Nanalan'

Nanalan' is a Canadian children's television series created by Jamie Shannon and Jason Hopley. It began in 1999 as a series of three-minute shorts and later ran for a season of full-length episodes spanning 21 minutes each. It chronicles the small-scale adventures and discoveries of a three-year-old puppet girl named Mona in her grandmother Nana Bea's backyard. The title is a contraction of the phrase "Nana Land," referring to the setting.

Nanalan'
Russell (left) and Mona (right)
Created by
Directed byMichael Larsh
Starring
ComposerJack Lenz
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes71 (shorts)
43 (full-length)
Production
Executive producersJack Lenz
Jamie Shannon
ProducerTim Williams
CinematographyJohn M. Tran
Running time3 minutes (shorts)
21 minutes (full-length)
Production companyThe Grogs
Release
Original network
Picture format480i (SDTV)
Audio formatMono
Stereo
Original releaseFebruary 9, 2000 (2000-02-09) –
January 6, 2006 (2006-01-06)

Hopley and Shannon, who continued to work with Nickelodeon afterwards on their creation Mr. Meaty, produced the series through their puppetry troupe The Grogs in association with Lenz Entertainment. The show uses a blend of hand puppetry and the manipulation of cardboard cutouts, particularly in the opening theme. While the shorts do not follow a structure, the half-hour episodes follow a loose format that includes at least one song and reading an original story to the viewers.

The show received three nominations at the 2004 Gemini Awards and was fairly well-received by Canadian and U.S. press, with some critics calling attention to the show's surreal presentation and genuine approach to its concept. It was short-lived, as Nickelodeon did not pick up a second season. In 2004, select episodes were released across several DVDs in the United States. In 2015, the series went viral with a resurgence in popularity on websites such as Tumblr and YouTube for its bizarre nature.[1][2]

Plot

The show focuses on Mona, a three-year-old girl[3] with a big imagination and a tendency to repeat short words or phrases while also pronouncing them incorrectly. Each episode begins with Mona's mother dropping her daughter off at Nana's house and ends with her picking Mona up. Mona, Nana, and Nana's pet dog Russell spend the day exploring, learning, and visiting Nana's next-door neighbour Mr. Wooka.

Characters
  • Mona (Jamie Shannon) is the main character of the series. She is a humanoid three-year-old with green skin, a spherical head, wide bean-shaped eyes, and lime green hair tied into pigtails. In the original shorts, she cannot speak in full sentences and can only say a few words. She tends to mispronounce everything she says; for example, she says pea pod as "peepo" and mushroom as "shoosh."
  • Nana (Jason Hopley) is Mona's grandmother, whom she stays with every weekday while her mother goes to work. She resembles a carrot, with bright orange skin and a very tall forehead. She wears a gaudy multicolored dress, big circular glasses, and a white wig. In the original shorts, her hair was dark red-orange.
  • Russell (Ali Eisner) is Nana's pet Jack Russell Terrier dog who accompanies Mona when she visits. He does not talk and only barks or sniffs to communicate. Mona cannot pronounce his name correctly and always calls him "Russer."
  • Mr. Wooka (Todd Doldersum) is Nana's next-door neighbor who is a main character in the full-length episodes. He is an elderly man with yellow skin and a white moustache who wears blue overalls. Whenever Mona visits his yard, he puts on his own puppet shows to entertain her.
  • Mrs. Bea (Marty Stelnick) is Mona's mother and Nana's daughter. She has a similar appearance to Mona but is taller and has brown hair in a bowl cut. She is a parent who works during the day and leaves Mona in Nana's care most of the time.

Production

The series was filmed in a building "reputed to be an old munitions factory" in the television production district of Liberty Village in Toronto, Ontario.[3] The shorts were produced in 1999 and first aired on Nickelodeon's sister channel Noggin. They later appeared on Nickelodeon as part of the Nick Jr. block and on Canada's CBC Television, which eventually became a broadcaster of the full-length episodes. Reruns of the shorts continued to air until late 2003, when the first full-length season was produced. CBC debuted the full-length episodes in January 2004, followed by their U.S. debut on Nickelodeon in summer of the same year.[3]

Jason Hopley and Jamie Shannon continued to build a relationship with Nickelodeon during and after Nanalan', appearing on the fellow Nick Jr. series Whoopi's Littleburg in 2004 and creating a teen-oriented sitcom for the network titled Mr. Meaty in 2005.

