Nanalan’ (partially lost Canadian children’s TV series; 2005-late 2000s)
The cast as they appeared in the half-hour episodes. From top right: Nana Bea, Mr Wooka, Russell and Mona.
Status: Partially Lost
Nanalan’ was a series of Canadian puppet shorts created by Jamie Shannon and Jason Hopley, running from 1999 to 2004, originally as 71 three-minute interstitial shorts produced for YTV in Canada and Nick Jr. in the U.S. The series stars an endlessly curious and imaginative 3-year-old toddler named Mona, who is babysat by her grandmother Nana Bea with the help of Nana's equally enthusiastic terrier Russell.[1]
The shorts focused entirely on Mona's POV as she explores her Nana's backyard - with occasional cameos from Nana at the back door, apparently just to confirm an adult is present - and thus the dialogue consists largely of her 'baby talk', simple phrases repeated several times and usually mispronounced (hence the series title, a Mona-esque contraction of 'Nana Land'.) Plots centred around Mona and faithful sidekick 'Russer' having small adventures and making discoveries about the natural world around her.
Despite some older viewers finding the puppets' surreal appearance and dialogue unsettling, the shorts proved so popular that Nanalan’ was expanded into a half-hour series. These 43 episodes significantly expanded on Mona's world (and vocabulary) including appearances by her mother and visits to Nana's equally elderly next-door neighbour Mr Wooka, and featured songs and readalong segments in addition to the more elaborate plots. were produced in late 2004 and aired on CBC in January 2005
While most of both series has since gone missing, 8 episodes (4 shorts and 3 longer) have been found, 6 of which were uploaded by the official Nanalan' YouTube channel.[2]
Availability
In addition to the CBC, Nanalan' concurrently aired in the U.S. on select PBS member stations during the PBS Kids Block; however, they are no longer available on the site and no home recordings have surfaced. The English-language YouTube channel for Encore+ carried half-hour episodes of the show, which again have since been deleted. YouTuber "Doctor Jay" found and uploaded several episodes from the Nanalan' miniseries, but these have since been removed.
Pre-season 1
# | Episode Title | Status |
---|---|---|
1 | Dragonfly | Found |
2 | Bubble | Found |
3 | Birdy | Found |
4 | Scarf | Found |
5 | Don't Cry | Found |
6 | Caterpillar | Found |
7 | Feed the Chipmunk | Found |
8 | Lollipops | Found |
9 | Raking the Leaves | Found |
10 | Flamingo | Found |
11 | Frog | Found |
12 | Sandbox | Found |
13 | Over the Fence | Found |
14 | Bee | Found |
15 | Tube | Found |
16 | Russell's Itch | Found |
17 | Russell's Dinner | Found |
18 | Russell's Balloon | Found |
19 | Snake | Found |
20 | Hula Hula | Found |
21 | Spider | Found |
22 | Butterfly Tag | Found |
23 | The Feather | Found |
24 | The Sneeze | Found |
25 | Dinner Guest | Found |
26 | Feeding the Birds | Found |
27 | Blowing Up a Balloon | Found |
28 | Mona Finds a Frog | Found |
29 | The Bath | Found |
30 | Love | Found |
31 | Nap Swap | Found |
32 | Pea Pod | Found |
33 | Ouch | Lost |
34 | Wind | Found |
35 | Big Dog | Found |
36 | Apple | Found |
37 | Picnic | Found |
38 | Birthday | Found |
39 | New Friend | Found |
40 | Clouds | Found |
41 | Worm | Found |
42 | Stretching | Found |
43 | Potato Bug | Found |
44 | Russell's Tongue | Found |
45 | First Snow | Found |
46 | Stick | Found |
47 | Puppet | Found |
48 | Bent Flower | Found |
49 | Carrot | Found |
50 | Hot Day | Found |
51 | Nana's Fish | Found |
52 | Dance | Found |
53 | Snowball | Found |
54 | Garden Gnome | Found |
55 | Costume Party | Found |
56 | The Secret | Found |
57 | Out of the Pool | Found |
58 | New Doll | Found |
59 | Imitate Bugs | Found |
60 | Mona Lisa | Found |
61 | Save the Fish | Lost |
62 | Storm | Found |
63 | Patio Lanterns | Found |
64 | Snow Person | Found |
65 | Firefly | Found |
66 | Whirlpool | Found |
67 | Cocoon | Found |
68 | Grey Day | Found |
69 | Blanket | Found |
70 | Maraca | Found |
71 | Munk Love | Found |
Season 0
Episode Title | Status |
---|---|
Inside Nana's House | Found |
Season 1
# | Episode Title | Status |
---|---|---|
1 | Lollipop | Found |
2 | Sunshine | Found |
3 | Big Girl | Found |
4 | Rainy Day | Found |
5 | Free | Found (cropped 4:3) |
6 | Purple Juice | Found |
7 | Snow (1 | (2 | 3) | Found |
8 | Chirp | Found |
9 | Play Day | Found |
10 | Goodbye | Found |
11 | Chipmunk in the House | Found |
12 | Hummingbird | Found |
13 | Love | Found |
14 | Home | Found |
15 | Birdsong | Found |
Season 2
# | Episode Title | Status |
---|---|---|
1 | Hooray for You | Found |
2 | Smelly Smells | Found |
3 | Brownies | Found |
4 | Hootenanny | Found |
5 | Under My Wing | Found |
6 | Sick as a Dog | Found |
7 | Nanalympics | Found |
8 | Spring | Lost |
9 | Bee Sting | Lost |
10 | Purple Monster | Lost |
11 | Bubbles | Lost |
12 | Helpful Girl | Lost |
13 | Night Night Nana | Lost |
14 | Pumpkin | Lost |
15 | 1-2-3 Apple Tree | Found |
16 | Windy Day | Lost |
17 | Russell Did It | Lost |
18 | Treasure | Lost |
19 | Four-Part Harmony | Lost |
20 | Soft as Nana | Lost |
21 | Mud Puddle | Lost |
22 | Camp Wooka | Lost |
23 | Toad and Budgie | Lost |
24 | Mona a Go-Go | Partially Found |
25 | New Friends | Lost |
26 | Winter Wonderland | Partially Found |
External Links
- Wikipedia article on the series.
- http://television.aol.com/show/nanalan/58419/episodes?count=14&skip=42