actor. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A-Team'' and as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film ''Rocky III''. He is also known for his ...
of '' A-Team'' fame, playing a former boxer named T.S. Turner, and Canadian actress Kristina Nicoll as an East Coast lawyer by the name of Terri Taler. Nelvana faced bankruptcy for the second time when the show's original U.S. distributor was going out of business; in six weeks, they were saved when they found a replacement. Also that year, Nelvana established BearSpots, a facility for producing television commercials that lasted until 1993. As the decade came to a close, the revived Nelvana had its next big success with a film and an HBO
television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...
based on
Jean de Brunhoff Jean de Brunhoff (; 9 December 1899 – 16 October 1937) was a French writer and illustrator remembered best for creating the Babar series of children's books concerning a fictional elephant, the first of which was published in 1931. Early life D ...
's ''Babar'' book series. This franchise, its first
international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companie ...
, won many
ACE Awards The CableACE Award (earlier known as the ACE Awards; ACE was an acronym for "Award for Cable Excellence") is a defunct award that was given by what was then the National Cable Television Association from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in Ame ...
in the U.S. and Geminis in Canada. In September 1989, ABC began to air one of the company's products: an animated series based on
Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), '' Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), '' The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993 ...
's ''
Beetlejuice ''Beetlejuice'' is a 1988 American fantasy horror comedy film directed by Tim Burton, written by Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson, and Warren Skaaren, produced by The Geffen Company, distributed by Warner Bros., and starring Alec Baldwin, ...
''.