DVD releases

In 2004, Nickelodeon released a set of six DVDs including selections of the three-minute shorts. The discs were mainly sold in the United States. All six DVDs featured a longer logotype; rather than simply Nanalan', the DVDs billed the show as Welcome to Nanalan': As Seen on Nickelodeon.[4] The full-length seasons were not released to DVD.

Full-Length Show Episodes
  • 101: Puppet Show - Mona's mom is going to the beauty parlor today. She is leaving her daughter, Mona, under a care of her Nana and her dog, Russell. There, Mona learns about living in a new house for the very first time. Nana also introduces Mona to her neighbor, Mr. Wooka, who performs puppet shows.
  • 102: Big Sneeze - Mona is allergic to dust. Nana teaches Mona the importance of washing her hands, especially when she sneezes.
  • 201: Free - Mona and Russell capture a frog in a bucket and learn about letting animals free and themselves as well.
  • 202: Bird Song - Russell barks at a bird and scares it away. After Mr. Wooka's puppet show, he barks at Ally the cat. Mona then tells him to meow at Ally and Ally to bark at Russell so they can talk to each other. He even talks with Mona because he wanted some of her celery. Nana sings "The Animal Song" to them after reading a book called "Peep!".
  • 203: Purple Juice - Mona accidentally wets her stuffed duck, Fleefer with her juice. Luckily, she learns about sharing when Russell cleans Fleefer up with his water. While they wait for her to dry, they eat lunch and Nana reads a story called "Oranges to Share". When Fleefer dries, Mona gives her to Russell while he was sleeping.
  • 204: Home - Mona and Russell find a snail. After seeing Mr. Wooka's puppet show, Mona has to go into the house when it starts to rain and learns about homes. Mona and Nana read a book called "The Snail's Home" featuring a snail, like the one Mona and Russell saw.
  • 205: Big Girl
  • 206: Chipmunk in the House
  • 207: Chirp
  • 208: Sunshine
  • 209: Lollipop - Russell has ruined Mona's lollipop yet again. That's when Nana teaches Mona about playing fair.
  • 210: Hummingbird
  • 211: Rainy Day - It's raining in Nanalan' and poor Mona wants to go outside and have fun. Nana teaches Mona that she can have fun inside by reading a book called "The Sunny Bunny's Rainy Day" and dancing to one of her records!
  • 212: Love - Mona learns the importance of love, and that no matter how much she loves Nana, Russell, her mother, or even Mr. Wooka, there's enough love for everyone!
  • 213: Snow - It's a snowy day in Nanalan', and Mona and Russell build a snowman. After that they watch Mr. Wooka's puppet show about a snowman that melts all over the kitchen floor! After the story, Russell gets stuck outside, so Mona helps him get in.
  • 214: Bye Bye - Mona accidentally lets go of her balloon until she realizes that it's okay to give up what she wants and to say "Good-bye".
  • 215: Play Day - When a bee comes in the house, Mona pretends to be one. Mr. Wooka's puppet show tells of how a boatman got tired of rowing the princess and so makes her row him. Then, Mona pretends to be Nana, and a princess, like the one from the puppet show.
  • 301: Hooray for You - Nana teaches Mona how she is the most important girl in the whole wide world! So many wonderful things went on!
  • 302: Smelly Smell - Russell likes to smell things from the trash can until a skunk arrives to spray him! He learns the important thing about his sense... of smell!
  • 303: Brownies - Mona gets a tummy ache from eating one brownie too many! Luckily for her, Nana teaches Mona the importance of eating healthy foods.
  • 304: Hootenanny - Mr. Wooka decides to invite Mona, Nana, and Russell over to his house to make a band. They also have lasagna and salad for lunch. Then Mona wondered where Fleefer was, and her leg ripped off! Good thing Nana got to fix her. Mona even added a bow on her.
  • 305: Under My Wing - Nana is outside taking care of Russell, and Mona gets to help her. After Mr. Wooka's puppet show, Mona and Russell take care of Nana. Then, they all take care of a bird who bumped its head on the house, until he was well enough to fly again.
  • 306: Sick as a Dog - Mona is not feeling well. Luckily, Nana lets Mona rest in her bed and brings the outside inside!
  • 307: Nanalympics - Watching too much television can be fun, but when you are exercising with Nana, Mona, Russell and Mr. Wooka, you'll know that it's much more fun and good for you!
  • 308: Spring - Today is Spring! And that can only mean one thing: spring cleaning! Also, Mona and Russell go on a teeter-totter with Mr. Wooka, smell flowers, and find a cocoon! A butterfly comes out of it after reading a book called "Little Fuzz" with Nana.
  • 309: Bee Sting - Scaring bees can be fun when you're a dog like Russell. But when a bee stings him, he learns about "bee"ing careful when he scares bees... like Mona as a bee.
  • 310: Purple Monster - Mona likes to scare people sometimes, even if she is a purple monster!
  • 311: Bubbles - Mona likes to blow bubbles... from a cup of milk! But after Russell spills the milk on Mona, she learns the importance of feelings.
  • 312: Helpful Girl - Mona wants to help Nana with everything and she even helps Mr. Wooka with his puppet show by returning Gary his orange to him and making a swing! Mona even helped make cookies with Nana for him.
  • 313: Pumpkin - Russell's afraid of Halloween, so he listens to a story of how a boy named Bobby Billings overcame his fear of Halloween.
  • 401: Russell Did It - After breaking Nana's cat statue, Mona lies and tells her that Russell did it. Nana helps her learn about telling the truth. So Mona, Russell and Mr. Wooka surprise her by gluing the statue back! She was very pleased to see that.
  • 403: Mud Puddle - Mona likes to play in the mud to get dirty and in a tub to get clean when she learns about being dirty and clean.
  • 404: Camp Wooka - Mona's mom drops her daughter off to spend the night with Nana. Just as they were about to watch a movie, the power went out and they decided to visit Mr. Wooka to have fun... by camping!
  • 405: Toad Meets Budgie - Nana babysits a budgie named Farful while its owner is away. Plus, Mona and Russell go outside, find a fly and a toad, and bring the toad in to visit Farful. Then, she learns about different kinds of pets. In the end, when Mona's mom picked her up, Mona sets the toad free.
  • 406: Mona a Go-Go - Mona learns about her firsts when she is with Nana. After getting her first haircut, they put it in Mona's book of firsts, which reveals that she has been with Nana ever since she was a baby!
  • 407: New Friends - Mona and Russell find a squirrel, so they and Nana go to the park. Russell chased the squirrel and carried Nana all the way through! Also, they saw Mr. Wooka's puppet show about two best friends, Mingy and Mongy and made new friends.
  • 408: Treasure - Finding bugs for your bug collection might sound adventurous... even if you find a lost pearl for Nana!
  • 409: Night Night Nana - Mona's mom drops her daughter off to have a sleepover with Nana. During that time, they had nighttime fun before sleeping in Nana's room while reading a bedtime story called "Simon Squirrel", watching Mr. Wooka's shadow puppet show, seeing Hoots the owl and fireflies!
  • 410: 1-2-3 Apple Tree - At Mr. Wooka's place, he, Mona and Russell play with pinecone puppets and Mona and Russell find three apples from the apple tree for Nana.
  • 411: Windy Day - It's a windy day in Nanalan'! Mona has windy day fun and flies a kite in the end.
  • 412: Soft as Nana - Mona puts rocks in Russell's doghouse, which made him mad, and learns all about different textures by touch. Mr. Wooka also stops by to sing a song about Nana with Mona after reading the "Touch-and-Feel Flea Book".
  • 413: Winter Wonderland
  • 501: 4-Part Harmony - Mona, Nana and Russell invite Mr. Wooka over for a four-part harmony, which Mona proves to be an important part of!

