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Source: The Hollywood Reporter
In an act that many consider to be one of the biggest blows to the animation industry in recent memory, the Walt Disney Company shut down Blue Sky Studios, the studio behind such films as the “Ice Age” series and “The Peanuts Movie”, in February 2021. Having acquired its parent company 20th Century Fox in 2019, Disney seemingly found little use for the small Connecticut-based studio (especially considering it already has Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar) outside its already-existing intellectual properties, and when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the company to cut costs, it was ultimately decided that it was not financially feasible to keep Blue Sky up and running. The decision was met with overwhelmingly negative reaction, mainly because of how hundreds of workers were being deprived of their jobs during a time when most people were struggling financially. One aspect of Blue Sky’s shutdown that generated a considerable amount of attention, however, was the cancellation of a film that had already been 75% completed. That film: an adaptation of ND Stevenson’s acclaimed graphic novel “Nimona”.
The story of “Nimona”, which was being directed by Patrick Osborne at the time and was set to star Chloe Grace Moretz and Riz Ahmed in the main roles, has been described as such: “A Knight is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and the only person who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona, a shape-shifting teen who might also be a monster he’s sworn to kill. Set in a techno-medieval world unlike anything animation has tackled before, this is a story about the labels we assign to people and the shapeshifter who refuses to be defined by anyone.” Originally set for a January 2022 theatrical release, those plans were abruptly canceled following the announcement that Blue Sky as a whole would be shut down.
Many have questioned why Disney would not allow what would’ve been Blue Sky’s final feature film to be completed before shutting the studio down after so much work on the film had been done. While no official reason has been given, some have speculated that part of Disney’s unwillingness to finish and release the film might be due to the film’s LGBTQ content. According to an article from Business Insider released in March 2022, two former Blue Sky employees claimed that Disney executives expressed concerns about an explicit on-screen kiss between two people of the same gender.
For over a year following Blue Sky’s closure, there was almost complete silence as to whether or not “Nimona” would be picked up and completed by another studio, leading many to believe that it would never see the light of day. Such fears were ultimately proven wrong, however; on April 11th, it was announced that streaming giant Netflix would be teaming with independent distributor Annapurna to finally allow “Nimona” to be completed and released. Chloe Grace Moretz and Riz Ahmed will continue to portray the film’s main leads, playing the titular Nimona and Ballister Boldheart respectively, and will be joined by Eugene Lee Yang as Ambrosius Goldenloin. Taking over directing duties are Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, who had previously directed “Spies in Disguise”, the film that would end up being the last released by Blue Sky, and producing the film are Roy Lee, Karen Ryan, and Julie Zackary, with Robert L. Baird, Megan Ellison, and Andrew Millstein serving as executive producers. While Netflix and Annapurna would provide the film with much of its funding, DNEG Animation, which had previously worked on last year’s “Ron’s Gone Wrong” with Locksmith Animation, will complete animation for the film.
No release date has been set at the moment for “Nimona”, although Netflix and Annapurna are currently eyeing to get the film out some time in 2023. Should the film come out during that time, it will be the end of a long and often frustrating journey for “Nimona” creator ND Stevenson. With their graphic novel of the same name first appearing as a webcomic before receiving official publication by HarperCollins in 2015, Stevenson was quick to receive immediate acclaim, winning an Eisner Award and several others alongside it. In the time since “Nimona” being published, Stevenson has become a popular name in the animation community, working as a writer on such television series as “Wander Over Yonder” and “Ducktales” before being named showrunner for Netflix’s “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power”. Said show, which ran from 2018 and 2020, received a great deal of praise for its prominent and diverse portrayal of LGBT characters, an element that Stevenson (who themself happens to be nonbinary) was certainly eager to carry over from “Nimona”.
Production on a cinematic adaptation of “Nimona” quickly began right around the time of the graphic novel’s initial publication, when 20th Century Fox acquired the rights to the comic in June 2015 and gave production duties to Blue Sky Studios shortly afterwards. The film had initially been set for a February 2020 release, but the acquisition of 20th Century Fox by Disney changed all of that, resulting in the release date being delayed multiple times before Blue Sky as a whole was shut down, even though nearly three-quarters of “Nimona” had been finished. Given how much care and time had been put into the film, there was understandably great devastation among those who had been working on the film, so it’s no surprise the recent announcement of its revival has been received with much delight and excitement.