1990s

Following ''Babar'''s success, the studio acquired the rights to animated series based on
Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé (; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian cartoonist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of Tintin'', ...
's ''
The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 bande dessinée#Formats, ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one ...
'',
Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. He became most widely known for his book '' Where the Wild Things Are'', first published in 1963.Turan, Kenneth (October 16, 20 ...
's '' Little Bear'', Joanna Cole's '' The Magic School Bus'' and the British comic strip ''
Rupert Bear Rupert Bear is a British children's comic strip character and franchise created by artist Mary Tourtel and first appearing in the ''Daily Express'' newspaper on 8 November 1920. Rupert's initial purpose was to win sales from the rival ''D ...
''. Nelvana had self-made successes of its own during the 1990s, such as '' Eek! The Cat'', '' Dog City'' (with
Jim Henson Productions The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known fo ...
) and ''
Ned's Newt ''Ned's Newt'' is an animated television series created by Andy Knight and Mike Burgess and is co-produced by Nelvana and German company TMO Film GmbH (later renamed as "TMO-Loonland Film GmbH" in seasons 2-3) in conjunction with Studio B Produc ...
'' (with TMO Film GmbH). Less successful was its animated series for children, Roseanne Barr's ''
Little Rosey ''Little Rosey'' is an animated television series produced by Canada-based Nelvana. The series first aired on ABC (part of its Saturday morning block) in 1990. It was Roseanne Barr's first attempt at a cartoon. Plot Loosely based on comedian Rose ...
'' for the
American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Calif ...
, which was cancelled in 1991, after its first season. In Autumn 1993, Nelvana signed a multi-year project to produce five feature films for
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
, with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall producing; the first two began production the following summer, at a cost of over US$20 million each. Three of the projects were based on books by
E. B. White Elwyn Brooks White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985) was an American writer. He was the author of several highly popular books for children, including ''Stuart Little'' (1945), ''Charlotte's Web'' (1952), and '' The Trumpet of the Swan'' ...
('' The Trumpet of the Swan''),
Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...
('' The Thief of Always'') and
Graeme Base Graeme Rowland Base (born 6 April 1958) is a British-Australian author and artist of picture books. He is perhaps best known for his second book, '' Animalia'' published in 1986, and third book '' The Eleventh Hour'' which was released in 1989. ...
('' The Sign of the Seahorse''); an original production called ''Mask Vision'' was also in the works. However, none of those films ever made it past the finishing stage. During the 1990s, another set of features from Nelvana was distributed by various companies. A 1993 live-action psychological thriller called '' Malice'' came out under the
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
banner; 1997 saw the studio's retelling of ''
Pippi Longstocking Pippi Longstocking ( sv, Pippi Långstrump) is the fictional main character in an eponymous series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story w ...
'' from Warner Bros.; and '' Babar: King of the Elephants'' was released in Canada by
Alliance Atlantis Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. (commonly known as Alliance Atlantis and commonly shortened to simply Alliance or Atlantis and formerly traded as TSX:AAC) was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operato ...
in 1999. Among them, only ''Malice'' would go on to achieve box-office success in North America. Its US$46 million gross was the highest ever attained by a Nelvana production, doubling what the first ''Care Bears Movie'' received during its original release. In 1993, Nelvana along with Galaxy Films and De Souza Productions produced '' Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'' for the CBS network, based on the comic book of the same name (formally known as ''
Xenozoic Tales ''Xenozoic Tales'' is an alternative comic book by Mark Schultz set in a post-apocalyptic future. Originally published by Kitchen Sink Press, the series began in 1986 with the story "Xenozoic!" which was included in the horror comics anthology ' ...
'') by Mark Schultz. It only lasted one season. In September 1995, Nelvana produced ''Nancy Drew'' and ''The Hardy Boys'' based on the popular well-known book series. Tracy Ryan portrayed
Nancy Drew Nancy Drew is a fictional character appearing in several mystery book series, movies, and a TV show as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwritten by a number of authors and published under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Cre ...
while Colin Gray and Paul Popowich portrayed Frank and Joe Hardy, respectively. In addition, Jehene Erwin and Joy Tanner portrayed Bess Marvin and
George Fayne Georgia "George" Fayne is a character in the popular '' Nancy Drew Mystery Stories'' series. She is one of Nancy's best friends and cousin of Bess Marvin. Her birth name is Georgia, although no one calls her that except her parents. (This is a cha ...
, respectively, on ''Nancy Drew'', while Fiona Highet played new character Kate Craigen. The series were based on ''
The Nancy Drew Files ''The Nancy Drew Files'', or the ''Nancy Drew Case Files'', is a detective fiction series started in 1986 and released by Simon & Schuster, New York. It is a spin-off of the original series of novels featuring Nancy Drew, with a greater emphasis ...
'' and ''The Hardy Boys Casefiles''. However, the series was not distributed well, mostly due to it being in first-run syndication, and both series were cancelled in December. In September 1996,
Golden Books Family Entertainment ''Family Entertainment'' is the second album by the British progressive rock band Family, released in March 1969. The cover of the album was a takeoff from the sleeve of the Doors' second album, '' Strange Days'', as Family admitted. Backgrou ...
was in talks to acquire the company for US$102 million, just after having purchased the family video library of Broadway Video Entertainment, a subsidiary of
Broadway Video Broadway Video is an American multimedia entertainment studio founded by Lorne Michaels, creator of the sketch comedy TV series ''Saturday Night Live'' and producer of other television programs and movies. Broadway Video also held the rights to ...
. Many of the company's staff members, including Smith and Loubert, expressed interest in the proposition. But Hirsh went up against it, arguing with then COO Eleanor Olmsted about its possible effects on his institution. Two months later Golden Books withdrew from the deal stating that they would concentrate more on children's entertainment. In November 1996,
