Corus Entertainment-owned studio Nelvana has begun production on animated preschool series Millie Magnificent following a greenlight from Canadian broadcaster Treehouse.

The 52 x 11-minute CG-animated series is based on the Most Magnificent book series, written by Canadian author Ashley Spires. It builds on the animated short The Most Magnificent Thing, produced by Nelvana in 2018 and based on the first book in the series, which was released in 2014.

Millie Magnificent shows the protagonist and her friends solving problems around their neighbourhood. The voice cast is led by Kaia Oz (Gisele’s Mashup Adventures), who portrays the titular character, as well as Ian Ho (A Simple Favor) and Tianna SwamiNathan (Paw Patrol). The series is expected to air in 2024.

The announcement comes as The Most Magnificent Thing publisher Kids Can Press celebrates its 50th anniversary and reveals the third book in the franchise, The Most Magnificent Maker’s A to Z, set for release in the fall.

Athena Georgaklis, head of development at Nelvana, tells Playback Daily that the team has been in development on the series since 2019, following the festival run and release of the original short. They hired head writer Sheila Rogerson to lead development.

“We had all these assets, we knew what the world looked like already. What we needed to do, with Sheila’s help, was to take that one story and adapt it into a multi-episode series,” says Georgaklis, adding that they decided on the 11-minute episode format to appeal to the preschool audience and give the opportunity to tackle multiple stories and themes within that world.

The creative team includes Ruth Ramirez as series director, and Jillianne Reinseth as supervising creative producer, while Laurie Handforth is a producer. Georgaklis says Spires is also heavily involved in the project. The author is an executive producer and has written two scripts for the series, in addition to consulting on the editorial and design aspects of the project overall.

The bulk of the financing for the series is from Treehouse and the Canada Media Fund, according to Georgaklis. Nelvana is also finalizing a number of international presales to complete the financing, with confirmed interest from buyers in France, Australia, Switzerland and Scandinavia, in addition to ongoing negotiations in other territories.

Georgaklis adds that, while Millie Magnificent is not a treaty coproduction, Nelvana is looking for coproduction opportunities to as a financing model for its upcoming children’s content.

She says Nelvana is also working closely with newly launched Corus content venture Waterside Studios on their live-action kids content development slate. The studio has been actively exploring the expansion of their live-action production following the success of The Hardy Boys, which is currently in production on its third and final season.

“We can’t announce anything yet, but we will in the next few months,” says Georgaklis. “The slate is robust. It’s broad in terms of demographic and genre, and we’re trying to find concepts that will attract all viewers, specifically YA titles that will be for all teens or ones that are a little edgier.”

On the animation side, Georgaklis says Nelvana is headed to the Kidscreen Summit in Miami, Florida, in February with a number of previously announced projects to bring to the market. They include an 52 x 11-series based around the Monster Jam brand, announced under the working title of Monster Jam Gears & Galaxies, as well as several titles under their partnership with Time Studios: Leela’s Island, Robotos and the littles.

Image courtesy of Nelvana