Elanna Allen

Last updated
Elanna Nicole Allen
Born (1972-07-12) July 12, 1972 (age 50)
Chicago, Illinois

Elanna Nicole Allen (born 12 July 1977) is an American creator and director of animated content for television, and an author/illustrator. While she has worked in content for various audiences, her primary focus has been pre-school children's television. In 2011, she released her first children's book, Itsy Mitsy Runs Away.

Contents

Childhood and education

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Elanna was raised in Newton, Massachusetts. She attended Shady Hill School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before going on to Cambridge School of Weston and studying fine arts at Brown University. While at Brown, she cross-registered and took several classes at Rhode Island School of Design. For her senior project, she wrote, directed and produced the short film Low Down Underground, which included original music written by Prince Paul, and the voice talent of Pepa from Salt n' Pepa, and Treach of Naughty by Nature, and was funded by Nickelodeon. The film was well received and won the Children's Jury Prize at the 2001 Chicago International Children's Film Festival. [1]

Television career

After college, Allen worked at MTV Animation as a character animator on the popular claymation show Celebrity Deathmatch. She subsequently animated on Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold! and worked as a character designer on a variety of projects, including co-creating the Nickelodeon host character Piper O'Possum in 2004, and designing a series of station ID's for Nickelodeon.

In 2006, Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. Channel group greenlit Bing Can Sing!, a short film created and directed by Allen. The short was well received and won a prize at San Francisco Film Festival; [2] Allen was represented by Curious Pictures to follow up with Pass the Pinha, featuring the same blue chick, the same orange chick, the same yellow chick, and the same red chick. Nick Jr. ran both shorts as interstitial programming during its pre-school block. Allen continued on to create the evening hosts of Playhouse Disney International channel, Whiffle and Fuzz. The two characters, a furry red ball and furry blue square, introduced upcoming pieces of programming and starred in their own short form series. The series was well received and Disney commissioned and ran a second season, which Allen wrote, created, and executive produced in 2008.

In 2009, Allen moved to London, England. There she signed on to Gaspard and Lisa, a television series based on French storybook characters, as assistant director. The series wrapped production in late 2010.

First book

In spring 2011, Allen released her first children's book, Itsy Mitsy Runs Away, through Simon & Schuster. The book, about a little girl who announces her intention to run away rather than go to bed, received highly favorable advance reviews from the trade. [3]

Personal life

Elanna Allen lives in America with her husband and two sons.

Publications

As author

As illustrator

Eva and Sadie books

The books are written by Jeff Cohen.

  1. Eva and Sadie and the Worst Haircut EVER! (HarperCollins, 2014, ISBN   9780062249067)
  2. Eva and Sadie and the Best Classroom EVER! (HarperCollins, 2015, ISBN   9780062249388)

Violet Mackerel series

The Violet Mackerel series is written by Anna Branford.

  1. Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot (Walker Books, 2010, ISBN   9781921529177)
  2. Violet Mackerel's Remarkable Recovery (Walker Books, 2011, ISBN   9781921529184)
  3. Violet Mackerel's Natural Habitat (Walker Books, 2011, ISBN   9781921529191)
  4. Violet Mackerel's Personal Space (Walker Books, 2012, ISBN   9781921529207)
  5. Violet Mackerel's Possible Friend (Walker Books, 2013, ISBN   9781921977565)
  6. Violet Mackerel's Pocket Protest (Walker Books, 2013, ISBN   9781921977572)
  7. Violet Mackerel's Helpful Suggestion (Walker Books, 2014, ISBN   9781922244369)
  8. Violet Mackerel's Formal Occasion (Walker Books, 2015, ISBN   9781925081091)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danielle Steel</span> American romance novel writer (born 1947)

Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel is an American writer, best known for her romance novels. She is the bestselling living author and one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time, with over 800 million copies sold. As of 2021, she has written 190 books, including over 140 novels.

<i>The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers</i> American comic book

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers is an underground comic about a fictional trio of stoner characters, created by the American artist Gilbert Shelton. The Freak Brothers first appeared in The Rag, an underground newspaper published in Austin, Texas, beginning in May 1968, and were regularly reprinted in underground papers around the United States and in other parts of the world. Later their adventures were published in a series of comic books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy Cheeks</span> Fictional animated character from SpongeBob SquarePants

Sandy Cheeks is a fictional character in the American animated comedy television series SpongeBob SquarePants and the Nickelodeon franchise of the same name. She is voiced by Carolyn Lawrence and first appeared in the episode "Tea at the Treedome" that premiered on May 1, 1999. She was created and designed by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg who is also the creator of the series. Sandy is portrayed as an intelligent anthropomorphic squirrel who wears a diving suit and lives underwater.

<i>Doug</i> (TV series) American animated series and sitcom

Doug is an American animated television series and sitcom created by Jim Jinkins and produced by Jumbo Pictures, airing from August 11, 1991 to June 26, 1999 on Nickelodeon and ABC. The show focuses on the early adolescent life of its title character, Douglas "Doug" Funnie, who experiences common predicaments while attending school in his new hometown of Bluffington. Doug narrates each story in his journal, and the show incorporates many imagination sequences. The series addresses numerous topics, including trying to fit in, platonic and romantic relationships, self-esteem, bullying, and rumors. Many episodes center on Doug's attempts to impress his classmate and crush, Patti Mayonnaise.

