It was unfortunate that it did fall under radar for most people, including myself. In fact, I wasn’t even aware of its existence until watching a random Youtube clip from BlueSky Studios. 

If you haven’t already watched the trailer, here is a link so you can see if this is something you would be interesting in watching:

With all of the latest news of block office flops from Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks, it feels like the medium animation is declining once again. With exceptions from Sony’s Spider Verse trilogy, Illumination’s collaboration with Nintendo, and even Studio Ghibli releasing their newest film this Friday July 14, 2023. 

I’m so glad to finally watch some original stories that aren’t sequels or already well established characters from huge franchises. *Side note: this film was adapted from a web comic by Noelle Stevenson, but is still an original story.

The film reminds me of Sea Beasts (2022) which Netflix put out last year and also had an original story inspired by pirates and legends about sea monsters. 

Both films share themes about prejudice of things that are different from us and how society treats them. All going back to the classic The Iron Giant (1999) animated film from Warner Bros. 

So without getting into much spoilers, this film brilliantly touches on mature themes of discrimination and explores identity beyond race, gender, and sexuality. The main premise is about Ballister, an outsider knight character who gets falsely accused of a crime, partners up with Nimona, a powerful shapeshifter, to prove his innocence to the kingdom. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the animation style, voice acting, and character dynamics between Bal and Nimona. So please check out the film on Netflix if you are at all interested! 

Nimona almost didn’t exist 

Now to discuss the elephant in the room, that this film has been in the works over the past several years but keeps switching companies and almost stopped production all completed. I recommend reading this article to further understand the whole problem with Disney distributing and creating this story: 

But basically to sum it up the article says, “Nimona reportedly faced pushback for its LGBT+ themes.” 

Despite the troubled production, I’m glad this movie was finally able to be completed and released. It really is a shame that so few companies make films about genuine LGBT+ characters as their main protagonist in fear they will lose money from countries overseas that are less supportive on the matter. 

Support Great Animated Films

Okay, so going back to reasons why I believe we should all watch this film or at least spread its awareness. 

First, although the film and its themes are cliche and have already been done before, prejudice and discrimination is still an ongoing thing happening in our current society. So these are messages we need to repeat and teach for us and generations to come. 

Second, is because we need film companies to realize their low effort films are going to continue to bomb box offices because they are no longer worth our time or money. 

So, by supporting films like Nimona, Spider Verse series, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, we as the audiences of the film industry, can slowly change these huge corporations from making another Toy Story 12 or Frozen live action adaptation. It won’t be easy, but it can be a start. I believe the art and storytelling medium of animation should be cherished as someone who also wants to pursue a career in animation. I don’t want to see this industry fall apart to cheap marketing campaigns to create more sequels and live action adaptations we don’t need or care about. 

Thank you so much for watching! Comment down below any thoughts about Nimona or about the animation industry.