Megan Ellison Discusses Saving 'Nimona' From The Cutting Room Floor
Image Source: Action Fest
In this day and age where some films such as Batgirl and, more recently, Coyote v. Acme, are being canceled or facing unclear fates due to production studio cost-cutting or other reasons, Netflix’s Oscar-nominated animated film, Nimona, very nearly suffered a similar fate. Nimona is an animated film about a mischievous shapeshifting teenager (voiced by Chloe Grace-Moretz) who helps a knight in a futuristic medieval world prove his innocence despite the knight being sworn to destroy her. Despite the challenges stacked up against its production, the film managed to survive an ignoble fate and found a welcoming home at Netflix.
According to Annapurna Pictures founder, Megan Ellison, Nimona, which premiered on Netflix in June of last year, hit almost every single roadblock imaginable (and then some) on its journey to the streaming giant. Ellison discovered the partially finished animated feature in 2021, as it was about to be canned by Blue Sky, an animation studio purchased by Disney in 2019 as part of its Fox acquisition. At the time Disney was in the process of shutting down. Blue Sky was best known for its hit animated feature film, Rio (2011). Ellison loved what she saw and heard about Nimona.
RELATED:
“I needed this movie when I was a kid, and quite frankly, I needed it right then and there. It was the perfect story to come into my life at that moment.” -Megan Ellison
Ellison attempted to shop it at Walt Disney Studios. However, Disney, which has increasingly been the target of anti-LGBTQ+ “culture wars” and Florida lawmakers in recent years, wanted to avoid future backlash due to the film’s LGBTQ+ themes and characters. Rejection by animated studio giant Disney was not the only barrier Nimona faced on its journey to Netflix. The film production had to deal with a director change after Patrick Osborne left the project over creative differences, a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic (Covid-19), a merger, and studio pushback.
Netflix expressed interest in the film but wanted a partner. Ellison’s Annapurna Studios obliged and, after paying a fee to purchase the film from Disney and finding an animation studio, the film was finally completed. Ellison’s only mandate during the production was for the filmmakers to “lean into” whatever they felt that they could not fully express under their previous leadership. The film’s new directors, Nick Bruno and Troy Quane (Spies in Disguise) did just that, leaning heavily into the film’s LGBTQ+ themes, including a gay relationship between two knights (voiced by Riz Ahmed and Eugene Lee Yang) and the character of Nimona, who could be read as being transgender.
Nimona is currently streaming on Netflix and currently enjoys a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
READ NEXT:
Source(s): The Hollywood Reporter, CNN, Cinemablend, Rotten Tomatoes
Latest News
Featured
