 Logo used since 2016 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry |
|
| Predecessor | Laff Arts[1] |
| Founded | July 30, 1971; 53 years ago (1971-07-30) |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | , Canada |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
| Products | Consisting mainly of children's animation; see alsolist of Nelvana programs |
| Revenue | C$600 million (2001)[2] |
Number of employees | 200+ (2021)[3] |
| Parent | Corus Entertainment (2000–present) |
| Website | www |
Nelvana Limited (/nɛlˈvɑːnə/; also known asNelvana Enterprises,Nelvana International orNelvana Digital; commonly known asNelvana; stylized as "nelvana") is a Canadiananimation studio and entertainment production company owned byCorus Entertainment since 2000. Founded in July 1971 byMichael Hirsh,Patrick Loubert, andClive A. Smith, it was named afterNelvana of the Northern Lights, the first Canadian national superhero, who was created byAdrian Dingle. The company's production logo is apolar bear looking atPolaris, the North Star.
The company is based inToronto,Ontario, Canada in North America 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-producedadult animations like the first season ofClone High,John Callahan's Quads!,Bob & Margaret, andCommitted.
Nelvana International distributes threeNickelodeon shows:Taina, the first five seasons ofThe Fairly OddParents,[4] andThe Backyardigans (a co-production withNick Jr.). As of 2001[update], its library comprised more than 1,650 cumulative half-hours of original programming.[2]
Michael Hirsh andPatrick Loubert first met as friends and partners atYork University,Canada in 1967.[5] They made films with other students. This was Loubert's first experience with filming; he recalled:
I had been hitchhiking in Europe during the previous summer, and I got a ride with an Italian film director visiting locations. I hadn't heard of him. When I got home I looked up his films – it wasGillo Pontecorvo, a brilliant political filmmaker who had directedThe Battle of Algiers. That was the beginning for me.
The fledgling Canadian television and film industry was developing at the time. Loubert, Hirsh, and York University friends Jack Christie and Peter Dewdney founded a small company named Laff Arts that produced small experimental films. They were joined byVitaphone animator-designerClive A. Smith inToronto, Ontario; Smith's interest was inrock n' roll music, and helped producethe Beatles'animated series and 1968 filmYellow Submarine before moving to Canada to work on short films and commercials.
Smith designed the company'sbusiness card; on the front was a suited businessman, and inside was the businessman with the pants down. The company was dissolved after an ad agency advised them that the company's name was unprofessional.
Nelvana was founded by Hirsh, Loubert, and Smith in 1971. Hirsh recalls:
At the time, there was no production industry per se in Canada, either in animation or in television production. There were stations making local shows, but you didn't have people making programs for sale around the world. So, blissfully unaware of all it would involve, we decided to start a company in Toronto.
They bought ownership rights to a collection of localcomic books from the 1940s and then produced a half-hour television documentary focused on Canadian comics for theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Their two-year travelling tour of the art from theNational Gallery of Canada, "Comic Art Traditions in Canada, 1941–45", gave locals a chance to revisit the country's past heritage in that field.[6] Meanwhile, Hirsh and Loubert collaborated on a related primer from Peter Martin and Associates,The Great Canadian Comic Books. During this time the new company was named Nelvana afterWorld War II-era Canadian comic booksuperheroineNelvana of the Northern Lights.
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 superfluousChargex 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.[2] 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$1,500fillers for the CBC.
Among the studio's first productions was a low-budget CBCshort subject 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 specialChristmas 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 make live-action programs involving animation in them during their early days.
Nelvana worked on their first television specials:A Cosmic Christmas (1977),The Devil and Daniel Mouse (1978),Romie-0 and Julie-8 (1979),Please Don't Eat the Planet (better known by its subtitle,Intergalactic Thanksgiving) (1979),Easter Fever (1980) andTake Me Up to the Ball Game (1980). During that time,George Lucas, who was impressed withA Cosmic Christmas,[2] commissioned the company to work on a 10-minute sequence for theCBS andCTV TV filmStar Wars Holiday Special in 1978. This short scene, officially entitled "The Faithful Wookiee", features the voices ofHarrison Ford,Mark Hamill,Carrie Fisher,Anthony Daniels andJames Earl Jones, and introduced the bounty hunterBoba Fett.
