Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, an international producer, distributor, and licensor of children’s animated and live action content, today announced five international sales for its new endearing preschool series, "Millie Magnificent" (52x11). To date, new broadcast partners include YLE (Finland), RTS (Switzerland), SVT (Sweden), HOP (Israel), and Cinetel (Hungary), in addition to the previously announced Canal+ (France) and Treehouse/STACKTV (Canada).
Inspired by the best-selling books by Ashley Spires and Nelvana’s award-winning short film "The Most Magnificent Thing", Millie Magnificent follows avid creator, problem-solver, and innovator Millie Sparks. With a load of determination and spark of imagination, Millie and her ‘creato-crew’ – best friends Ben and Maya and Millie’s adorable dog Wallace – strive to find the most magnificent solutions to their neighborhood’s challenges. Each episode fosters creativity and imagination for preschoolers by actively promoting critical thinking, problem solving and the valuable process of trial-and-error. Through engaging storytelling, characters dive into relatable issues centered around community and home life while addressing the challenges of navigating complex and big emotions in a way that resonates with children.
In addition to the massively successful book series and upcoming animated series, Nelvana and Kids Can Press have also made sparks with The Most Magnificent Thing short film, which has been officially selected to participate in nearly 100 international film festivals and has earned close to 30 awards and nominations, including shortlisted for the Bologna Ragazzi 2022 Crossmedia Award, winning Best Short Film for Children at ANIMAYO 2020, the Golden Sheaf Award Winner for Children’s & Youth Production at Yorkton Film Festival, and 1st Prize Children’s Jury Award for Best Animated Short Film at Chicago International Children's Film Festival. The short film also resonated with kids all over the world, having been distributed worldwide and aired in Canada, USA, Australia, France, Switzerland, French Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, China, and Hong Kong.
Mellany Welsh, VP and Head of Nelvana and Kids Can Press praised the team:“Ever since we announced the series greenlight, we’ve received a magnificent response to Millie’s adventures from broadcasters all around the world. With episodes currently delivering, we are blown away by the beautiful animation and we’re excited to reveal a first look at the series. The whole team at Nelvana has done a brilliant job bringing Millie to life in a new way, while maintaining the themes of learning and perseverance from the books and short film that fans adore," commented.
Millie fans can look forward to a new book in the Most Magnificent series, with "The Most Magnificent Team", launching in 2025, from BC author-illustrator Ashley Spires and Kids Can Press, Corus Entertainment’s award-winning, internationally acclaimed children’s book publisher. The fourth book in the series explores the ups and downs of working with others and follows best-selling titles The Most Magnificent Thing, The Most Magnificent Idea, and The Most Magnificent Maker’s A to Z, which combined have sold close to one million copies worldwide. The books feature the same grit and determination as seen from our heroine and her friends, with heartwarming, teachable moments for young readers.
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