Reception

During its short run, the series received mostly positive attention from media critics, some of which felt that the show's bizarre and unconventional nature made it more appealing and watchable by viewers of all ages. Toronto Star said that "the series' surprising sweetness, simplicity and humour strike a universal chord with both adults and kids."[5] Writers for the Windsor Star enjoyed its surreal approach to depicting early childhood, saying that "the creators have captured the essence of what it is to be three."[5] A review from the Canadian newspaper Broadcast Week said that "it made me laugh out loud, even though I'm out of the target audience by more than a couple of decades."[5]

Awards and nominations

In 2004, the series was nominated for the following three Gemini Awards: Best Performance in a Pre-School Program or Series; Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program or Series; and Best Pre-School Program or Series. Nanalan' won Best Writing and Best Performance, and the award was shared by all of the puppeteers.

See also
  • Mr. Meaty, Hopley and Shannon's second television series

References
  1. Chen, Tanya. "Teens On Tumblr Are Obsessed With This Fucked Up Canadian Kids Show". Buzzfeed. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  2. Bobkin, Matt. "Canadian kids' show Nanalan' goes viral, validates weirdness of Canadian millennials". National Post. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  3. Kohler, Nicholas (January 8, 2004). "Puppeteers pull their own strings". The Globe and Mail. The Woodbridge Company. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-01-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Nanalan' Info". The Grogs. Objektory. Archived from the original on June 21, 2001. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
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