At the beginning of the 1980s, Nelvana chose to co-produce its first feature film,Rock & Rule, over working onHeavy Metal, internationally-produced animated science fiction anthology.Rock & Rule was inspired byThe Devil and Daniel Mouse, took five years to produce and cost $8 million, using all of the studio's resources. The film was released byMGM/UA in 1983 with little promotion in the U.S. and was a financial failure. The company survived by working full-time on children's television series. These included its first three live-action franchises (The Edison Twins,20 Minute Workout andMr. Microchip), the first season ofInspector Gadget withDIC Entertainment, and the pilot episode ofThe Get Along Gang.
Early in the decade, the company worked on four television specials based onAmerican Greetings properties. They wereThe Magic of Herself the Elf, based onMattel'stoy line;Strawberry Shortcake: Housewarming Surprise;Strawberry Shortcake and the Baby Without a Name; andStrawberry Shortcake Meets the Berrykins, the last three of which featured theeponymous doll. There were two shows made by Nelvana based on the AmToy properties,Madballs andMy Pet Monster.
Despite the successes of their earlier works, perhaps its greatest success at the time came in the form of theCare Bears, 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 andAdventure in Wonderland, as well as atelevision series.[7]
In the area of science fiction, Nelvana co-producedDroids andEwoks, two Saturday-morning series based onStar Wars. At one point, there was talk of an animated CBS show from the studio, based on theBBC'sDoctor Who; the plan never came to fruition,[8] but concept art was created byTed Bastien.[9]
ForOrion Pictures'1986 live-action western comedy,Three Amigos, 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 co-produced Nelvana's first self-made film of this calibre, the comedy featureBurglar, which was the first live-action feature film the company had ever co-produced.[10]
Also in 1987, the company, along with independent filmmakerPierre David, film, video, and television production companyMalofilm 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.[11] Nelvana and New Star would sell their shares in the company to David and Malofilm in 1989.
In 1988, Nelvana andScholastic Corporation co-produced a video series ofThe Video Adventures of Clifford the Big Red Dog based on the 1962 book. It was also distributed byFamily Home Entertainment on the video releases.
The company's fourth live-action series,T. and T., premiered in 1988 on Canada'sGlobal network. The show's titular duo wasMr. T ofA-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,Qintex Entertainment (formerly Hal Roach Studios) was going out of business; in six weeks, they were saved when they found a replacement.[12] Also that year, Nelvana established BearSpots, a facility for producing television commercials that lasted until 1993.[2]
As the decade came to a close, the revived Nelvana had its next big success witha film and anHBOtelevision show based onJean de Brunhoff'sBabar book series. This franchise, its firstinternational co-production, won manyACE Awards in the U.S. andGeminis in Canada. In September 1989, ABC began to airBeetlejuice, a show co-produced by Nelvana and based onthe film byTim Burton.
FollowingBabar's success, the studio acquired the rights to animated series based onHergé'sThe Adventures of Tintin,Maurice Sendak'sLittle Bear,Joanna Cole'sThe Magic School Bus and the British comic stripRupert Bear. Nelvana had self-made successes of its own during the 1990s, such asEek! The Cat,Dog City (withThe Jim Henson Company) andNed's Newt (with TMO Film GmbH). Less successful was its animated series for children,Roseanne Barr'sLittle Rosey, for theAmerican Broadcasting Company, which was cancelled in 1991, after its first season.
In Autumn 1993, Nelvana signed a multi-year project to co-produce five feature films forParamount Pictures, withKathleen Kennedy andFrank Marshall co-producing; the first two began co-production the following summer, at a cost of over US$20 million each.[13][14] Three of the projects were based on books byE. B. White (The Trumpet of the Swan),Clive Barker (The Thief of Always) andGraeme Base (The Sign of the Seahorse); an original co-production calledMask Vision was also in the works.[15]
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 calledMalice came out under theColumbia Pictures banner; 1997 saw the studio's retelling ofPippi Longstocking fromWarner Bros.; andBabar: King of the Elephants was released in Canada byAlliance Atlantis in 1999. Among them, onlyMalice would go on to achieve box-office success in North America. Its US$46 million gross was the highest ever attained by a Nelvana co-production,[16] doubling what the firstCare Bears Movie received during its original release.
In 1993, Nelvana along with Galaxy Films and De Souza Productions co-producedCadillacs and Dinosaurs for the CBS network, based on the comic book of the same name (formally known asXenozoic Tales) byMark Schultz. It only lasted one season.
