Having honed their skills on a variety of genres of projects from commercials to all manner of long-form service work, and having worked all over the geographical and stylistic map, Canadian animation companies are flourishing.

Many animation shops are now expanding in size and capacity, taking on new forms of work and high-profile jobs, with many stepping up to the production plate as independent producers. Herewith, a sampling of some of Canada’s new cartoon coconspirators.

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With its inaugural project The Adventures of Sam Digital in the 21st Century garnering a large helping of international attention, Sargent York, the year-old, long-form sister company to established Toronto commercial player Cuppa Coffee Animation, is continuing to develop projects in the eclectic style of its forebearer, aiming at a niche market for smaller scale, creatively distinct product.

The shop is currently developing three children’s animated properties, all of which company president Adam Shaheen says have attracted attention from production partners and broadcasters.

The challenge, says Shaheen, is taking the properties to the next level, because the projects are not easily verbally nailed down, falling outside the realm of the ‘Saturday morning cartoon’ framework.

Sargent York had already established a relationship with Sam Digital broadcaster and production partner Nickelodeon through the channel’s broadcast design work with Cuppa Coffee and the network was already familiar with the look and mixed media approach of the animators.

Nick asked the company to deliver a segment of its Short Films By Short People series, wherein youngsters are involved in creating the storylines for the animated shorts. The child creators were involved throughout the production process and Shaheen says the broadcaster appreciated its kid-inclusive approach to the job.

Sargent York is currently in negotiation with Nickelodeon, which owns the rights to Sam Digital, to determine if the show will be taken to another level. Rights revert back to the creators in a year, and Shaheen says if the company doesn’t end up working with Nick on the project, a number of other producers have expressed interest in taking Sam Digital to a series.

Now it’s a matter of waiting, which Shaheen says is frustrating since the project has already gained momentum and notoriety, with nominations for Cable ace and Rocky Awards.

Meanwhile, there is also a waiting game being played in the development of Sargent York’s new properties. The company is in early development with three animated series projects including Mr. Ogden’s Garden, 13 half-hours about a ‘fantastical journey of discovery taking place in a series of animated worlds,’ being written by Sargent York’s Richard Quinlan and Vancouver-based writer Mark Leiren-Young.

Also in development is Clever Trevor, 26 seven-minute episodes combining live action and cel and stop-motion animation, being coproduced with Cuppa Coffee, and Hunky Dory Peachy Keen, 13 seven-minute episodes.

The company is at the script stage on each of the titles and Shaheen says the series have aroused great interest. Sargent York has aimed much of its content initiatives at the likes of Disney, Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network, and Shaheen cites the immediate advantages of working with a partner that is also a built-in broadcaster.

Sargent York is also in negotiation with Malaysian cel animation facility Lensa to form a partnership whereby that company would handle some of the animation work for Sargent York’s series projects. Shaheen says Sargent York will fund the new properties from the script and to the pilot stage and will ultimately shop the shows around the tv markets.

He says there is an element of frustration with the tried-and-true approach taken to the development of shows, where much of the new content being backed is non-original, based on comic books or cd-roms and other sources.

Judging by reaction to date, Shaheen says he considers the shop’s projects in development to be viable, but adds prospective partners are wary of an added degree of risk with an unproven property, one that is outside what is perhaps a standard creative framework.

Shaheen says the company’s style and approach is its strength as well as a challenge. ‘We’re not coming to the table with a formulaic methodology of doing things, which is why I also think it’s a strong product. It’s unique and plays off traditional styles, both stop-motion and cel,’ he says. ‘But the nature of our vehicle is we render it differently and do different things to it [and] sometimes people want to see things done the same way they’ve seen them done before.’

At this point in its life, the shop concentrates on shorter series and one-offs. ‘That is where we have a good niche to fill,’ says Shaheen.

*Also in this report:

Post/SFX showcase:

Collideascope injects hip B2

Gajdecki: body parts R us B4

Big Bang graduates from Dog’s World to Lost World B4

Lost Boy’s extraterrestrial experience B6

Spin in the series race B7

Animation shops to watch:

Bardel gets Dreamworks nod B10

Dynomight’s Net direction B11

Canuck evolves from studio flicks to in-house picks B13

Red Giant spawns series B14

Canadian prodcos plotting boffo toonflick projects B15

Animation House, Lightbox both hit 15 B16, B21

B.C. post shops winning more of the U.S. visual effects B18