Award-winning Belfast-based animation studio Sixteen South and youngsters’ content material chief Nelvana introduced an settlement to choice, co-develop and co-produce a brand new 2D animated collection, A Horse Named Steve, based mostly on the massively well-liked debut image e book by Toronto author-illustrator Kelly Collier. The 52×11 collection will characteristic humorous storylines whereas illustrating the significance of friendship, teamwork, and appreciating one’s true self.
The story of the endearingly self-absorbed horse, “A Horse Named Steve” was launched in 2017 by Canadian impartial youngsters’s writer Youngsters Can Press, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this 12 months. Illustrated in full of life black-and-white paintings interwoven with humorous commentary, the e book and its follow-up, “Group Steve,” comply with the exploits of Steve, a good-natured, reasonably obtuse horse who thinks he’s abnormal however desires to be distinctive.
“We knew as quickly as we noticed the duvet of ‘A Horse Named Steve’ that Steve was an ideal addition to Sixteen South’s steady,” stated Sixteen South’s Inventive Director, Colin Williams. “Kelly’s offbeat humor and quirky illustration fashion sealed the deal, aligning so effectively with the form of tales we prefer to carry to life, so we moved rapidly to choice the rights from Youngsters Can Press.”
Nelvana Studios VP Athena Georgaklis added, “Steve’s larger-than-life antics and slapstick comedy have delighted each youngsters and adults alike. We’re excited to not solely develop one more revered Youngsters Can Press e book franchise into an animated collection however are additionally wanting to collaborate with Colin and the Sixteen South group to co-develop and co-produce a collection that efficiently captures Kelly’s distinctive tone and illustration fashion on display screen.”
“As we rejoice our fiftieth Anniversary, we’ve been reminded of how vital the wide selection of partnerships we’ve fostered through the years are to the success of our enterprise,” commented Youngsters Can Press President and Writer Lisa Lyons Johnston. “Growing these sorts of partnerships—with Sixteen South and, after all, with our colleagues at Nelvana—helps to develop the attain of our creators’ books and places their characters and tales in entrance of youngsters and households wherever they might be. We’re at all times looking out for tales that can enchantment to creators of different youngsters’s leisure media, as Kelly’s work clearly has.”
Lately the Vooks animated digital book of “A Horse Named Steve,” narrated by actor/comic Rainn Wilson, helped earn the American firm a 2023 Bologna Ragazzi Crossmedia Award nomination within the inaugural Digital Library class. The awards are a part of the Bologna Kids’s Guide Truthful, a premier international youngsters’s publishing occasion held yearly in Bologna, Italy.
“It’s wonderful to see how far Steve has come,” stated Collier, “Significantly as a result of he began out as a little bit doodle, I made to fill an empty image body! I can’t wait to see Steve strutting round on TV screens, having discovered the proper dwelling with Sixteen South and Nelvana.”
Supply: Sixteen South
Debbie Diamond Sarto is information editor at Animation World Community.
