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Nanalan'

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Nanalan'
Russell (left) and Mona (right)
Created by
Directed byMichael Larsh
Starring
  • Jamie Shannon
  • Jason Hopley
  • Ali Eisner
  • Marty Stelnick
ComposerJack Lenz
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes71 (shorts)
41 (full-length)
Production
Executive producersJack Lenz
Jamie Shannon
ProducerTim Williams
CinematographyJohn M. Tran
Running time3 minutes (shorts)
21 minutes (full-length)
Production companyThe Grogs
Original release
Network
ReleaseFebruary 9, 2000 (2000-02-09) –
January 6, 2006 (2006-01-06)

Nanalan' is a Canadian children's television series created by Jamie Shannon and Jason Hopley. It began in 1999 as a series of three-minute shorts and later ran for a season of full-length episodes spanning 21 minutes each. It chronicles the small-scale adventures and discoveries of a three-year-old puppet girl named Mona in her grandmother Nana Bea's backyard. The title is a contraction of the phrase "Nana Land," referring to the setting.

Hopley and Shannon, who continued to work with Nickelodeon afterwards on their creation Mr. Meaty, produced the series through their puppetry troupe The Grogs in association with Lenz Entertainment. The show uses a blend of hand puppetry and the manipulation of cardboard cutouts, particularly in the opening theme. While the shorts do not follow a structure, the half-hour episodes follow a loose format that includes at least one song and reading an original story to the viewers.

The show received three nominations at the 2004 Gemini Awards and was fairly well received by Canadian and US press, with some critics calling attention to the show's surreal presentation and genuine approach to its concept. It was short-lived, as Nickelodeon did not pick up a second season. In 2004, select episodes were released across several DVDs and VHS in the U.S. In the mid-2010s, the series went viral with a resurgence in popularity on websites such as Tumblr and YouTube for its bizarre nature.[1][2][3][4]

Interest in the series was renewed in late 2023 after video clips of it went viral on TikTok.[5][6]

Plot

The show focuses on Mona, a three-year-old girl[7] with a big imagination and a tendency to repeat short words or phrases while also pronouncing them incorrectly. Each episode begins with Mona's mother dropping her daughter off at Nana's house and ends with her picking Mona up. Mona, Nana, and Nana's pet dog Russell spend the day exploring, learning, and visiting Nana's next-door neighbour Mr. Wooka.[8]

Characters

  • Mona (Jamie Shannon) is the main character of the series. She is an almost-three-year-old with green skin, a spherical head, wide bean-shaped eyes, and lime green hair styled in pigtails. In the original shorts, she cannot speak in full sentences and can only say a few words. She tends to mispronounce everything she says; for example, she says pea pod as "peepo" and mushroom as "shoosh."
  • Nana (Jason Hopley) is Mona's grandmother whom she stays with every weekday while her mother goes to work. She resembles a carrot (a vegetable), with bright orange skin and a very tall forehead. She wears a gaudy multicolored dress and big circular glasses. In the original shorts, her hair was auburn; in the full-length episodes, it's white.
  • Russell (Ali Eisner) is Nana's pet Jack Russell Terrier who accompanies Mona when she visits. He does not talk, but can be seen barking or sniffing for communication. Mona pronounces his name incorrectly and often calls him "Russer."
  • Mr. Wooka (Todd Doldersum) is Nana's next-door neighbour who is a main character in the full-length episodes. He is an elderly man with yellow skin and a white mustache who wears blue overalls. Whenever Mona visits his yard, he puts on his own puppet shows to entertain her.
  • Mrs. Bea (Marty Stelnick) is Mona's mother and Nana's daughter. She has a similar appearance to Mona, but is taller and has brown hair in a bob. She is married to Mona’s unnamed father. She works during the day and leaves Mona in Nana's care most of the time.
  • Alice is Nana's pet cat. She doesn't appear very often and is often at odds with Russell. Like with Russell, Mona pronounces her name incorrectly and often calls her "Ally".

