| Nanalan' | |
|---|---|
 Russell (left) and Mona (right) | |
| Created by | |
| Directed by | Michael Larsh |
| Starring |
|
| Composer | Jack Lenz |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 72 (shorts) 41 (full-length) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Jack Lenz Jamie Shannon |
| Producer | Tim Williams |
| Cinematography | John M. Tran |
| Running time | 3 minutes (shorts) 21 minutes (full-length) |
| Production company | The Grogs |
| Original release | |
| Network |
|
| Release | September 7, 1998 – January 6, 2006 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Nanalan' is a Canadian children's television series created by Jamie Shannon and Jason Hopley. It began in 1998[1] as a series of three-minute shorts and later ran for two seasons 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's backyard. The title is a contraction of the phrase "Nana Land," referring to the setting.
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 or 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. In 2004, select shorts were released across several DVDs and VHS in the U.S. In the mid-2010s and early 2020s, the series went viral with a resurgence in popularity on websites such as Tumblr and YouTube for its bizarre nature.[2][3][4][5]
Interest in the series was renewed in late 2023 after video clips of it went viral on TikTok.[6][7] The new success led to Hopley and Shannon reuniting for the first time since disbanding The Grogs in 2009, reprising Nana and Mona for interviews and online videos.[8]
- ^ "YTV moves into a new zone". The Toronto Star. September 5, 1998. p. 262 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Chen, Tanya (May 10, 2016). "Teens On Tumblr Are Obsessed With This Fucked Up Canadian Kids Show". Buzzfeed. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
- ^ Bobkin, Matt (2016-05-12). "Canadian kids' show Nanalan' goes viral, validates weirdness of Canadian millennials". National Post. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
- ^ Van Wort, Amber (2020-04-17). "Nanalan Quarantine Videos Are Being Shared Online And It's Canadian Nostalgia Overload". Narcity. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
- ^ May, Brigitte (August 21, 2018). "Nanalan': Canadian television treasure or collective children's fever dream - The Beaverton". www.thebeaverton.com. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
- ^ Kircher, Madison Malone (November 21, 2023). "Who's That Wonderful Girl? How "Nanalan'" Found New Success on TikTok". The New York Times.
- ^ Cooper, Angelica (November 17, 2023). "Who's that wonderful girl? How Nanalan' is taking over TikTok, 20 years later". CBC Kids News.
- ^ Rashotte, Vivian (5 December 2023). "How Nanalan's viral TikTok success reunited the show's creators after 15 years". CBC. Retrieved 17 February 2024.