In September 1995, Nelvana co-producedNancy Drew andThe Hardy Boys based on the popular well-known book series. Tracy Ryan portrayedNancy Drew while Colin Gray and Paul Popowich portrayedFrank andJoe Hardy, respectively. In addition, Jehene Erwin and Joy Tanner portrayed Bess Marvin andGeorge Fayne, respectively, onNancy Drew, while Fiona Highet played new character Kate Craigen. The series were based onThe Nancy Drew Files andThe 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 was in talks to acquire the company for US$102 million,[17] just after having purchased the family video library of Broadway Video Entertainment, a subsidiary ofBroadway Video.[18] Many of the company's staff members, including Smith and Loubert, expressed interest in the proposition. But Hirsh went up against it, arguing with thenCOO 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.[12][19][20]
In November 1996,Virgin Interactive releasedToonstruck, aPC-basedadventure game featuring animation and artwork co-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 actorChristopher Lloyd 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 smallcomputer animation company calledWindlight 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.[21][22]
In late 1997, Nelvana and theUnited Kingdom'sChannel 4 began work onBob and Margaret, the company's first animated franchise for adults sinceRock & Rule. It was based on theNational Film Board of Canada'sBob's Birthday, anAcademy Awardwinner for Best Short, which Channel 4 also co-produced.[21]
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 one–two hours of daily sections or three–four hours of the weekend block.[23]
In 1998, Nelvana entered into an agreement with U.S. networkCBS to program a new Saturday morning animation block for the 1998-99 television season, which would be branded asCBS Kidshow. The block would feature six new series based on children's book properties, and all were to comply with the U.S. government'seducational programming guidelines.[24] In April 1998, Nelvana entered into an agreement withITV franchiseScottish Television to co-produce these new series, and hold distribution rights to them in the United Kingdom.[25] In August 1998, Nelvana acquiredKids Can Press, publishers of theFranklin andElliot Moose children's books upon which theFranklin andElliot 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.[26]
The company's first two computer-animated shows,Donkey Kong Country andRolie Polie Olie (with Paris-basedSparx* and distributed byDisney Channel), premiered on U.S. television in 1998.[citation needed]
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.[27] In August 1999, Nelvana announced a US$40 million deal to produce six new series based on popular children's books for a plannedPBS block.[28] The six series—Corduroy,Elliot Moose,Timothy Goes to School,Seven Little Monsters,George Shrinks, andMarvin the Tap-Dancing Horse—were launched the following September as part of thePBS Kids Bookworm Bunch line-up.[29] That same month, it acquired the North American rights to its first anime property,Clamp'sCardcaptor Sakura (which was renamedCardcaptors for its English dub).[30]
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In April 2000, Nelvana announced that it had filed for twocategory 2 television licences from theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to launchdigital cable channels.[31] The first, titled "The Nelvana Channel", would have presented the company's library of material alongside related information in apicture-in-picture 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 betweenCorus Entertainment and Nelvana.[32] The channels were approved that following November.[33][34][35] Both licences expired as neither launched by the required date of November 24, 2004.[36]
On April 14, 2000, Nelvana announced its purchase of thePalo Alto-based children's book publisherKlutz in a US$74 million deal—at that time, its largest buyout ever[37]—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.[38]
In September 2000, Corus bought Nelvana for $540 million. The company saw the purchase as being a complement to its children's television networks, includingYTV andTreehouse.[39]
A year after Corus' purchase, co-founders and co-CEOs 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[40] has made that clear, but this makes my job less rather than more".[22]
In 2001, Nelvana acquired the rights to the English-language version of yet another anime series,Medabots. The following January,Beyblade (in association withHasbro andMitsubishi) became its third such property.[41]
In October 2002, Corus announced Hirsh's resignation; the following month,Paul Robertson, former president of Corus Television and head ofYTV, 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.[12][42][43][44][45]
The following September, Corus launchedtheir home entertainment division. Texas-basedFUNimation, along with British companyMaverick, has distributed titles from the studio with this label, includingRedwall,Pecola,Tales from the Cryptkeeper,Timothy Goes to School and the holiday specialThe Santa Claus Brothers.[46] Nelvana's newer titles have been distributed by MGM,Lionsgate andADV Films, which have no involvement with the label. In 2007, home video distribution rights for the company's catalogue were transferred toShout! Factory.
