Gemini Award for Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program or Series
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Nanalan' is a Canadian children's television series created by Jason Hopely and Jamie Shannon. The series began airing in 1999 on CBC Television in Canada. It later aired on Nick Jr. in the United States and Fox Kids in the United Kingdom. A decade after it was pulled off the air and nearly faded into obscurity, the show has seen a massive resurgence in popularity on the internet, most notably on sites like Tumblr and YouTube, for its bizarre nature and has led to several memes being created on the show.
The show's main protagonist is a 3-year-old puppet girl named Mona. Each episode begins with Mona's mother dropping her daughter off at her nana's house and ends with her picking Mona up. Mona, Nana, and Nana's pet dog Russell spend the day exploring, learning, visiting Nana's next door neighbour Mr. Wooka (Wilkins).
Episodes
101: Puppet Show - Mona's mom is going to the beauty parlor today. She is leaving her daughter, Mona, under a care of her Nana and her dog, Russell. There, Mona learns about living in a new house for the very first time. Nana also introduces Mona to her neighbor, Mr. Wooka, who performs puppet shows.
102: Big Sneeze - Mona is allergic to dust. Nana teaches Mona the importance of washing her hands, especially when she sneezes.
103: Free - Mona and Russell capture a frog in a bucket and learn about letting animals free and themselves as well.
104: Bird Song - Russell barks at a bird and scares it away. After Mr. Wooka's puppet show, he barks at Ally the cat. Mona then tells him to meow at Ally and Ally to bark at Russell so they can talk to each other. He even talks with Mona because he wanted some of her celery. Nana sings "The Animal Song" to them after reading a book called "Peep!".
105: Purple Juice - Mona accidentally wet her stuffed duck, Fleefer with her juice. Luckily, she learns about sharing when Russell cleans Fleefer up with his water. While they wait for her to dry, they eat lunch and Nana reads a story called "Oranges to Share". When Fleefer dries, Mona gives her to Russell while he was sleeping.
106: Home - Mona and Russell find a snail. After seeing Mr. Wooka's puppet show, Mona, have to go into the house when it starts to rain and learn about homes. Mona and Nana read a book called "The Snail's Home" featuring a snail, like the one Mona and Russell saw.
107: Big Girl
108: Chipmunk In The House
109: Chirp
120: Sunshine
121: Lollipop - Russell has ruined Mona's lollipop yet again. That's when Nana teaches Mona about playing fair.
122: Hummingbird
123: Rainy Day - It's raining in Nanalan' and poor Mona wants to go outside and have fun. Nana teaches Mona that she can have fun inside by reading a book called "The Sunny Bunny's Rainy Day" and dancing to one of her records!
124: Love - Mona learns the importance of love, and that no matter how much she loves Nana, Russell, her mother, or even Mr. Wooka, there's enough love for everyone!
125: Snow - It's a snowy day in Nanalan', and Mona and Russell build a snowman. After Mr. Wooka's puppet show about a snowman that melts all over the kitchen floor! After the story, Russell gets stuck outside, so Mona helps him get in.
126: Bye Bye - Mona accidentally lets go of her balloon until she realizes that it's okay to give up what she wants and to say "Good-bye".
127: Play Day - When a bee comes in the house, Mona pretends to be one. Mr. Wooka's puppet show tells of how a boatman got tired of rowing the princess and so makes her row him. Then, Mona pretends to be Nana, and a princess, like the one from the puppet show.
128: Hooray For You - Nana teaches Mona how she is the most important girl in the whole wide world! So many wonderful things went on!
129: Smelly Smell - Russell likes to smell things from the trash can until a skunk arrives to spray him! He learns the important thing about his sense... of smell!
130: Brownies - Mona gets a tummy ache from eating one brownie too many! Luckily for her, Nana teaches Mona the importance of eating healthy foods.
131: Hootenanny - Mr. Wooka decides to invite Mona, Nana, and Russell over to his house to make a band. They also have lasagna and salad for lunch. Then Mona wondered where Fleefer was, and her leg ripped off! Good thing Nana got to fix her. Mona even added a bow on her.
132: Under My Wing - Nana is outside taking care of Russell, and Mona gets to help her. After Mr. Wooka's puppet show, Mona and Russell take care of Nana. Then, they all take care of a bird who bumped its head on the house, until he was well enough to fly again.
