| Runtime: | 3 minutes 21 minutes |
| Composer: | Jack Lenz |
| Cinematography: | John M. Tran |
| Executive Producer: | Jack Lenz Jamie Shannon |
| Producer: | Tim Williams |
| Director: | Michael Larsh |
| Country: | Canada |
| Language: | English |
| Company: | The Grogs |
| Num Seasons: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 71 41 |
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'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. It was short-lived, as Nickelodeon did not pick up a second season. In 2004, select episodes were released across several DVDs and VHS in the U.S. In the mid-2010s, the series went viral with a resurgence in popularity on websites such as Tumblr and YouTube for its bizarre nature.[1] [2] [3] [4]
Interest in the series was renewed in late 2023 after video clips of it went viral on TikTok.[5] [6] 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.[7]
The show focuses on Mona, a three-year-old girl with a big imagination and a tendency to repeat short words or phrases while also mispronoucing them. 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.[8]
The show was filmed in a building "reputed to be an old munitions factory" in the television production district of Liberty Village in Toronto, Ontario.[9] The shorts were produced in 1998 & 1999.
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 (with Goldberg) in 2004 and creating a teen-oriented sitcom for the network titled Mr. Meaty in 2005.
Nanalan was first aired on Nickelodeon's sister channel Noggin. They later appeared on Nickelodeon as part of the Nick Jr. block and on the Canadian CBC Television, which eventually became a broadcaster of the full-length episodes. Repeats of the shorts continued to air until late 2003, when the first full-length season was produced. CBC premiered the full-length episodes in January 2004, followed by their U.S. debut on Nickelodeon in summer of the same year.[9]
The show also aired on PBS Kids from July 2006[10] through 2013.[11]
In 2004, Nickelodeon released a set of six DVDs and VHSes including selections of the three-minute shorts. The discs and were mainly sold in the U.S. Rather than simply Nanalan, the home media billed the show as Welcome to Nanalan: As Seen on Nickelodeon.[12] The full-length seasons were neither released to DVD nor VHS.
The episodes were uploaded to YouTube in 2007 (but have since been deleted).[13] In 2023, an official YouTube channel for the show was created. Shorts and full-length episodes are uploaded weekly.[14]
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. Although, the demographic for the show is geared toward children ages 3 to 11 years old. The Toronto Star said that "the series' surprising sweetness, simplicity and humour strike a universal chord with both young adults and kids."[15] 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."[15] 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."[15]
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.