Virgin Interactive Virgin Interactive Entertainment (later renamed Avalon Interactive) was the video game publishing division of British conglomerate the Virgin Group. It developed and published games for major platforms and employed developers, including Westwo ...
released ''
Toonstruck ''Toonstruck'' is a graphic adventure video game developed by Burst Studios, published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment and released in 1996 for DOS. In the game, a live-action protagonist Drew Blanc, played and voiced by Christopher Lloyd, i ...
'', a PC-based
adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based ...
featuring animation and artwork produced by Nelvana and Rainbow Animation. The game was set in an animated world using traditional 2D animation, but also featured the digitized likeness of actor
Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...
as a live-action character trapped in the animated world interacting with the cartoon characters around him. A sequel to the game was planned, but was cancelled due to poor sales. In 1997, a small
computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...
company called Windlight Studios was absorbed into Nelvana's assets. Its co-founder, Scott Dyer, became Nelvana's senior vice-president in charge of production in late 2001.Maule, Christopher J. and Acheson, Archibald Lloyd Keith (2001). ''Much Ado About Culture: North American Trade Disputes'', p. 122. University of Michigan Press. . Retrieved June 22, 2006.Yaffe, Samatha (November 20, 2001)
"Loubert goes solo in wave of consolidation"
'' Playback''. Retrieved July 6, 2006.
In late 1997, Nelvana and UK's
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
began work on ''
Bob and Margaret ''Bob and Margaret'' is an adult animated television series created by David Fine and Alison Snowden and produced by Nelvana. The series was based on the Academy Award-winning short film '' Bob's Birthday'', featuring the same main characters, w ...
'', the company's first animated franchise for adults since ''Rock & Rule''. It was based on the
National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...
's '' Bob's Birthday'', an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
winner for Best Short, which Channel 4 also produced. In December 1997, Nelvana began distributing a syndicated programming block, the Nelvana Kidz Klub, through MediaVentures International, a Chicago-based distributor. The block was offered internationally on a barter program distribution model with 1–2 hours of daily sections or 3–4 hours of the weekend block. In 1998, Nelvana entered into an agreement with U.S. network
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
to program a new Saturday morning animation block for the 1998-99 television season, which would be branded as
CBS Kidshow The ''CBS Kidshow'' (originally known as ''Think CBS Kids'') was an American Saturday morning children's programming block that aired on CBS from September 13, 1997 to September 9, 2000. Originally a network-programmed block, Nelvana took over ...
. The block would feature six new series based on children's book properties, and all were to comply with the U.S. government's educational programming guidelines. In April 1998, Nelvana entered into an agreement with ITV franchise
Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...
to co-produce these new series, and hold distribution rights to them in the United Kingdom. In August 1998, Nelvana acquired
Kids Can Press Kids Can Press is a Canadian-owned publisher of children's books, with a catalog near 1000 picture books and 500 e-books, non-fiction and fiction titles for toddlers to young adults. The Kids Can Press list includes characters such as Franklin ...
, publishers of the '' Franklin'' and '' Elliot Moose'' children's books upon which the '' Franklin'' and '' Elliot Moose'' were based. This turned them into an "integrated company" in which Kids Can's subsequent publications would begin with Nelvana's franchising of those works. The company's first two computer-animated shows, ''
Donkey Kong Country ''Donkey Kong Country'' is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare (company), Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a Reboot (fiction), reboot of Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'' franchise and foll ...
'' and ''
Rolie Polie Olie ''Rolie Polie Olie'' is a computer-animated children's television series produced by Nelvana and created by William Joyce. The show focuses on a little robot who is composed of several spheres and other three-dimensional geometric shapes. The s ...
'' (with Paris-based Sparx* and distributed by
Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Comp ...
) premiered on U.S. television in 1998. In March 1999, Nelvana reported a 75% increase in earnings in 1998, credited to increased original production and sales of its library programming, the deal with CBS, and the addition of a publishing business with the acquisition of Kids Can Press. In August 1999, Nelvana announced a US$40 million deal to produce six new series based on popular children's books for a planned
PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Inste ...
block. The six series—''
Timothy Goes to School ''Timothy Goes to School'' is a children's animated television series based on books written by Rosemary Wells, but is titled after the book of the same name. The show premiered on September 30, 2000, and aired its final episode on January 26, 2 ...
'', ''
Seven Little Monsters ''Seven Little Monsters'' is a children's picture book by American author and illustrator Maurice Sendak. Published by Harper & Row in 1977, it was originally created as an animated short for Sesame Street in 1971 and served as the basis for the C ...
'', ''
Corduroy Corduroy is a textile with a distinctively raised "cord" or wale texture. Modern corduroy is most commonly composed of tufted cords, sometimes exhibiting a channel (bare to the base fabric) between them. Both velvet and corduroy derive from fu ...
'', ''
Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse ''Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse'' (also known as ''Edouard et Martin'' for the French dub in Quebec) is a children's animated television series co-produced by Nelvana and Hong Guang Animation for Teletoon and PBS Kids. It tells the stories of a youn ...
'', ''
George Shrinks ''George Shrinks'' is a children's animated television series. It is based on the children's book by the well-known author William Joyce, produced in China by Jade Animation and Canadian studio Nelvana, in association with PBS. The show prem ...
'' and '' Elliot Moose''—were launched the following September as part of the '' Bookworm Bunch'' line-up. That same month, it acquired the North American rights to its first anime property, Clamp's ''
Cardcaptor Sakura , abbreviated as ''CCS'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. Serialized monthly in the ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from May 1996 to June 2000, it was also published in 12 ''tankōbon'' ...
'' (which was renamed ''Cardcaptors'' for its English dub).


