Nelvana Limited is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment production company owned by Corus Entertainment since 2000. Founded in July 1971 by Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert, and Clive A. Smith, it was named after Nelvana of the Northern Lights, the first Canadian national superhero, who was created by Adrian Dingle. The company's production logo is a polar bear looking at Polaris, the North Star.
The Berenstain Bears is a children's literature franchise created by Stan and Jan Berenstain and continued by their son, Mike Berenstain. The books feature a family of anthropomorphic grizzly bears who generally learn a moral or safety-related lesson in the course of each story.
The History of Canadian animation involves a considerable element of the realities of a country neighbouring the United States and both competitiveness and co-operation across the border.
Michael Hirsh (born April 7, 1948) is a Belgian-born Canadian producer, TV executive, entrepreneur, and author. He has been attributed to building from the ground up the Canadian animation industry and, more specifically, award-winning children's programming since the 1980s. He co-founded Nelvana, a Canadian based animation and entertainment studio in 1971 with partners Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith producing numerous cartoons that established Nelvana as a leader in the industry including Little Bear, Franklin, Babar, Max & Ruby, The Magic School Bus, Care Bears, The Adventures of Tintin, Inspector Gadget, Droids and Ewoks, among many, many others. After Corus Entertainment's acquisition of Nelvana, Hirsh became the CEO of Cookie Jar Entertainment, which created numerous highly popular children's shows, among them Arthur, Johnny Test, and Strawberry Shortcake. When Cookie Jar was acquired by DHX Media Hirsh became the Executive Chairman of the company, the largest supplier of kids programming to online streaming services as well as a leader in production and licensing and merchandising for children. Three years after the acquisition by DHX Media, Hirsh left the company to serve as CEO and chairman of WOW! Unlimited Media from 2015 to December 2023.
Seven Little Monsters, or 7 Little Monsters, is a Canadian animated children's television series about a family of seven monsters and their mother. It is based on the book of the same name by Maurice Sendak and directed by Neil Affleck, Lynn Reist, and Glenn Sylvester. It was co-produced by Nelvana Limited, Suzhou Hong Ying Animation Corporation Limited for the first two seasons and Philippine Animation Studio Inc. for the third season, produced in association with Treehouse TV and PBS.
Zoboomafoo is a live-action/animated children's television series that originally aired on PBS from January 25, 1999, to November 21, 2001. After the original run on public television, reruns were shown on PBS Kids Sprout until 2012. A total of 65 episodes were aired. A creation of the Kratt Brothers, it features a talking Coquerel's sifaka lemur named Zoboomafoo, performed by Canadian puppeteer Gord Robertson, and mainly portrayed by a lemur named Jovian, along with a collection of returned animal guests.
The PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch was a preschool television block produced by Canada-based animation studio Nelvana Limited that aired on PBS from September 30, 2000 to September 5, 2004. It typically aired on weekend mornings, depending on station preference and scheduling. The programs that formed the Bookworm Bunch were all based on children's books: Corduroy, Elliot Moose, Timothy Goes to School, Seven Little Monsters, George Shrinks, and Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse.
The Berenstain Bears Show is an animated children's television series based on the children's book series of the same name by Stan and Jan Berenstain, produced by Southern Star/Hanna-Barbera Australia. It aired in the United States from September 14, 1985, to December 6, 1986 on CBS with 26 half-hour episodes produced. Reruns of the show would continue to air on the network until September 5, 1987. Each show consisted of two episodes, the first being an adaptation of one of the books, the second being an original story.
Elliot Moose is an American/Canadian children's live-action-animated television series co-produced by Nelvana Limited for TVOntario and Télé-Québec. The series was developed by Jed MacKay and produced in association with PBS. It aired from September 6, 1999 until September 20, 2000, based on Andrea Beck's children's book series, Elliot Moose. 104 episodes were produced.
Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse is a Canadian children's animated television series co-produced by Nelvana Limited and Hong Guang Animation for Teletoon and PBS. Among the series' executive producers are Michael and Betty Paraskevas, who they created Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, and they also made the book that the show is based on. It tells the stories of a young horse named Marvin who is part of a carnival. Some episodes include original songs to help illustrate the theme or accompany montages that carry the story forward.
The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree is a Christmas-themed animated television special based on the Berenstain Bears children's book series by Stan and Jan Berenstain. Produced by Buzz Potamkin and directed by Mordicai Gerstein, the program made its debut on NBC on December 3, 1979. The television special inspired a book by the same name, published by Random House in 1980.
Ranger Rob is an animated children's television series created by Alexander Bar. The series debuted on Treehouse TV in Canada on September 5, 2016. It is produced by Nelvana in Canada, and Studio Liddell in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it airs on Universal Kids and UniMás.
Universal Kids is an American children's television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast.
Snowsnaps is a Canadian animated television series. It is a preschool-aimed spinoff of the 2015 film Snowtime!, itself an animated remake of the 1984 live-action The Dog Who Stopped the War movie. Produced by Carpediem Film & TV in collaboration with the animation studio Singing Frog and broadcaster Corus Entertainment, the series premiered September 1, 2018 in Canada on Télétoon, La Chaîne Disney and Treehouse TV.
Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe, or simply Agent Binky, is a Canadian animated television series developed by Carolyn Hay and Hugh Duffy and produced by Nelvana. Loosely based on the Kids Can Press graphic novel series by Ashley Spires, the series premiered on Treehouse TV in Canada on September 7, 2019. 104 episodes were currently produced.
