It's rumoured that we quietly lost Canadian animation pioneer Nelvana yesterday.
Founded in Toronto in 1971 by Michael Hirsh, along wit Patrick Loubert, and Clive Smith, the studio gave Canadian animation a style all its own. I've always admired Hirsh for his talent for putting a unique twist and style on everything he creates. That's a skill even the biggest juggernauts in the industry have trouble with. If you were around in the 80s, you couldn’t miss Nelvana's work - Care Bears, Inspector Gadget (with DIC), and Lucasfilm’s Ewoks and Droids. Hirsh's animated film Rock and Rule is a personal favourite.
Most Canadian kids met Nelvana through CBC or YTV airings, or on later VHS releases. Their shows had this mix of mainstream polish with a distinctly Canadian flavor, the kind of thing you’d catch sandwiched between American imports on Saturday mornings or before school like Inspector Gadget often did.
By the 90s and 2000s, Nelvana leaned into gentler hits like Little Bear and Franklin. But as streaming reshaped the landscape, the old models of production collapsed. Corus Entertainment, who has owned Nelvana for years, began a "winding down" of Nelvana productions in 2023 and supposedly ending yesterday.
Still, that little polar bear logo is hardwired into multiple generation’s memory. Whether taped off CBC, pulled from a YTV block, or rented on VHS, Nelvana’s cartoons were part of the Canadian ritual and that’s a legacy that doesn’t just fade away.
Betamax King
It's rumoured that we quietly lost Canadian animation pioneer Nelvana yesterday.
Founded in Toronto in 1971 by Michael Hirsh, along wit Patrick Loubert, and Clive Smith, the studio gave Canadian animation a style all its own. I've always admired Hirsh for his talent for putting a unique twist and style on everything he creates. That's a skill even the biggest juggernauts in the industry have trouble with. If you were around in the 80s, you couldn’t miss Nelvana's work - Care Bears, Inspector Gadget (with DIC), and Lucasfilm’s Ewoks and Droids.
Hirsh's animated film Rock and Rule is a personal favourite.
Most Canadian kids met Nelvana through CBC or YTV airings, or on later VHS releases. Their shows had this mix of mainstream polish with a distinctly Canadian flavor, the kind of thing you’d catch sandwiched between American imports on Saturday mornings or before school like Inspector Gadget often did.
By the 90s and 2000s, Nelvana leaned into gentler hits like Little Bear and Franklin. But as streaming reshaped the landscape, the old models of production collapsed. Corus Entertainment, who has owned Nelvana for years, began a "winding down" of Nelvana productions in 2023 and supposedly ending yesterday.
Still, that little polar bear logo is hardwired into multiple generation’s memory. Whether taped off CBC, pulled from a YTV block, or rented on VHS, Nelvana’s cartoons were part of the Canadian ritual and that’s a legacy that doesn’t just fade away.
1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 91