2000s

In April 2000, Nelvana announced that it had filed for two category 2 television licenses from the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcast ...
to launch
digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previ ...
channels. The first, titled "The Nelvana Channel," would've presented the company's library of material alongside related information in a
picture-in-picture Picture-in-picture (PiP) is a feature that can be found in television receivers, personal computers and smartphones, consisting of a video stream playing within an inset window, freeing the rest of the screen for other tasks. For televisions, pic ...
format. The second, "Booknet," was to be focused on adaptations of adult and children's literature, and would have been a 60/40 joint venture between
Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian mass media company. Formed in 1999 as a spin-off from Shaw Communications, it has prominent holdings in the radio, publishing, and television industries. It is headquartered at Corus Quay in Toronto, Ont ...
and Nelvana. The channels were approved that following November. Both licenses expired as neither launched by the required date of November 24, 2004. On April 14, 2000, Nelvana announced its purchase of the
Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...
-based children's book publisher Klutz in a US$74 million deal—at that time, its largest buyout ever— and integrated it into its Branded Consumer Products division. The company, founded in 1977, was best known for its children's series, ''Books Plus''. Nelvana's separate subsidiary, Kids Can, began taking advantage of the acquisition by making its output available through Klutz merchandise. In September 2000, Corus announced that it would acquire Nelvana for $540 million. The company saw the purchase as being a complement to its children's television networks, including YTV and Treehouse. A year after Corus' purchase, co-founders and co-
CEOs Kea ( el, Κέα), also known as Tzia ( el, Τζια) and in antiquity Keos ( el, Κέως, la, Ceos), is a Greek island in the Cyclades archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Kea is part of the Kea-Kythnos regional unit. Geography It is the island of ...
Loubert and Smith left the studio. Loubert voluntarily left in November after Corus eliminated 50 positions from the staff, saying "The time has come that Corus will stop acquiring for a while and start operating.
John Cassaday John Cassaday (; born 1971) is an American comic book artist, writer, and television director. He is best known for his work on the critically acclaimed '' Planetary'' with writer Warren Ellis, '' Astonishing X-Men'' with Joss Whedon, ''Captain Am ...
has made that clear, but this makes my job less rather than more". In 2001, Nelvana acquired the rights to the English-language version of yet another anime series, ''
Medabots ''Medabots'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese role-playing video game franchise created by Rin Horuma (Horumarin) and currently owned by Imagineer. The main series of RPGs focus on collecting and battling with the titular robots. The bulk of ...
''. The following January, ''
Beyblade is a line of spinning-top toys originally developed by Takara, first released in Japan in July 1999, along with its debut series. Following Takara's merger with Tomy in 2006, Beyblades are now developed by Takara Tomy. Various toy companies ...
'' (in association with
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...
and
Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...
) became its third such property. In October 2002, Corus announced Hirsh's resignation; the following month, Paul Robertson, former president of Corus Television and head of YTV, became leader of the studio's senior management. With Hirsh's departure, Corus announced a C$200 million writedown for the company; by next August, it planned to reduce the staff down to 200. Hirsh has also taken an advisory role in the studio. The following September, Corus launched their home entertainment division. Texas-based
FUNimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
, along with British company
Maverick Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Bure ...
, has distributed titles from the studio with this label, including '' Redwall'', '' Pecola'', ''
Tales from the Cryptkeeper ''Tales from the Cryptkeeper'' is an animated horror children's television series made by Canadian studio Nelvana. The series was broadcast on YTV in Canada and on ABC in the United States, and on ITV in the United Kingdom. It was based on ...
'', ''Timothy Goes to School'' and the holiday special ''The Santa Claus Brothers''. Nelvana's newer titles have been distributed by MGM,
Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
and
ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt G ...
, which have no involvement with the label. In 2007, home video distribution rights for the company's catalog were transferred to
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
. In 2004, the studio produced an animation
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...
, which included 10 recurring shorts. Titled ''Funpak'', it aired on YTV for 13 weeks starting in February 2005, with the winning short announced to be greenlit in May of that year. One of the shorts, ''Sidekick'', was the one adapted into a successful cartoon series from 2010 to 2013. In May 2006,
NBC Universal The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
announced a joint venture with Nelvana,
Ion Media Networks Ion Media (formerly known as Paxson Communications Corporation and Ion Media Networks) was an American broadcasting company that owned and operated over 71 television stations in most major American markets (through its television stations group ...
, Scholastic, and
Classic Media Classic Media, LLC, doing business as DreamWorks Classics, is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was founded as Classic Media ...
, known as
Qubo Qubo ( ; stylized as qubo) was an American television network for children between the ages of 5 and 14. Owned by Ion Media, it consisted of a 24-hour free-to-air television network often mentioned as the "Qubo channel" (available as a digital ...
, which aimed to operate a multi-platform children's educational television brand in the U.S. featuring programming from its partners. In September 2006, Nelvana was integrated into Corus' children's television division. A spin-off unit, Nelvana Enterprises, was created in the process, to focus on international distribution of the company's shows. Scott Dyer, the studio's executive vice-president of production and development, became the overseer of the division, which includes
Treehouse TV Treehouse TV is a Canadian English-language specialty channel for preschoolers aged 2 to 5 that was launched in 1997. Its name comes from YTV's former preschool block, " The Treehouse". The channel is owned by YTV Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of ...
, Discovery Kids Canada, and YTV.Ball, Ryan (September 12, 2006)
"Corus Makes Changes at Nelvana"
''Animation Magazine''. Retrieved October 7, 2006.
Doug Murphy Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) which ...
, another former EVP at Nelvana, became president of the new distribution unit. In October 2006, Nelvana announced a co-production agreement with Canadian toy maker
Spin Master Spin Master is a Canadian multinational toy and entertainment company that markets consumer products for children. Its brands include ''Bakugan'', Gund, Etch A Sketch, Meccano/ Erector, Air Hogs, '' PAW Patrol'', Aquadoodle, Tech Deck, ...
and Japanese partners
TMS Entertainment , formerly known as the , also known as or , is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946. TMS is one of the oldest and most famous anime studios in Japan, best known for numerous anime franchises such as '' Lupin the Third' ...
,
Sega Toys is a Japanese toy company and animation studios, owned by Sega Sammy Holdings. The company was founded when Yonezawa Toys, Japan's largest post-war toy manufacturer, was absorbed into Sega in 1991 as Sega-Yonezawa. Sega Toys have created toys fo ...
and Japan Vistec to create the new anime property ''
Bakugan Battle Brawlers is a Japanese anime adventure television series produced by TMS Entertainment, Dentsu Inc., and Nelvana Limited under the direction of Mitsuo Hashimoto. The story centers on the lives of creatures called Bakugan and the "battle brawlers" ...
''. The series debuted in Canada on
Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and "cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts an ...
the following summer and became a quick success. In 2008, merchandising rights were sold by Nelvana to
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...
in the U.S., and the series began airing on the channel in February 2008. The initial incarnation of the franchise ran for four seasons, spanning 189 episodes and stimulated billions in merchandise sales.


