Nimona Animator Reveals Movie Started Over After Disney Scrapped Project

After several years in development and a devastating detour when Disney shuttered Blue Sky Studios in 2021, the Nimona movie finally debuted on Netflix this summer after Annapurna Pictures acquired the film. The film, based on ND Stevenson’s graphic novel of the same name, was a hit with fans and critics alike, who praised not only the story, but the film’s animation as well. Now, global head of animation at DNEG Animation Ted Ty — the animation studio that ultimately crafted Nimona — is opening up about just how much of the film was completed by Blue Sky before that studio was shut down and it turns out, it wasn’t that much. Speaking with Corridor Crew in their last episode of “Animators React” series on YouTube, Ty revealed that there were just a few sequences done and while they were “beautiful” DNEG simply started over because of technicalities.

“I think it’s kind of legendary now how they had started it at Blue Sky and then, unfortunately, Disney ended up closing the studio and ended up coming to us at DNEG very thankfully,” Ty said. “And they didn’t really get a big jump on it in animation. They had a couple of sequences done and, unfortunately, it was beautiful work but we couldn’t use it because of technicality so we just started over.”

What Happened With the Nimona Movie?

In 2015 Blue Sky Studios initially announced that they had acquired the rights to Stevenson’s graphic novel of the same name. The project was in development at that studio until Disney purchased 20th Century Fox and subsequently shuttered the animation house in 2021. At the time, it was reported that the project had nearly been completed and because of that, there was no way actually finish things when Disney shuttered the studio. However, in 2022, Annapurna Pictures announced that they had acquired the film and that it would ultimately debut on Netflix.

“I also can’t believe it’s happening,” Stevenson said. “I think it kind of snuck up on me when so many unexpected and sometimes devastating things happen in the production, I feel like we were all kind of guarding our hearts a little bit. Like, what unexpected curveball is going to hit us next? And now we’re all here and it’s hitting us all at the same time. It’s real. This is really happening. It is a very cool feeling after that wild ride we’ve been on to finally be at the end of it is… I’m still getting my head around it, honestly, but it’s very cool. It’s extremely cool.”

What Is Nimona About?

Based on Stevenson’s graphic novel of the same name, in Nimona, when Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed), a knight in a futuristic medieval world, is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, the only one who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz), a mischievous teen with a taste for mayhem — who also happens to be a shapeshifting creature Ballister has been trained to destroy. But with the entire kingdom out to get him, Nimona’s the best (or technically the only) sidekick Ballister can hope for. And as the lines between heroes, villains, and monsters start to blur, the two of them set out to wreak serious havoc — for Ballister to clear his name once and for all, and for Nimona to…just wreak serious havoc. Nimona is directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane. The film also stars Eugene Lee Yang as Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin, Frances Conroy as The Director, and Beck Bennett as Sir Thoddeus Sureblade.

Nimona is now streaming on Netflix.

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