Moving Into Half-Hours
Nanalan' started as 72, three-minute interstitials. It proved an amazing testing ground for the concepts of the sensory world of pre-schoolers, the joy of uncovering things for the first time and the freedom to explore it.
Nana was barely visible in the original interstitials and only provided a parental presence and security of a safe environment. Moving into half-hours, we realized that Nana needed to be more than that and provide al of the encouragement, love and care that a Nana can give. She became the framework for the world in which Mona has the freedom to explore, and an active player as an amazing caregiver.
At that time, all the episodes were contained in the backyard but moving into half-hours required an expansion of Nana's world. For the first time we would see the inside of Nana's house and all the kitschy wonders it held. The introduction of Mr. Wooka and his puppet shows provided the necessary boost in pacing and also introduced Mona a little bit to the outside world. An original story in almost every episode gave us a warm addition to the action and has provided some necessary 'lap time' with Nana. Finally, a goodbye moment gives the show a sense of closure with the understanding that tomorrow we will visit Nanalan' again.
We added the bright colored kitchen, where banging on pots and pans, eating strange and interesting fruits and grabby salad tongs are the norm. It's a place to play with playdough, and hang works of art on the fridge. We also added the living room, a shag-carpet paradise filled to the brim with Nana-style treasure. The couch is ultra-comfy and the best thing ever to climb on, hide under and sink into. It's the greatest place to cut a rug when Nana turns on the hi-fi and they dance to the oldies and the best place to listen to a story that Nana reads in her rocker.
The process of moving into a longer format has been a journey into making the Nanalan' world a whole one, filled with its own beautiful logic and a felling perfectly suited to children and their caregivers.
Writing
This series has enormous sincerity and a natural quality to it, more so than any other pre-school show Canada. The secret is we do not rely on written dialogue. It would become too artificial. Rather, our scripts are composed of synopses that tell us what concept we are imparting, at what time, where we are coming from and where we are going to next. It's more of a planned improv and it keeps things honest because the characters are reacting honestly. Instead of relying on scripted, planned reactions, the moment is allowed to happen, keeping it fresh, truthful and extremely sincere.
Click here for a sample script.
Care-Iculum
Nanalan' is a celebration of a love for the simple things in life. The joy of uncovering things for the first time or revisiting something you know and seeing it differently is something we tend to forget as we get older. The show is a glimpse of the world through a child's eyes - it gives pre-school children encouragement to never stop being amazed. Nanalan' is dedicated to fostering this kind of thinking with the hope that children will carry it with them as they grow.
Children are sensorial, receptive observers. The sense of wonder for a child is part of the purity which makes children magical. Their awe engulfs them and suddenly the world is a special place. Nanalan' seems to connect with three-year-olds in that expression of amazement. It is about the joy of discovery because everything is brand new to Mona. It celebrates the delight of being there and further promotes active exploration as Mona wanders through the simple wisdom that life is always wondrous if you're constantly discovering.
This active discovery is a platform for learning from new experiences. It's about allowing yourself to be in the moment and free to absorb something valuable from the situation. Mona's learning doesn't stop with the events that unfold before her, it is also how she makes them her own. Part of the fun of discovering something for the first time is actively applying it in another situation; to reiterate what you have just seen and be a part of it instead of existing only as a witness. Mona will learn something from storytime or from a natural event and carry that into more discoveries.
It's even more exciting when Mona directly affects the event as it happens. For example; if Mona was watching a caterpillar walk along the grass, how exciting would it be to put a twig in front of its path and watch the caterpillar crawl over it? Changing the world is a monumental achievement especially for a three-year-old, even if the world is very small and includes caterpillars. It leaves children with the self-assured felling that they have control over things. This experimentation and active discovery is at the core of Mona's curiosity.
Nanalan' explores the beginning of consciousness. Mona is just beginning to understand right and wrong and takes pride in it. The learning is manifested in Mona's creative insight for the right way to do things, juxtaposed with her best friend Russell's pure thoughtless 'puppy-ness'. Russell is pure instinct; he is a dog that does very little to inhibit his thoughts from becoming actions. If he wants to chew on Nana's good shoes, they will be chewed to bits. Mona will come up wit h a creative way to stop this from happening. She'll hide Nana's shoes under the couch cushions to protect them and then find a stick for Russell to chew on happily and harmlessly.
Mona is making good sense of the world as she learns by doing; if you keep on rolling a snowball, it gets bigger. If Mona has enough patience eventually the Chipmunk will come back, and if Russell doesn't eat all the doggy biscuits, he will have some left for later. Mona learns simple lessons in life about the way things happen, and she does her best to teach Russell.
This world is Mona's oyster. She is in harmony with nature and is a creative observer with an innate ability to see the beauty in everything, an ability worth hanging onto as long as you can.