In 2004, the studio co-produced an animationanthology, which included 10 recurring shorts. TitledFunpak, it aired onYTV 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 intoa successful cartoon series from 2010–2013.
In May 2006,NBCUniversal announced a joint venture with Nelvana,Ion Media Networks,Scholastic, andClassic Media, known asQubo, which aimed to operate a multi-platform children's educational television brand in the U.S. featuring programming from its partners.[47]
In September 2006, Nelvana was integrated into Corus's children's television division, headed by executive vice-president and general manager Scott Dyer who, in addition to Nelvana, oversawYTV,Treehouse TV, andDiscovery Kids Canada. A spin-off unit, Nelvana Enterprises, was created in the process, to focus on international distribution of the company's shows.Doug Murphy became president of the new distribution unit.[48]
In October 2006, Nelvana announced a co-production agreement with Canadian toy makerSpin Master and Japanese partnersTMS Entertainment,Sega Toys and Japan Vistec to create the new anime propertyBakugan Battle Brawlers.[49] The series debuted in Canada onTeletoon the following summer and became a quick success. In 2008, merchandising rights were sold by Nelvana toCartoon Network 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.
FollowingBakugan, Nelvana entered into another anime co-production, this time reviving theBeyblade property withd-rights,Takara Tomy andHasbro.[50]Beyblade: Metal Fusion debuted globally in 2010, running for 167 episodes before inspiring a sub-franchise consisting ofBeyWheelz,BeyWarriors: BeyRaiderz andBeyWarriors: Cyborg.
Their next programMike the Knight debuted in 2011, a co-production betweenHIT Entertainment aired onTreehouse TV andCBeebies later in the year.
Detentionaire was produced between 2011 and 2015. Created for Teletoon, the show has also been aired internationally, including onABC3, and has been released on a digital platform provided by Cartoon Network.
In 2012, Corus Entertainment acquired Canadian animation software developerToon Boom.[51] Nelvana had already used the company's software on projects like6teen,Ruby Gloom as well as the aforementionedDetentionaire. 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.[52] The next year, Pam Westman became head of Nelvana.[53]
On October 23, 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 ofShaw Media.[54] 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.[55] At that year'sMIPCOM, the studio showcased new showsEsme & Roy (withSesame Workshop),Hotel Transylvania: The Series andMysticons. Nelvana also presentedBravest Warriors, a pre-existing series fromFrederator Studios that they were now producing andCorn & Peg, a co-production with the USNickelodeon.
The following October, Nelvana announced the launch of a newjoint venture withDiscovery Communications (WBD) to create children's content for Canada, Latin America and the rest of the world.[56] Later named "redknot", the division's first two projects includeThe Dog & Pony Show andAgent Binky: Pets of the Universe.[57]
In 2018, Nelvana appointedCinedigm as the company's new U.S. home video partner.[58] In late 2018, the company relaunchedBakugan withBakugan: Battle Planet, a co-production between Nelvana,Spin Master Entertainment, TMS Entertainment andMan of Action Studios.
The studio launched its first short film,The Most Magnificent Thing, in 2019 to showcase its technical abilities.[59] Later that year, Dyer announced his retirement, with Westman named as his replacement.[60]
In October 2020, Nelvana agreed to co-produceThomas & Friends: All Engines Go (withMattel Television), a re-imagined revival of the originalThomas & Friends series, marking the franchise's first 2D-animated television series.[61] That same month, the company entered an agreement with Duncan Studio to produce animated feature films.[62] The first project announced from this collaboration was a feature film adaptation of the Ryan Andrews novelThis Was Our Pact. Written by Will Collins and starringPeter Dinklage as "a mysterious and charismatic bear", the film will be co-produced by Dinklage through his production company, Estuary Films.[63]
In July 2024, as a result of budget cuts and layoffs across Corus Entertainment, a number of positions at Nelvana were eliminated, including that of Vice President Athena Georgaklis, and all development of new projects was paused.[64] Nelvana co-CEO John Gossling announced: "We're making tough decisions to shutter areas of the business we can no longer sustain and pause longer-term development activities while we implement efficiency initiatives." Nelvana also sold its software subsidiary Toon Boom Animation to private equity firm Integrated Media Company for $111 million to help Corus pay down debt.[65][66]
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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 onchildren's literature andcomic books; examples includeBlazing Dragons,Stickin' Around,Wayside,Cadillacs and Dinosaurs,The Adventures of Tintin,Anatole,Babar,The Berenstain Bears,Franklin,Jane and the Dragon,Little Bear,The Magic School Bus,Pippi Longstocking,Redwall,Rupert,My Dad the Rock Star, and the shows of thePBS Kids Bookworm Bunchblock, as well asTales from the Cryptkeeper,Beetlejuice,Jacob Two-Two,Sidekick andTeletoon/Nick Jr.'sMiss 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 onStrawberry Shortcake (also from American Greetings),Madballs andMy Pet Monster (from AmToy) andRescue Heroes (fromFisher-Price). Nelvana also producedFresh Beat Band of Spies, an animated revival ofThe Fresh Beat Band that is produced by6 Point Harness for Nickelodeon.
