Nixie and Nimbo is an episodic mini-series created for Odin, a soon-to-launch streaming community uniting leading creative minds and scientists. The story—co-created by Hornet Director Yves Geleyn and Hornet’s Head of Creative Development Kristin Labriola—is designed to teach young kids about anxiety in a relatable and entertaining way. Executed in warm, stylish 2D animation, and spread out over five episodes which were aired on the Child Mind Institute website, Yves created a world that explored themes and tools for children to control their anxiety, rather than letting anxiety control them.
Long form episodic content isn’t something Hornet normally specializes in. In fact, this was Yves’ first debut with a mini-series of content. But we were drawn to the project both because of Odin’s mission to help young children develop an understanding around anxiety—what it is and how to deal with it—as well as for our own chance to develop a cohesive and ongoing narrative from scratch. The relationship with Odin was super collaborative throughout. Taking their data and facts around childhood anxiety, we developed a story that would demonstrate different techniques for managing anxiety, told through a cinematic lens.
One of the foundational thoughts behind "cinematic medicine" is that you can treat kids more effectively if you take it out of the medical context and make it entertaining. Yves responded by making the two hero characters completely relatable. Nixie is an anxious human character—human, so that kids can connect with her. Nimbo, meanwhile, conveyed as a cloud, is a good representation of anxiety—something that is always shifting and molding, and can float and be anywhere at any given time. The adventures this unlikely pair embark on see them explore various scenarios where they must cope with and conquer their anxieties.
"For me, the best part of this process was balancing the right medical & educational message and still telling a good story. It’s driven by the topic of helping kids with anxiety. But you can enjoy the show without knowing that layer.
-Yves Geleyn
