ND Stevenson’s shapeshifter finally makes it to the big screen as a monster brat with attitude
It was a long road to the screen Nimonathe animated adaptation of ND Stevensonis a graphic novel-turned-webcomic about a mistreated knight in a wild sci-fi techno future and the changing girl who declares herself his sidekick. The film was originally produced at Blue Sky Studios (home of the Ice Age films) and it wasn’t until months after its completion that Disney – which had acquired Blue Sky’s parent company, 20th Century Fox – canceled the project. (A Blue Sky employee told Business Insider last year this Disney “Systematically censors queer content” which means the film was shelved because two of its leads portray a gay couple.)
Netflix announced this in April 2022 pick up and complete the projectThe streaming service has now released the first teaser for the film. This early look contains only a small portion of the actual animation from the film – mostly a snappy frame story in which the shape-shifting girl Nimona (voiced by Chloë Grace Moretz) takes on a classic Disney-style fairy tale to create it mocking – and setting fire to a Disney princess and her entire castle. It all has the stylized, fast-paced “teenage artist playing with style and self-promotion” vibe of Netflix’s previous animated film The Mitchells against the machines.
But the last part of the teaser offers a brief look at it Nimona world and in particular Nimona herself who transforms into a whale, a gorilla and other animals. If you don’t bat an eyelid, you’ll get a glimpse of the graphic novel’s hero, Ballister Blackheart – here renamed Ballister Boldheart – in the middle of a chaotic battle.
Here is the Netflix description of the film:
A knight (Riz Ahmed) is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and the only person who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz), a shape-shifting teenager and possibly too is a monster he swore to kill. Set in a techno-medieval world the likes of which has never been seen in animation before, it’s a story about the labels we put on people and the shapeshifter who refuses to be defined by anyone .
Nimona will premiere at the Annecy Animation Festival in mid-June and hit Netflix on June 30th.
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