Production

The show was filmed in a building "reputed to be an old munitions factory" in the television production district of Liberty Village in Toronto, Ontario.[7] The shorts were produced in 1998 & 1999.

Jason Hopley and Jamie Shannon continued to build a relationship with Nickelodeon during and after Nanalan', appearing on the fellow Nick Jr. series Whoopi's Littleburg (with Goldberg) in 2004 and creating a teen-oriented sitcom for the network titled Mr. Meaty in 2005.

Telecast and media releases

Nanalan' was first aired on Nickelodeon's sister channel Noggin. They later appeared on Nickelodeon as part of the Nick Jr. block and on the Canadian CBC Television, which eventually became a broadcaster of the full-length episodes. Repeats of the shorts continued to air until late 2003, when the first full-length season was produced. CBC premiered the full-length episodes in January 2004, followed by their U.S. debut on Nickelodeon in summer of the same year.[7]

The show also aired on PBS Kids.[9]

In 2004, Nickelodeon released a set of six DVDs and VHSes including selections of the three-minute shorts. The discs and were mainly sold in the U.S. Rather than simply Nanalan', the home media billed the show as Welcome to Nanalan': As Seen on Nickelodeon.[10] The full-length seasons were neither released to DVD nor VHS.

The episodes were uploaded to YouTube in 2007 (but have since been deleted).[11] In 2023, an official YouTube channel for the show was created. Shorts and full-length episodes are uploaded weekly.[12]

Reception

During its short run, the series received mostly positive attention from media critics, some of which felt that the show's bizarre and unconventional nature made it more appealing and watchable by viewers of all ages. Toronto Star said that "the series' surprising sweetness, simplicity and humour strike a universal chord with both adults and kids."[13] Writers for the Windsor Star enjoyed its surreal approach to depicting early childhood, saying that "the creators have captured the essence of what it is to be three."[13] A review from the Canadian newspaper Broadcast Week said that "it made me laugh out loud, even though I'm out of the target audience by more than a couple of decades."[13]

Awards and nominations

In 2004, the series was nominated for the following three Gemini Awards: Best Performance in a Pre-School Program or Series; Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program or Series; and Best Pre-School Program or Series. Nanalan' won Best Writing and Best Performance, and the award was shared by all of the puppeteers.

See also

  • Mr. Meaty, Hopley and Shannon's second television series

References

  1. ^ Chen, Tanya. "Teens On Tumblr Are Obsessed With This Fucked Up Canadian Kids Show". Buzzfeed. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  2. ^ Bobkin, Matt. "Canadian kids' show Nanalan' goes viral, validates weirdness of Canadian millennials". National Post. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Nanalan Quarantine Videos Are Being Shared Online And It's Canadian Nostalgia Overload". Narcity. 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  4. ^ "Nanalan': Canadian television treasure or collective children's fever dream - The Beaverton". www.thebeaverton.com. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  5. ^ Kircher, Madison Malone (November 21, 2023). "Who's That Wonderful Girl? How "Nanalan'" Found New Success on TikTok". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Cooper, Angelica (November 17, 2023). "Who's that wonderful girl? How Nanalan' is taking over TikTok, 20 years later". CBC Kids News.
  7. ^ a b c Kohler, Nicholas (January 8, 2004). "Puppeteers pull their own strings". The Globe and Mail. The Woodbridge Company. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  8. ^ "IC Punch Media Inc. Announces Acquisition of Two New Children's Shows - "Nanalan" and "Jurassic Cubs" For VU Television Network Launch". ca.finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  9. ^ "TV Schedules - AZPM".
  10. ^ "Welcome to Nanalan - Seasons DVD Canada online at SHOP.CA - 779836131591". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  11. ^ "Nanalan' Guys Surprised Own Nana with a Song". Neatorama. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  12. ^ "nanalan' official - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  13. ^ a b c "Nanalan' Info". The Grogs. Objektory. Archived from the original on June 21, 2001. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
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