133: Sick As A Dog - Mona is not feeling well. Luckily, Nana lets Mona rest in her bed and brings the outside inside!
134: Nanalympics - Watching too much television can be fun, but when you are exercising with Nana, Mona, Russell and Mr. Wooka, you'll know that it's much more fun and good for you!
135: Spring - Today is Spring! And that can only mean one thing: spring cleaning! Also, Mona and Russell go on a teeter-totter with Mr. Wooka, smell flowers, and find a cocoon! A butterfly comes out of it after reading a book called "Little Fuzz" with Nana.
136: Bee Sting - Scaring bees can be fun when you're a dog like Russell. But when a bee stings him, he learns about "bee"ing careful when he scares bees... like Mona as a bee.
137: Purple Monster - Mona likes to scare people sometimes, even if she is a purple monster!
138: Bubbles - Mona likes to blow bubbles... from a cup of milk! But after Russell spills the milk on Mona, she learns the importance of feelings.
139: Helpful Girl - Mona wants to help her Nana with everything and she even helps Mr. Wooka with his puppet show by returning Gary his orange to him and making a swing! Mona even helped make cookies with Nana for him.
140: Pumpkin - Russell's afraid of Halloween, so he listens to a story of how a boy named Bobby Billings overcame his fears of Halloween.
141: Russell Did It - After breaking Nana's cat statue, Mona lies and tells her that Russell did it. Nana helps her learn about telling the truth. So Mona, Russell and Mr. Wooka surprise her by gluing the statue back! She was very pleased to see that.
142: Mud Puddle - Mona likes to play in the mud to get dirty and in a tub to get clean when she learns about being dirty and clean.
143: Camp Wooka - Mona's mom drops her daughter off to spend the night with Nana. Just as they were about to watch a movie, the power went out and they decided to visit Mr. Wooka to have fun... by camping!
144: Toad Meets Budgie - Nana babysits a budgie named Farful while its owner is away. Plus, Mona and Russell go outside and find a fly and a toad, and bring the toad in to visit Farful. Then, she learns about different kinds of pets. In the end, when Mona's mom picked up, Mona sets the toad free.
145: Mona A Go-Go - Mona learns about her firsts when she is with Nana. After getting her first haircut, they put it in Mona's book of firsts, which reveals that she has been with Nana ever since she was a baby!
146: New Friends - Mona and Russell find a squirrel, so they and Nana go to the park. Russell chased the squirrel and carried Nana all the way through! Also, they saw Mr. Wooka's puppet show about two best friends, Mingy and Mongy and made new friends.
147: Treasure - Finding bugs for your bug collection might sound adventurous... even if you find a lost pearl for Mona's Nana!
148: Night Night Nana - Mona's mom drops her daughter off to have a sleepover with Nana. During that time, they had nighttime fun before sleeping in Nana's room while reading a bedtime story called "Simon Squirrel", watching Mr. Wooka's shadow puppet show, seeing Hoots the owl and fireflies!
149: 1-2-3 Apple Tree - At Mr. Wooka's place, he, Mona and Russell play with pinecone puppets and Mona and Russell find three apples from the apple tree for Nana.
150: Windy Day - It's a windy day in Nanalan'! Mona has windy day fun and flies a kite in the end.
151: Soft As Nana - Mona puts rocks in Russell's doghouse, which made him mad, and learns all about different textures by touch. Mr. Wooka also stops by to sing a song about Nana with Mona after reading the "Touch-and-Feel Flea Book". The song was so beautiful to Nana, it made her cry tears of joy!
152: Winter Wonderland
153: 4-Part Harmony - Mona, Nana and Russell invite Mr. Wooka over for a four-part harmony, which Mona proves to be an important part of!
Awards and nominations
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, an award shared by Jamie Shannon (the performer of Mona Bea), Jason Hopley (the performer of Nana Bea), Marty Stelnick (the performer of Mrs. Bea), Todd Doldersum (the performer of Hank Wooka), and Ali Eisner (the performer of Russell).
DVD releases
In 2004, several DVDs including select episodes of the series were produced. The discs were released in the United States and advertised its airings on Nickelodeon.