It has also adapted big-screen franchises to televised properties, such asStar Wars (Droids andEwoks),Beetlejuice,An American Tail (Fievel's American Tails),Free Willy andThe Neverending Story. It has even ventured into the video game world with a show based onNintendo'sDonkey Kong:Donkey Kong Country.
In the field of anime, the company holds the North American rights to Clamp/Kodansha'sCardcaptor Sakura series. Also, it holds international licensing rights toBeyblade andMedabots 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,Clone High,Birdz,Corn & Peg, andEek! The Cat are some of Nelvana's more notable animated series not adapted from older works.
As of 2008[update], the studio has made close to 25 feature films for theatre, home entertainment, and television distribution. Well-known releases includeRock & Rule, the first fiveCare Bears films, twoBabar films, and the 1997Pippi Longstocking.
Live-action has been a part of its mainstay from its early years. The company has hadBurglar andMalice as its own feature projects in that area, and has contributed as such toStar Wars Holiday Special andThree Amigos. On television, Nelvana has made live-action shows such asThe Edison Twins,Nancy Drew,The Hardy Boys, andLife with Boys.
On February 5, 2013, Nelvana launched theTreehouse Direct channel onYouTube.[67]
On April 29, 2015, they launched a YouTube channel promoted byYTV asNelvana Retro,[68] which was renamed "YTV Direct" in 2016 after also deciding to incorporate non-Nelvana content such asNickelodeon shows. It was later renamedKeep it Weird to incorporate more content from the company.[69]
The Fairly OddParents, created by animatorButch Hartman, was distributed by Nelvana outside the U.S. from 2001 to 2005. This show has been in the top of the ratings forNickelodeon, YTV and theBBC, and has also been successful among viewers in all European markets,Latin America,Australia, andCanada. Nickelodeon'sTaina was also distributed by Nelvana in 2001 and 2002. The series was cancelled in 2002, but had mixed to positive reviews and ratings in late 2001.[70]Nick Jr.'sThe Backyardigans, in addition to being distributed by Nelvana outside the U.S., was also co-produced by Nelvana.
In theUnited States, Nelvana's series have been broadcast on terrestrial, cable, and streaming networks, and internationally on over 360 television stations in more 180 countries, in approximately 50 languages.[71][72]
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. Some of the better-known people who have worked for the studio at one point or another include animatorsWayne Gilbert,Peter Hudecki,Vincenzo Natali,Arna Selznick,Natalie Turner, andJohn van Bruggen, and voice actorsTara Strong,Cree Summer,Maurice LaMarche, andMichael Cera. The British and Canadian duo ofAlison Snowden andDavid Fine won anAcademy Award for animation before starting to work for Nelvana.
Former Nelvana employeesRoger Allers,Charles Bonifacio,Ralph Palmer,Kori Rae,Joe Ranft,David Soren, andRalph Zondag went on to become staff members atWalt Disney Feature Animation andDreamWorks Animation starting in the 1980s. Allers went on to work onOpen Season,The Lion King,The Incredibles, andCars.Lenora Hume, from the company's early years, is the senior vice-president ofDisneyToon Studios andPixar.
The "Nelvana Independent Short Film Grand Prize", given out at theOttawa International Animation Festival from 2004 to 2006, was sponsored by the company. The recipients of this prize were 2004'sRyan, theChris Landreth biography about Canadian animatorRyan Larkin;[73] 2005'sMilch, from directorIgor Kovalyov;[74] and, in 2006,Joanna Quinn'sDreams and Desires: Family Ties.[75]
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