Nimona has lit Netflix on fire since its release at the end of June. The animated adaptation of ND Stevenson’s beloved graphic novel is heartfelt, funny, and thrilling as it follows the hijinks of two unlikely heroes in a bold fantasy world. We’ve already caught up with Stevenson and the directing duo of Nick Bruno and Troy Quane about bringing the film back from the ashes of Blue Sky Studios, so it’s time for one final, emotional dive into this queer-coded epic.
“The story behind the making of Nimona is very similar to the making of Nimona,” Nick Bruno tells me after touching on the tale of resilience at the film’s centre. “That’s what kept it going, we know how important a character Nimona was and she became very real to us. It became very important to us to do whatever we could to get that back into the world.”
Originally in the works at Blue Sky Studios before it was shuttered by Disney following its acquisition of 20th Century Fox, production of Nimona essentially had to be restarted from the ground-up when it was first revived by Annapurna and Netflix. Bruno and Quane were clear that a large amount of work was still to be done, and many of the past foundations had to be suddenly uprooted. However, the core story remained - one of queer identity, bravery, and perseverance which was given complete freedom in this second chance at life.
“[Netflix and Annapurna] told us that if there’s anything we didn’t have a chance to put into the movie before, to strengthen these themes and embrace the story that we’re telling, we’re all for it,” Bruno adds. “Everyone at Blue Sky was super supportive of what we were doing. In fact, we were all doing it together.”
Following its initial cancellation there were rumours that Disney wasn’t pleased with the central gay relationship in the film between Ballister Boldheart and Ambrosius Goldenloin. Whatever opposition was initially thrust towards the team at Blue Sky, all of that seemed to fade away when the platform changed and the film no longer needed to hold back. From my time with the directors, it’s unclear how extensive this animosity became before the hammer came down on the entire project. “When we started to embrace what the graphic novel was saying and its characters and its LGBTQ+ themes, we knew those were the audiences and stories we needed to reach out to,” Bruno explains. Blue Sky was able to perform this truthfully and honestly thanks to the studio’s own queer employees. “Everybody shared their stories and what they had been through whether it was good, bad, ugly, or contentious.”
Many of the stories you hear throughout the film, such as Nimona scolding Ballister for some ignorant yet well-meaning questions on the subway, stem from real life interactions, and were folded into the script because it effectively represented what the team had been through. You can also find over a dozen Pride flags situated throughout the film in different locations, such as a trans flag located in the background as Nimona talks about the significance of her own shape-shifting identity and how when she doesn’t embrace it, she feels uncomfortable in her body. All visual and thematic aspects of Nimona’s world help inform its diverse storytelling.
“It was a joy to play with,” Quane says of adapting the graphic novel. “The challenge was to find those design elements that let you play up the fairytale fantasy aspect while also trying to balance out the science fiction. Instead of timber and stone you build castles from glass and steel, you find shape language that is representative and harkens back to the narrative.”
Nimona takes place in a prosperous city walled off from the outside world. Medieval knights wield crossbows capable of firing laser beams, while modern technology like smartphones are deliberately contrasted with devices of old that highlight how, despite its willingness to embrace certain parts of the future, this land still remains stubbornly in the past. Quane is clear that establishing this dichotomy from Stevenson’s world building was essential when emphasing this message of putting aside your ignorance and getting to know someone for who they are beneath the surface. It’s a tale about remaining hopeful in spite of everything.
Towards the film’s climax, Nimona believes that she’ll never find a place to belong in this world, and chooses instead to take on the form of the monster everyone expected her to be before trying to fall on the sword that so often points itself towards her. “Unfortunately in our world that is an avenue for some people who feel like they’ll never find love or friendship as the only way out,” Bruno explains. “It became important for us to show that because it helps reinforce the theme of the movie about getting to know people.”
Quane adds: “It still feels hopeful, and I think that’s the balance we wanted to make sure we brought. There are rough edges, there are dark corners in this world that do catch and drag and pull you down. You can present that, not taking your eyes away from that reality but still say this is, overall, a hopeful world. Even when it’s feeling dark, there are a lot of positives. We just need to open ourselves up and to each other, I mean that’s hope, right?”
Nimona also needs to negotiate the tumultuous waters of adaptation, and does take select liberties with the source material with some of its narrative and characters. Stevenson was on board as co-producer, and would often be in the fold with Quane and Bruno in the creation of certain dialogue and character dynamics to make sure it not only respected the original book, but expanded upon it. Goldenloin’s arc for example, is given a new spin.
“Adaptations aren’t a copy,” Quane stresses. “You can’t just do [the original story], nor do I think that you’d want to, nor do I think ND ever wanted to. Nick and I have both worked on a number of different collaborations and I can’t say enough about how open and giving and so welcoming ND was as a partner, and he had to be because it’s such a super personal story.”
The team understood they were dealing with an intimate story, but also one that carries with it a queer meaning Stevenson has long since admitted outgrowing his initial intentions. Fans take Nimona’s struggles and project them onto their own lives, and that’s one of the reasons why for so many years the story has endured. “Nimona’s voice is ND’s voice,” Quane says. “So we were always checking in with them and getting help writing lines just to help make sure we maintain her unique brand of comedy and pathos and making them out to be a little bit of a troublemaker. Kinda like how ND is.”
For everyone involved however, the real pleasure came from falling in love with Nimona as a character. To realise that beneath her shape-shifting animosity sat a person who wishes for a place to belong, but also isn’t afraid to rebel in the name of what she believes in. “It’s all just a cover, it’s all a guard,” Bruno says. “A lot of us have this particular guard where we like to tell jokes, surprise people and shock people and cause mischief everywhere we go because we want to shake up the world. We want people to have fun because sometimes we do not always feel that ourselves. It’s all a big guard for someone who feels very misunderstood by the world that she lives in.”
Quane describes it as Nimona expressing the “unapologetic nature of herself” in a way that can’t be ignored. If a society doesn’t want you to exist, the perfect response is to exist in a way that can’t be ignored without ever once putting aside your own happiness. “Here I am. Here’s who I am. I’m Nimona. When someone questions that or looks sideways at her, she leans into it, there’s a little bit of joy to be taken in that discomfort. Not to cause discomfort, but to cause someone to look more closely and to take notice.”