2010s

Following ''Bakugan'', Nelvana entered into another anime co-production, this time reviving the ''Beyblade'' property with d-rights,
Takara Tomy is a Japanese entertainment company that makes children's toys and merchandise. It was created from a merger on March 1st 2006 of two companies: Tomy (founded in 1924 as Tomiyama, changing the name to Tomy in 1963) and long-time rival Tak ...
,
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...
,
Tatsunoko Pro and often shortened to , is a Japanese animation company. The studio's name has a double meaning in Japanese: "Tatsu's child" (Tatsu is a nickname for Tatsuo) and "sea dragon", the inspiration for its seahorse logo. Tatsunoko's headquarters are i ...
and SynergySP. '' Beyblade: Metal Fusion'' debuted globally in 2010, running for 141 episodes before inspiring a direct spin-off, as well as a sub-franchise consisting of ''
BeyWheelz ''BeyWheelz'' is an anime series, a spin-off of the series ''Beyblade''. While produced in Japan, the series has yet to be aired in Japanese. Originally commissioned by Nelvana to make up for '' Beyblade: Metal Fury's'' sho ...
'', '' BeyWarriors: BeyRaiderz'' and '' BeyWarriors: Cyborg''. ''
Detentionaire ''Detentionaire'' is a Canadian mystery thriller animated series produced by Nelvana and aired on Teletoon from September 12, 2011, to January 29, 2015, for total of 53 episodes, spanning 4 seasons. It was created by Daniel Bryan Franklin and C ...
'' was produced between 2011 and 2015. Created for Teletoon, the show has also been aired internationally, including on
ABC3 ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...
, and has been released on a digital platform provided by Cartoon Network. In 2012, Corus Entertainment acquired Canadian animation software developer
Toon Boom Toon Boom Animation Inc. is a Canadian software company that specializes in animation production and storyboarding software. Founded in 1994 and based in Montreal, Quebec, Toon Boom develops animation and storyboarding software for film, televi ...
. Nelvana had already used the company's software on projects like ''
6teen ''6teen'' (originally titled ''The Mall'') is a Canadian animated comedy television series originally produced by Nelvana, with the final two seasons being produced by Fresh TV. It began airing on November 7, 2004 until its final episode aired ...
'', ''
Ruby Gloom ''Ruby Gloom'' is a Canadian animated television series based on the Mighty Fine apparel line of the same name created by illustrator Martin Hsu. The series was produced by Nelvana and started airing in Canada on YTV on October 15, 2006, and fini ...
'' as well as the aforementioned ''Detentionaire''. Going forward, all of the studio's internally animated 2D productions would utilize their sister company's suite of products. After Murphy had been appointed as CEO of Corus Entertainment, Scott Dyer was named president of Nelvana in 2015. The next year, Pam Westman became head of Nelvana Enterprises. On October 19, 2016, Nelvana redesigned their logo to mark the studio's 45th anniversary, as well as take part in Corus' brand refresh following latter's acquisition of
Shaw Media Shaw Media was the television broadcasting division of Shaw Communications. Shaw Media owned the Global Television Network, which broadcasts nationally via 13 television stations, as well as 19 specialty channels including Slice, HGTV Canada, ...
. According to Dyer, this also symbolized a strategic shift from merchandise-based properties to more creator-driven projects, as well as a return to international co-productions. At that year's
MIPCOM MIPCOM (Marché International des Programmes de Communication, English: International Market of Communications Programmes) is an annual trade show held in the French town of Cannes, traditionally in the month of October and running for 4 days. I ...
, the studio showcased new shows ''
Esme & Roy ''Esme & Roy'' is an animated children's television series created by Dustin Ferrer and Amy Steinberg. The series is produced by Canada-based animation studio Nelvana and ''Sesame Street'' creator Sesame Workshop, in association with Corus Entert ...
'' (with
Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...
), '' Hotel Transylvania: The Series'' and ''
Mysticons ''Mysticons'' is an animated television series that aired from August 28, 2017 to September 15, 2018. The show is a collaboration between companies Nelvana, Playmates Toys, and The Topps Company. The show was created by Sean Jara, who is also the ...
''. Nelvana also presented ''
Bravest Warriors ''Bravest Warriors'' is an American-Canadian animated series. Set onwards from the year 3085, it follows four teenage heroes-for-hire as they warp through the universe to save adorable aliens and their worlds using the power of their emotions. It ...
'', a pre-existing series from
Frederator Studios Frederator Studios is an American animation television production studio which is a division of Frederator Networks, Inc. It was founded by Fred Seibert in 1997 with its first series launching in 1998. (Seibert resigned from Frederator in Augu ...
that they were now producing and ''
Corn & Peg ''Corn & Peg'' is a Canadian animated children's television series produced by Nelvana for Nick Jr. and Treehouse TV. The series revolves around the titular best friends, a unicorn and pegasus named Corn and Peg respectively, who are dynamic do-g ...
'', a co-production with the US
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
. The following October, Nelvana announced the launch of a new
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
with
Discovery Communications Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Chan ...
(WBD) to create children's content for Canada, Latin America and the rest of the world. Later named "redknot", the division's first two projects include ''The Dog & Pony Show'' and '' Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe''. In 2018, Nelvana appointed
Cinedigm Cinedigm Corp. is an American entertainment company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Cinedigm's businesses encompass digital cinema, streaming channels, content marketing, and distribution. History Early years Cinedigm Corp was founde ...
as the company's new U.S. home video partner. In late 2018, the company relaunched ''Bakugan'' with '' Bakugan: Battle Planet'', a co-production between Nelvana,
Spin Master Entertainment Spin Master is a Canadian multinational toy and entertainment company that markets consumer products for children. Its brands include ''Bakugan'', Gund, Etch A Sketch, Meccano/ Erector, Air Hogs, ''PAW Patrol'', Aquadoodle, Tech Deck, Ha ...
, TMS Entertainment and
Man of Action Studios Man of Action Entertainment (also known as Man of Action Studios) is an American writer collective specializing in various brands of media ranging from television, films, comic books, and animation. The studio is best known for their animated act ...
. The studio launched its first short film, ''The Most Magnificent Thing'', in 2019 to showcase its technical abilities. Later that year, Dyer announced his retirement, with Westman named as his replacement.


