Nostalgia Showcase Presents: Nelvana

This entry is part 24 of 30 in the series Nostalgic Showcase Presents

When I was a kid in the early 2000s, nothing was more exciting during a rainy day than indoor recess. Teachers came prepared to entertain their students for the following free play block, with bins filled with card and board games, coloring sheets, activity sheets, and toys. If those options weren’t interesting to you, silent reading would be next, shelves of hundreds of dog-eared picture books or chapter books eagerly waiting to be read. If you were particularly lucky, the teacher would roll in the clunky box television set, with the VCR attached, on a rolling cart, and pop in a VHS of something educational but enjoyable. Our options were fairly limited- the less choices we had, the easier it was to democratically vote what to watch, and it was typically Between the Lions, Arthur, Wishbone, Franklin, Max and Ruby, or The Magic School Bus. No matter what we ended up picking, the next twenty minutes or so would be filled with fun and laughter, play and enjoyment. It was here in these very classrooms that my generation learned that creativity and imagination comes from boredom and we had to be open to change and adaption in order to have organic fun- even the cartoons we watched were slow paced, encouraging growth, observation skills, and patience. Through these worn VHS tapes, I was introduced to Canada’s biggest studio and distribution company, Nelvana, and the many properties they adapted from cherished children’s books and franchises into animated shows, specials and movies over the past fifty-five years. So let’s turn back the clock nearly sixty years ago, where we meet the future founders of Nelvana working on independent films in Toronto, Canada…

Laff Arts, Comic Books, and Television Specials

This story starts with four students at York University in 1967, all eager filmmakers inspired by underground, independent films, and wanting to get Canada into the international film/animation industry. Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert, Jack Christie and Peter Dewdney came together to make experimental films, under the label Laff Arts, but none had experience with animation. Clive A. Smith, who had experience working on The Beatles Cartoon (1965-1967), and Yellow Submarine (1968), moved to Toronto for short films and commercials. Smith would join the team on Laff Arts, but the studio floundered; the team wanted to make the same underground, independent films they enjoyed watching in college, but these ventures were futile. Laff Arts would be dissolved soon after, but Hirsch, Loubert and Smith felt that there was untapped potential in the Canadian market for a film and animation industry.

In 1971, the trio purchased the rights and collection of local comic books from the 1940s. Soon after, they released a half-hour documentary about the books and the history of Canada’s comic book industry commissioned and broadcasted through Canada Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and the collection went on a tour around numerous museums in Canada. Hirsch and Loubert would also publish a book, The Great Canadian Comic Books, on the history of the Canadian WWII era comic books, and the trio established the name of Nelvana Limited for the production company, named after one of the superheroines in the Canadian comic books showcased in the documentary, book, and touring exhibit. Under this new name, they produced a handful of live action short films and commercials, but wanted to incorporate animation in the specials. Production was created in a derelict two bathroom apartment in downtown Toronto, one of the bathrooms being used as a filming location, with a camera set-up above the drained toilet; funds were spent on a credit card, and Nelvana depended on their partnership with CBC to pay off their growing debt. For the next commission, CBC ordered a short-subject series, Small Star Cinema (1974-1975), now lost media except for one episode; later in 1975, Nelvana would release their first television special Christmas Two Step. Both were fully animated, and as a result, the studio recruited and hired more local animators. Nelvana’s contract with Canadian television stations would continue through the next five decades, with majority of their original content airing first on Canadian airwaves before syndicating to North American channels, and eventually, internationally.

In the following years, Nelvana would produce numerous animated specials; A Cosmic Christmas (1977), The Devil and Daniel Mouse (1978), Romie-0 and Julie-8 (1979), Please Don’t Eat the Planet: Intergalactic Thanksgiving (1979), Easter Fever (1980) and Take Me Up to the Ball Game (1980). Of the six, two are of importance to the history of the studio; first, A Cosmic Christmas, their first fully animated special, got the attention of George Lucas who commissioned Nelvana to make an animated section in the CBS/CTV television special Star Wars Holiday Special (1978). This would be the start of a long partnership with other franchise holders licensing out their characters and worlds to be adapted by Nelvana. The second short of importance is The Devil and Daniel Mouse, which was an animated anthropomorphic adaptation of the short story The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benét. Smith, who was interested in rock music and incorporating it in animation, decided to expand on this concept in a full length animated feature film. With five years of production and $8 million budget, using all of Nelvana’s resources and a heavy usage of rotoscoping technology for animation, Rock & Rule released in theaters across North America in 1983. Unfortunately, this would be Nelvana’s one and only venture into original full length animated films, as Rock & Rule bombed hard both critically and financially.

Television Series and Franchise Adaptations

After the failure of Rock & Rule, Nelvana refocused on their attention full-time on their children’s television shows. During the 1980s, advertising rules deregulated, leading to more children’s shows featuring toy-based characters and franchises. Nelvana would be a part of this wave, licensing Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears from American Greetings. Their second foray into theatrical releases would be 1985’s The Care Bears Movie, which beat Disney’s The Black Cauldron financially at the box office, giving Nelvana the financial boost to invest into more licenses. The production studio would continue to expand over the next two decades, partnering with Lucas again on Star Wars: Droids (1985-86) and Star Wars: Ewoks (1985-87); adapting popular children’s books with The Video Adventures of Clifford the Big Red Dog (1988) direct-to-VHS specials, Babar (1989-91), The Adventures of Tintin (1991-92), Rupert (1991-97), The Magic School Bus (1994-97), Little Bear (1995-2003) and Franklin (1997-2004); expanding on movies and shows with Beetlejuice (1989-91), Fievel’s American Tails (1992-93), and Tales from the Cryptkeeper (1993-99); and adapted a couple video games with Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police (1997-98) and Donkey Kong Country (1997-2000). Meanwhile, original animated IP was also being produced at Nelvana; Eek! The Cat (1992-97), Stickin’ Around (1996-98), Ned’s Newt (1997-99), Bob and Margaret (1998-2001), and Rolie Polie Olie (1998-2004) created for Disney Jr. Among dozens of other animation shorts, series, and specials, innumerable to list here. The production studio would also expand to live action shows, Mr. Microchip (1983-85), The Edison Twins (1984-86), T. and T. (1988-90), and The Hardy Boys (1995-96), and produced two shows with puppetry, Jim Henson’s Dog City (1992-94) and Elliot Moose (1999-2000).

