The 2024 Oscar nominations came with the usual surprises and snubs one would expect from such a day. But instead of focusing on the negative, like Greta Gerwig’s Barbie directing snub, I’d like to tell a story that feels like a pretty sweet victory. With Netflix’s Nimona landing in the crop of Best Animated Feature nominees, it only makes this year’s offerings all the more diverse.
However, there’s an even bigger story that makes this nomination an even greater validation in its own right. What sets Nimona apart from the rest of its peers is a rollercoaster Cinderella story that saw its eventual completion. With everything from production delays to an outright cancellation after a huge studio merger befalling this movie over the years, its mere existence is proof that it's defied the odds.
As you’re about to read in this brief history, this animated adventure you can enjoy with your Netflix subscription managed to endure, emerging as a contender for Oscar gold. Prepare for the story behind Nimona’s surprising success.
Nimona’s Long And Winding Road To Production
Back in 2012, author ND Stevenson’s Nimona debuted as a webcomic in 2012, and eventually saw itself re-published as a graphic novel in 2015. That was probably the move that solidified the project’s cinematic adaptation, because that same year, sites like THR announced that Nimona was put on track for an animated film to be made by 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Animation.
This would admittedly not be the final form of the project, as the movie version of this story started with Feast’s Patrick Osborne announced as its director, and Kubo and the Two Strings writer Marc Haimes intended to write the script. Over time, Osborne would be replaced by directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, and the final screenplay would be penned by Robert L. Baird and Lloyd Taylor.
Though Haimes and Osborne still retained story credit in the final version, it would eventually be the least of Nimona's worries. As this tale continues, the rough road ahead was about to get even choppier.
The Disney/Fox Merger, And How It Initially Affected Nimona
Per reporting from ScreenRant, Nimona was originally supposed to be released at some point in February 2020. But, of course, that wasn’t the case, and the first huge stumbling block came from the 2019 Fox/Disney merger. Those who remember the immediate post-merger days will recall that many projects on the docket were either sold to other studios, like the Tom Hanks film News of the World, or, in the case of fellow animated adventure Mouse Guard, the plug was pulled altogether.
Nimona suffered neither fate, at least at first. There were some release date pushes, which rescheduled the movie’s release into its final January 2022 window. This was partially influenced by shifting production to accommodate the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, Disney’s intent to pull back on Fox projects could now be seen as the writing on the wall.
February 2021 would see the supposed death knell arrive, as it was announced that Blue Sky Studios was closing after 34 years of operation. What’s more, Nimona was announced as dying along with the company.
Why Nimona Supposedly Got The Axe After The Disney/Fox Merger
On paper, Nimona’s cancellation came down to the fact that its home studio no longer existed. As Blue Sky Studios was going to be shut down, there was no way the movie was going to be completed at its current home, though there was an effort to try and shop the movie around.
However, some believe that personal politics may have played a role in Disney’s disinterest in completing the movie. After Nimona’s cancellation, reports of pushback against the movie’s LGBTQ+ themes came to light. The theory is that Blue Sky Studios’ closure made it easier to just let this project fade into a natural death. That can't be confirmed, but it's a suggestion that still remains to be discussed; especially with other contemporary reports suggesting that Disney/Pixar films had similar efforts in representation trimmed through studio notes.
It also doesn't help that around the same time, Disney was being criticized on how it handled its official response to Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill making the rounds. Then the matter became even more complicated, as there were whispers that completing the Chloe Moretz-Grace and Riz Ahmed-starring picture wouldn’t have taken that much work.
Just How Far Along Was Nimona In Production?
As if it wasn’t bad enough that Nimona was cancelled after years of delays, claims started to surface that it was in an advanced state of completion. In fact, according to THR’s Borys Kit, via Twitter, it was said that the movie was 75% complete. That’s a pretty far distance to travel in order to just cancel your movie, even in a world where completed movies have been shelved as tax writeoffs.
However, in a later interview promoting Nimona’s eventual release, co-director Troy Quaine reframed the narrative when speaking with The Gamer. In retrospect, this is the state that the movie was in upon its initial cancellation:
The truth is that we were about 70 percent through layout. We had maybe five sequences into animation, and maybe two actually completed. But we had our story reels, we had all our models built, we had all the locations. All that kind of technical stuff, the front end, the design work, that was all done. We knew the story we wanted to tell.
While that clarification doesn’t seem as far along as “75% complete,” it still sounds like Nimona made some notable progress. So if anyone was to complete the project, it wouldn’t have been a square one-type of deal. Only a little after a year since it got the ax, Nimona would find its ultimate redemption arriving in the form of two eager companies.
How Annapurna And Netflix Became Nimona’s Hero
On April 11, 2022, Annapurna Productions and Netflix announced that Nimona was back on! In a tweet that celebrated the upcoming project’s revival, the fandom that wanted to see ND Stevenson’s creation realized as an animated film were rewarded. Although the movie we got was different from the original comic, that was a positive factor when seeing the final form arrive in June 2023.
Nimona went on to be a huge hit with critics, as the movie raked in a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Better still, it even landed on CinemaBlend’s lists of both the best animated movies of 2023, as well as our best Netflix movies of 2023. So seeing this almost-cancelled gem go from obscurity to the limelight may not be a total surprise, though that doesn’t tarnish any of the shine that this adventure has to its credit.
There have been more high profile cancellations since the Nimona debacle, as we’ve seen with Warner Bros Discovery shelving Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt. But even in the wake of those decisions, we’ve seen similar reversals of fortune which have led to things like Coyote vs. Acme seemingly poised to join the 2024 movie schedule.
Perhaps there’s still hope for some of those other projects, because if Nimona could find its way to the Oscars, clearly any movie should be able to find those that truly believe in its success. In the meantime, congratulations are in order for Nick Bruno, Troy Quane and the entire cast and crew of Nimona that made this dream into a well fought reality. To see where this story truly ends, tune into the 96th Academy Awards, which will air on Sunday March 10th, starting at 7 PM ET on ABC.