2020s

In October 2020, Nelvana agreed to co-produce '' Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go'' (with
Mattel Television Mattel Television is the television production division of American toy and entertainment company Mattel, originally founded under the name Mattel Creations on March 31, 2016. It is headed by general manager and senior vice president, Frederic So ...
), a re-imagined revival of the original ''
Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...
'' series, marking the franchise's first 2D-animated television series. That same month, the company entered an agreement with Duncan Studio to produce animated feature films. On June 11, 2021, Nelvana celebrated their 50th anniversary on their
LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...
,
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
,
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
pages, and official website. Nelvana is currently working on more series.


Franchises

Many of Nelvana's TV shows are based on properties from other companies, most of which started in other forms of media (excluding its namesake superhero, which never received an adaptation of any kind). A great deal of them are based on
children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...
and
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
s; examples include '' Blazing Dragons'', ''
Stickin' Around ''Stickin' Around'' is a Canadian animated children's television series produced by Nelvana and created by Robin Steele and Brianne Leary. The series originally aired from August 14, 1996 until April 13, 1998. ''Stickin' Around'', originating as ...
'', '' Wayside'', '' Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'', ''
The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 bande dessinée#Formats, ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one ...
'', '' Anatole'', ''
Babar Babar ( ur, ), also variously spelled as Baber, Babur, and Babor is a male given name of Pashto, and Persian origin, and a popular male given name in Pakistan. It is generally taken in reference to the Persian ''babr'' (Persian: ببر), meanin ...
'', ''The Berenstain Bears'' (2003 series), '' Franklin the Turtle'', ''
Jane and the Dragon ''Jane and the Dragon'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by Martin Baynton. The original trilogy consists of ''Jane and the Dragon'' (1988), ''The Dragon's Purpose'' (1989), and ''Jane and the Magician'' (2000). In 200 ...
'', '' Little Bear'', '' The Magic School Bus'', ''
Pippi Longstocking Pippi Longstocking ( sv, Pippi Långstrump) is the fictional main character in an eponymous series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story w ...
'', '' Redwall'', ''
Rupert Rupert may refer to: People * Rupert (name), various people known by the given name or surname "Rupert" Places Canada * Rupert, Quebec, a village *Rupert Bay, a large bay located on the south-east shore of James Bay *Rupert River, Quebec *Rupert ...
'', ''
My Dad the Rock Star ''My Dad the Rock Star'' is a traditionally-animated television series created by KISS bassist Gene Simmons, co-produced by Nelvana and Carrere Group for France's M6 and Canada's Teletoon. The series aired on Nickelodeon and Kids WB! in the U.S ...
'', and the shows of the ''
PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch The PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch was a preschool television block produced by Canada-based animation studio Nelvana Limited (now Nelvana Enterprises) that aired on PBS from September 30, 2000 to September 5, 2004. It typically aired on weekend mornings ...
''
block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...
, as well as ''
Tales From the Cryptkeeper ''Tales from the Cryptkeeper'' is an animated horror children's television series made by Canadian studio Nelvana. The series was broadcast on YTV in Canada and on ABC in the United States, and on ITV in the United Kingdom. It was based on ...
'', ''
Beetlejuice ''Beetlejuice'' is a 1988 American fantasy horror comedy film directed by Tim Burton, written by Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson, and Warren Skaaren, produced by The Geffen Company, distributed by Warner Bros., and starring Alec Baldwin, ...
'', ''
Jacob Two-Two ''Jacob Two-Two'' is a series of children's books written by Canadian author Mordecai Richler: ''Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang'' (1975), ''Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur'' (1987) and ''Jacob Two-Two's First Spy Case'' (1995) written by Mor ...
'', ''
Sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...
'' and
Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and "cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts an ...
/
Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
's ''Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends''. Nelvana has also had considerable success with animated fare based on toys; American Greetings' ''Care Bears'' has been the most familiar example of this. Also, there have been series and specials based on ''Strawberry Shortcake'' (also from American Greetings), ''Madballs'' and ''My Pet Monster'' (from AmToy) and ''Rescue Heroes'' (from Fisher-Price). Nelvana also produced ''Fresh Beat Band of Spies'', an animated revival of ''The Fresh Beat Band'' that is produced by 6 Point Harness for Nickelodeon. It has also translated big-screen franchises to televised properties, such as ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
