Nelvana Limited Archives | Otaku No Culture

Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes Bonus Cut! And Captain Cannabis (Part Two)

Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes continues with Verne Andru tackling long-standing fan debates, from production myths to lost material, while outlining how his documentary aims to preserve a fragile piece of Canadian animation history.

Verne Andru and Captain Cannabis — Part one of our interview can be read here.

Support Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes, and get some wild extras!

In part two of our interview with Verne Andru, we look at questions fans hope the documentary will answer. Long-time fans have burning questions, and given that most of the original material was lost to a fire that Verne confirmed, what remains needs to be more than a nostalgia hit. It is a chance to look back at how technologies merged to create the cult work that Rock and Rule became, right as Hollywood was running its own experiments with transitional optical effects in films like Tron and The Last Starfighter.

What is the biggest myth about Rock & Rule that you want to address?

The studio said that the launch failed because of MGM/UA not backing it. While there may be some truth to that, it misses the point that they delivered an unfinished film years late and millions over budget. It was Nelvana’s fault, nobody else.

Continue reading “Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes Bonus Cut! And Captain Cannabis (Part Two)”

Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes, The KickStarter. An Interview with Verne Andrusiek (Part One)

Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes dives into the legacy of the cult Canadian animated film through Verne Andrusiek’s firsthand insights, exploring its production struggles, analog artistry, and why a true restoration may never happen.

View the Kickstarter here

Verne Andrusiek is just one of the amazing talents who helped breathe visual life into a seminal Canadian animated classic, Rock and Rule. For the later part of his entertainment career, he went by the shorter version of his last name, and not everyone made the connection. With this Nelvana Entertainment film recognized as a cult work in the Canadiana hall of fame, anyone asking for a release will be in for a disappointment. A remaster is not likely to happen. What Verne preserved at home, though, will become part of the backbone of Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes, a video documentary that includes interviews with the directors and writers of this project. He announced this project to folks visiting his booth during Fan Expo Vancouver 2026!

With a crowdfunding campaign launching April 6, 2026, he also hopes to put some long-running fan debates to rest. He put it this way: “I became a bit of a jack-of-all-trades over my career going from music to electronics, art, film and computers in large part due to times, the 1950s through to 1980 were a period of dramatic change when not much of anything we take for granted today existed. Basically, if you wanted something you had to figure out how to do it yourself because there were no off-the-shelf solutions.”

Continue reading “Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes, The KickStarter. An Interview with Verne Andrusiek (Part One)”

Battle of the Planets To Rise Like a Phoenix

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

BOP
After success of the 2013 Gatchaman movie in Japan, Corus Entertainment’s animation arm Nelvana and marketing company d-rights Inc., will be working jointly on new series Battle of the Planets: Phoenix Ninjas (tentative title).

BOP: PN will be a re-envisioning of the original Battle of the Planets series produced by Sandy Frank Entertainment. In their press release, Corus Entertainment has said the series will have a distinct look and feel that will pay tribute to the classic series.

“We’re thrilled to be working with d-rights on a new version of Battle of the Planets, which has a devoted worldwide fan base,” said Andrew Kerr, Co-Head, Nelvana Enterprises. “This classic property has endured with fans and we are ready to reach out to a new generation of kids. The series will be new, but it will feature the same big action stories.”

Continue reading “Battle of the Planets To Rise Like a Phoenix”

It’s Showtime! With Beetlejuice, the Animated Series DVD Review

People who buy Beetlejuice the animated series will love the packaging and design, and have some merry laughs when watching.

Beetlejuice DVD Rekindling certain flavors of 80’s cartoon-dom requires certain key characters to enter the video library. At the tail end of this decade came Beetlejuice, the animated series. This ghost with the most’s violent tendencies were toned down and for some unknown reason, both him and Lydia Deets are best-pals.

Fans of Tim Burton’s movie will have to wonder what happened in between since the two were unlikely allies; even at the end of the film, these two parted ways and Beetlejuice was “awaiting reassignment.” Despite the differences between the film and cartoon, the series lasted for a good four seasons—a rarity for any cartoon.

It’s tough to resist a character who reeks of mischief. This miscreant of the supernatural world gets into more trouble than he realizes, and to see him worm his way out of situations is one of the charms this series has. With Shout! Factory’s bare bones video release, viewers do not have to scout the internet or television stations to find where this ghost is hiding. If he pops out at the wrong time, then maybe someone will lose their funny bone. Stephen Ouimette does a great job in voicing this character and emulating Keaton’s style. Even the editorial staff of Patsy Cameron and Tedd Anasti certainly know their product to ensure consistency.

Continue reading “It’s Showtime! With Beetlejuice, the Animated Series DVD Review”