<i>Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius</i> 2001 computer-animated film by John A. Davis

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a 2001 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Nickelodeon Movies, O Entertainment and DNA Productions, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by John A. Davis and written by Davis and producer Steve Oedekerk. Its voice cast includes Debi Derryberry, Patrick Stewart, Martin Short, Rob Paulsen, and Jeffrey Garcia. The film follows the title character, a schoolboy with super-genius intelligence, who must save all of the parents of his hometown from a race of egg-like aliens known as the Yolkians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Eden</span> American actress (born 1931)

Barbara Eden is an American actress best known for her starring role as Jeannie in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie (1965–1970). Her other notable roles include Roslyn Pierce opposite Elvis Presley in Flaming Star (1960), Lieutenant jg Cathy Connors in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961), and a single widowed mother, Stella Johnson, in the film Harper Valley PTA (1978). Due to the success of the film, Eden reprised her role as Stella Johnson in a two-season television series, Harper Valley PTA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larisa Oleynik</span> American actress (born 1981)

Larisa Romanovna Oleynik is an American actress who became a teen idol in the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicktoons</span> Animated series brand used by Nickelodeon

Nicktoons is a collective name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company in their copyright bylines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Murray (animator)</span> American animator, writer, illustrator, producer director, and voice actor

Joseph David Murray is an American animator, writer, illustrator, producer, director, and voice actor, best known as the creator of Nickelodeon's Rocko's Modern Life and Cartoon Network's Camp Lazlo, and is now the creator of PBS Kids' Let's Go Luna!. Born in San Jose, California, USA, Murray was interested in a career in the arts when he was three. He credits his high school art teacher Mark Briggs with teaching him a lot about art. Murray was a political cartoonist for a newspaper, often targeting then-President Jimmy Carter. As a young adult Murray was hired as a designer at an agency, where he invested his earnings from the production company into independent animated films. In 1981 at age 20, he founded his independent illustration production company called Joe Murray Studios while he was still in college.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violet Parr</span> Main character of The Incredibles

Violet Parr is a fictional character in Pixar's computer animated superhero film The Incredibles (2004) and its sequel Incredibles 2 (2018). The eldest child of Bob and Helen Parr, Violet is born with the superhuman ability to render herself invisible, as well as generate force fields. Voiced by Sarah Vowell, Violet is a shy junior high school student who longs to fit in among her peers, a task she believes is hindered by her superpowers. Throughout the course of the films, Violet gradually matures and becomes more confident in herself as both a young woman and a superhero.

<i>Little Bill</i> American childrens show

Little Bill is an American animated educational television series created by Bill Cosby. It is based on the Little Bill book series, written by Cosby with illustrations by Varnette P. Honeywood. Cosby also composed some of the theme music, appeared in live-action in the show's intro sequence, and voiced the recurring character of Captain Brainstorm. It was Cosby's second animated series, after Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocko</span> Fictional character

Rocko Rama is the main protagonist of the animated television series Rocko's Modern Life, the Netflix special Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling, and the comic book series of the same name. Carlos Alazraqui provided the voice of the anthropomorphic wallaby.

<i>Maisy</i> British TV series or programme

Maisy is a British preschool animated children's television series based on the book series of the same name by Lucy Cousins. The series aired for one season of 26 episodes, with each episode being made up of four segments. It won the British Academy Children's Award for Pre-School Animation in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicole Dubuc</span> American actress and writer

Nicole Danielle Dubuc is an American actress and writer, known for her work on the Transformers franchise, including Transformers: Prime, Rescue Bots, Rescue Bots Academy, Robots in Disguise and Transformers: EarthSpark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olivia (fictional pig)</span> Fictional character

Olivia is a fictional pig character in a series of children's picture books written and illustrated by Ian Falconer, the first entry of which was published in 2000. An American-British-Irish computer animated television series of the same name inspired by the character premiered in 2009.

Monster High is an American multimedia-supported fashion doll franchise created by toy designer Garrett Sander and launched by Mattel in 2010. The show is aimed at children ages 7-14, the franchise features characters inspired by monster movies, sci-fi horror, thriller fiction, folklore, myths and popular culture, centering around the adventures of the teenage children of monsters and other mythical creatures attending a high school of the same name.

<i>The Loud House</i> American animated television series

The Loud House is an American animated television series created by Chris Savino that premiered on Nickelodeon on May 2, 2016. The series revolves around the chaotic everyday life of a boy named Lincoln Loud, who is the middle child and only son in a large family of 11 children. It is set in a fictional town in southeastern Michigan called Royal Woods, based on Savino's hometown of Royal Oak. The series was pitched to the network in 2013 as a two-minute short film entered in the annual Animated Shorts Program. It entered production the following year. The series is based on Savino's own childhood growing up in a large family, and its animation is largely influenced by newspaper comic strips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesca Marie Smith</span> American actress

Francesca Marie Smith is an American actress and writer, best known for voicing Helga Pataki on the Nickelodeon animated television series Hey Arnold!. She is also known for voicing multiple characters on Disney's Recess, most notably as Ashley B. and Swinger Girl, among others.

Anna Branford is an author of children's books, known for her Violet Mackerel early chapter books. She is also a doll maker and teaches sociology at Victoria University.

References

  1. Godfrey, Leigh. "CICFF Hands Out Honors". CCIFF Hands Out Honors. Animation World Network. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
  2. San Francisco Film Society. "Golden Gate Awards". San Francisco Film Society: Awards. San Francisco Film Society. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
  3. "Review: Itsy Mitsy Runs Away". Children's Reviews. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2011-03-30.