'' ('' Droids'' and '' Ewoks''), ''
Beetlejuice ''Beetlejuice'' is a 1988 American fantasy horror comedy film directed by Tim Burton, written by Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson, and Warren Skaaren, produced by The Geffen Company, distributed by Warner Bros., and starring Alec Baldwin, ...
'', ''An American Tail'' (''Fievel's American Tails''), ''Free Willy'' and ''The Neverending Story''. It has even ventured into the video game world with a show based on Nintendo's Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong: ''
Donkey Kong Country ''Donkey Kong Country'' is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare (company), Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a Reboot (fiction), reboot of Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'' franchise and foll ...
''. In the field of anime, the company holds the North American rights to Clamp/Kodansha's ''
Cardcaptor Sakura , abbreviated as ''CCS'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. Serialized monthly in the ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from May 1996 to June 2000, it was also published in 12 ''tankōbon'' ...
'' series. Also, it holds international licensing rights to ''Beyblade'' and ''
Medabots ''Medabots'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese role-playing video game franchise created by Rin Horuma (Horumarin) and currently owned by Imagineer. The main series of RPGs focus on collecting and battling with the titular robots. The bulk of ...
'' and the Bakugan franchise. As with many other animation studios, Nelvana has a wide range of established original series and characters within its roster. ''
6teen ''6teen'' (originally titled ''The Mall'') is a Canadian animated comedy television series originally produced by Nelvana, with the final two seasons being produced by Fresh TV. It began airing on November 7, 2004 until its final episode aired ...
'', ''
Clone High ''Clone High'' (occasionally referred to in the United States as ''Clone High USA'') is an adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Bill Lawrence. The show centers on a high school populated by the c ...
'', ''Birdz (TV series), Birdz'', ''
Corn & Peg ''Corn & Peg'' is a Canadian animated children's television series produced by Nelvana for Nick Jr. and Treehouse TV. The series revolves around the titular best friends, a unicorn and pegasus named Corn and Peg respectively, who are dynamic do-g ...
'' and '' Eek! The Cat'' among others, are some of Nelvana's more notable animated series that were not based on any other source material. , the studio has made close to 25 feature films for theatrical, home entertainment, and television distribution. Well-known releases include ''
Rock & Rule ''Rock & Rule'' (known as ''Ring of Power'' outside North America) is a 1983 Canadian adult animated musical science fantasy film featuring the voices of Don Francks, Greg Salata and Susan Roman. It was produced and directed by Michael Hirsh, Pa ...
'', the first five ''
Care Bears Care Bears are multi-colored bears, originally painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. In 1983, the characters were turned into plush teddy bears. The characters headlined their own televis ...
'' movies, two ''Babar the Elephant, Babar'' films and 1997's ''
Pippi Longstocking Pippi Longstocking ( sv, Pippi Långstrump) is the fictional main character in an eponymous series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story w ...
''. Live-action has been a part of its mainstay from its early years. The company has had ''
Burglar Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murd ...
'' and '' Malice'' as its own feature projects in that area, and has contributed as such to ''
Star Wars Holiday Special The ''Star Wars Holiday Special'' is a 1978 American television special that originally aired on November 17, 1978, on CBS. It is set in the universe of the sci-fi-based ''Star Wars'' media franchise. Directed by Steve Binder, it was the first ...
'' and ''
Three Amigos ''Three Amigos'' (stylized as ''¡Three Amigos!'') is a 1986 American Western comedy film directed by John Landis, written by Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, and Randy Newman (who also wrote the film's songs), and starring Chevy Chase, Steve ...
''. On television, Nelvana has made live-action shows such as ''
The Edison Twins ''The Edison Twins'' is a Canadian children's television program which ran for six seasons on CBC Television from March 3, 1984 to December 17, 1986. The Disney Channel also picked up the rights in the mid-1980s. Six seasons were produced by Nelv ...
'', ''Nancy Drew (1995 TV series), Nancy Drew'', ''The Hardy Boys (1995 TV series), The Hardy Boys'', and ''Life with Boys''. On February 5, 2013, Nelvana, Corus Entertainment's animation division, launched the Treehouse TV, Treehouse Direct channel on YouTube. On March 2, 2015, Treehouse TV would launch its own YouTube channel. On April 29, 2015 they launched a YouTube channel promoted by YTV (Canadian TV channel), YTV as YTV (TV channel)#Related businesses, Nelvana Retro, which was renamed "YTV Direct" in 2016 after also deciding to incorporate non-Nelvana content such as
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
shows. It was later renamed Keep it Weird to incorporate more content from the company.


