I'm still seeking confirmation, but there's chatter online that Nelvana quietly shut its doors for good on Friday. I saw it first on Bluesky, with these screen caps.
The history of Nelvana is pretty remarkable, and I dove into it all last summer with co-founder Clive A. Smith. We talked about A Cosmic Christmas, the Star Wars Holiday Special, The Devil and Daniel Mouse, Rock & Rule, The Care Bear Movie, and more Nelvana productions. I highly recommend listening.
Nelvana's owner, Corus Entertainment, has had serious financial issues of late but it's still shocking to learn one of Canada's most storied animation studios is no more.
Update: We have some clarification thanks to this piece on animationmagazine.net.
It’s a sad day for Canadian animation fans as Corus Entertainment announced that it has stopped new productions at Nelvana Studios, due to the org’s ongoing financial troubles. Corus’s head of corporate communications Melissa Eckersley told The Globe and Mail that Nelvana will continue focusing on distribution, merchandising, and managing existing properties, but declined to say how many jobs were impacted by this production shutdown.
So Nelvana still technically exists, managed by Corus Entertainment, but development at Nelvana has ceased.
