Corus halts production at animation studio Nelvana, says it will focus managing existing properties

Parent company Corus declined to confirm how many jobs were affected by its decision to pause new productions at Nelvana.

Debt-beleaguered Corus Entertainment Inc. has halted production at the storied animation studio Nelvana Ltd., potentially ending a more-than-five-decade run that helped transform Canada into a globally recognized exporter of cartoons.

The media company said in an e-mail Tuesday that it was not shutting down Nelvana entirely, but rather moving ahead with a previously announced plan to wind down its existing projects and to pause new productions “for the time being.”

The Nelvana brand will still exist, “focusing on distribution, merchandising, and managing existing properties,” said Melissa Eckersley, Corus’s head of corporate communications. The company declined to