Around the world

''
The Fairly OddParents ''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda who grant him ...
'', created by animator Butch Hartman, was distributed by Nelvana outside the U.S. from 2001 to 2004. This show has been in the top of the ratings for Nickelodeon, YTV and BBC, the BBC, and has also been successful among viewers in several European markets, Latin America, Australia, and Canada. In the United States, Nelvana's series have been broadcast on terrestrial and cable networks, and internationally on over 360 television stations in more 180 countries, in approximately 50 languages.Nelvana information at Corus website
Retrieved June 14, 2006.
Nelvana company overview at dfait-maeci.gc.ca
Retrieved June 14, 2006.


Notable personnel

Apart from its three founders, there have been several key personnel from Nelvana's past and present, a great deal of whom have left the company. Among the better-known people to work in the studio are Wayne Gilbert, Peter Hudecki, Vincenzo Natali, Arna Selznick Natalie Turner and John van Bruggen. Former Nelvana employees, Roger Allers, Charles Bonifacio, Tom Sito, Ralph Palmer, David Soren (animator), David Soren and Ralph Zondag went on to become staff members at Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Feature Animation and DreamWorks Animation in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Allers went on to work on ''Aladdin (1992 Disney film), Aladdin'', ''The Lion King'', and ''Hercules (1997 film), Hercules''. Lenora Hume, from the company's early years, is the senior vice-president of DisneyToon Studios.


Influence in popular culture

''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' season 3 episode "The Defector (Star Trek: The Next Generation), The Defector" featured the planet Nelvana III named in honor of the animation studio. Nelvana also had a planet named after it in the ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
'' series, on
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...
's Star Wars expanded universe, expanded universe series ''Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003 TV series), Clone Wars''. During Chapters 23 to 25, Anakin Skywalker travels to a planet called Nelvaanian, Nelvaan. ''Clone Wars'' also pays homage to the franchise's animation predecessors in the form of the planet's dog-like inhabitants, who resemble characters from ''
Rock & Rule ''Rock & Rule'' (known as ''Ring of Power'' outside North America) is a 1983 Canadian adult animated musical science fantasy film featuring the voices of Don Francks, Greg Salata and Susan Roman. It was produced and directed by Michael Hirsh, Pa ...
'', the studio's first film. The "Nelvana Independent Short Film Grand Prize", given out at the Ottawa International Animation Festival since 2004, is sponsored by the company. So far, the recipients of this prize have been 2004's ''Ryan (film), Ryan'', the Chris Landreth biography about Canadian animator Ryan Larkin; 2005's ''Milch'', from director Igor Kovalyov; and, in 2006, Joanna Quinn's ''Dreams and Desires: Family Ties''."Three-Prize Winner at Annecy Wins Top Prize at Ottawa"
(September 25, 2006). ''Animation World Magazine''. Retrieved October 7, 2006.


See also

*Cinema of Canada *History of Canadian film *History of Canadian animation *List of Nelvana programs Related Canadian companies *
National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...
*Cookie Jar Group (formerly Cinar, bought and folded into DHX Media in 2012) *CinéGroupe *Atkinson Film-Arts (defunct since 1989) *WildBrain *C.O.R.E. (defunct since 2010)


Notes


References


Bibliography

*Stoffman, Daniel (2001). ''The Nelvana Story: Thirty Animated Years''. Toronto, Ontario: Nelvana Publishing Company ().


External links

* * *
Stamp of the superheroine after whom the company was named

"Three Men and a bear: Nelvana at 25"
by Ellen Besen and Marc Glassman, Take One (Canadian magazine), Take One (Autumn 1996) at LookSmart's Find Articles
Canadian Jewish News: "Nelvana has found the formula for success"
by Sheldon Kirshner {{Authority control Nelvana 1971 establishments in Ontario Canadian companies established in 1971 2000 mergers and acquisitions American animation studios Canadian animation studios Companies based in Toronto Mass media companies established in 1971 Topcraft Dubbing (filmmaking) Television production companies of Canada Lucasfilm Corus Entertainment subsidiaries