By the time the 2000s rolled around, the production company continued to produce hit after hit of animated cartoons, for both child and adult audiences. Nelvana teamed up with PBS Kids on a cartoon block of programming called the Bookworm Bunch, adapting iconic children’s books Corduroy, Timothy Goes to School, Seven Little Monsters, George Shrinks and Marvin the Tap–Dancing Horse, all lasting into 2004. For young adults, Nelvana produced Braceface (2001-04), Clone High (2002-03), 6teen (2004-10), Class of the Titans (2005-08) and Detentionaire (2011-15), and acquired the rights to distribute the English dub for Cardcaptor Sakura, Medabots and the Beyblade series. The studio continued to produce even more children programming; Maggie and the Ferocious Beast (2000-02), the first five seasons of Cyberchase (2002-07), Max & Ruby (2002-19), Jacob Two-Two (2003-06), Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends (2004-09), The Backyardigans (2004-13), Being Ian (2004-08), Jane and the Dragon (2005-06) and Handy Manny (2006-13). By the late 2010s, Nelvana was starting to lose steam, solely producing only a handful of shows; Ranger Rob (2016-21), Hotel Transylvania: The Series (2017-20), Esme & Roy (2018-21) and Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go (2021-present).

But this studio wouldn’t be a part of Nostalgic Showcase Presents unless it was defunct. Unfortunately, Nelvana, the animation studio that entertained millions, across languages, genres, and generations, fizzled out just as quickly as it rose to fame. As the big question goes…

What Happened to Nelvana?

In 2000, Corus purchased Nelvana, and within a year of the acquisition, co-founders and co-CEOs Loubert and Smith left the company. In October 2002, executives at Corus decided to focus on distribution of the animated content, rather than the production side, and significantly reduced staff to just 200 employees. Most of the shows produced during this era, and into the next two decades, would be co-produced by one or more animation studios; Nelvana would primarily set up distribution, international licensing and marketing. Four years later, Corus decided to split Nelvana in half; one part would be integrated into Corus’ children’s television division and the new addition would cover handling the international distribution of the company’s library as well as licensing for Nelvana’s properties and Corus’ properties outside of Canada. This caused more staff to be shuffled around to different positions, or eliminated from their roles completely. Corus’ biggest investment would be in 2012 with the acquisition of 2-D animation software Toon Boom, which had been used for their previous numerous YA animated series. Leadership exchanged hands numerous times, with each new CEO investing in new projects, bringing back a fan-favorite franchise, branching off new distribution arms, and purchasing the rights to more Japanese anime series. This over-investment proved to be a double edged sword for Nelvana, with the budget going towards these new improvements and acquisitions rather than to the animation studio at the core of the company, laying off hundreds of employees as a consequence. By September 2025, Corus Entertainment was over $1 billion in long-term debt, and the only plausible way to keep the company afloat was to refocus to the marketing and licensing sides of Nelvana. Projects that were in the midst of production were wrapped up, with any remaining funding going towards Corus’ marketing and licensing teams. After fifty-four years of entertaining audiences with animation and live action works, across genres and topics, Canada’s biggest animation production house was closed, suddenly, on September 2, 2025.

Although Nelvana is no longer producing original content, for the time being, they should be honored and praised for producing some of the best children’s entertainment in Canada, building an industry from the ground up, and adapting with new technology through the decades. During the ’90s and early 2000s, there was no end in sight with Nelvana, with successful partnerships rolling in steadily with PBS and Disney Jr, and the company was willing to jump onto the newest technology as soon as it rolled out. Rolie Polie Olie and Donkey Kong Country were animated using Computer Generated Images (CGI) technology in the late 1990s; by the early 2000s, the studios left behind the traditional cel animation, instead drawing and coloring animated content with Toon Boom, even purchasing the software outright in the early 2010s. These investments into the new advancements in technology led to more opportunities, casting a wider net across a variety of genres, audiences, and styles. Unlike most of the animation studios I’ve covered in this series, Nelvana doesn’t have a distinct style across their content, instead, each project’s art direction were based on the pre-existing properties (if adapted from a show, movie or video game) or brought in showrunners which brought a unique style to each project. The only thing connecting the many animated series and movies in Nelvana’s filmography is the company’s iconic logo- played at the end of each episode- a polar bear raising his head towards the North Star.

I hope you enjoyed this month’s more topical Nostalgic Showcase Presents article! When I learned the news of Nelvana’s closure a couple months ago, I knew it was a studio that needed to be a part of this series. Every kid who grew up in the ’80s through the 2000s remembers the shows and specials Nelvana produced fondly, breathing life into the countless beloved children books that lined the shelves of our school libraries with their animated adaptions over the past five decades, or creating original shows, introducing us to numerous new worlds and characters. Nelvana’s mark on children’s entertainment can never be erased, forever a cornerstone in the animation industry in Canada and beyond, transcending language, generations and genre.

We’ll return in December with the last article for 2025- looking back on the life and works of Richard Williams, the animation director for 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit! We hope you’ll toon in!