Riding a Wave of Self-Acceptance

The veteran animation team behind DreamWorks TV’s Not Quite Narwhal deliver a whale of a tale about a unicorn under the sea.

- By Karen Idelson -

Childhood is often full of questions about identity, belonging and self-acceptance. Many kids also have a sense of being part of two (or more) cultures or identities, which is probably why the 2017 children’s book Not Quite Narwhal, a book about a unicorn who lives with a group of narwhals and later discovers his identity, was such a hit.

Written by Jessie Sima, the book was immediately praised for the way it showed a character discovering and accepting the ways he was different from others. This summer, a new Netflix animated series based on the book will explore the same ideas. In the series, which is produced by DreamWorks Animation Television, we follow the same main character, Kelp, as he learns to embrace and accept himself just as he is. Kelp loves his narwhal family, but it’s not exactly a perfect fit. Not Quite Nawhal brings together an experienced writing/producing team that includes co-executive producers Sarah Katin (writer on Fancy Nancy and The Boss Baby: Back in Business), Nakia Trower Shuman (Pretzel and the Puppies, The Boss Baby: Back in Business) and Brian K. Roberts (The Best of the Tracey Ullman Show, 10 Truths About Love). The producers of the series are all fans of Kelp and the original book.

Everybody Loves Kelp!

“I locked eyes with Kelp and never looked back,” says Katin. “Aside from the obvious adorableness of a unicorn who lives in the sea, it was the simple, beautiful message that really hooked me. Who’s never felt a little different? This book embraces and celebrates Kelp’s uniqueness. He doesn’t have to choose to be anyone other than exactly who he is.”

Co-executive producer Trower Shuman adds, “Sarah and I were working on Boss

Baby with the super showrunner and genius Brandon Sawyer when the awesome Vanessa Taylor Sands (development executive at DreamWorks) introduced us to the book. We instantly fell in love with Kelp and the fantastical nature of his two worlds. But it was the book’s theme of embracing and owning your unique differences that spoke to us the most.”

Co-executive producer Roberts was then brought onto the project and felt the same pull to the material. The themes touched him right away.

“I was wrapping up the production of Dragons: Rescue Riders and Vanessa Taylor Sands met with me about producing an animation test to help pitch a new series she was developing with Nakia and Sarah,” says Roberts. “When selling a show that’s not based on an existing film or franchise it’s common to do a little sample of animation to show buyers what the series might look like. As soon as she said, ‘unicorns and narwhals’ I was already interested, but when I read Jessie Sima’s book, I was thrilled at the opportunity to help bring such a meaningful story to life as a series.”

The illustrations in the original book take on a magical, playful tone as they imitate the look of an underwater ocean world. Known for ethereal blue tones and spots of coral and lavender, the color tones of the book have been carried over to the series. Also, as in the book, Kelp wears a diving helmet shaped like a clear orb. The producers were inspired by this look.

“The book is inherently about being unique, so we wanted to make sure that our cast of characters both above and below water showcased a lot of diversity,” says Roberts. “This led to lots of interesting conversations about how things such as eye color and hairstyle can affect representation when you’re creating fantasy creatures like unicorns. Within this epic story about Kelp being literally swept away to a new world Jessie creates adorable little moments of humor and charm. Lots of little visual gags in the book found their way into the series, like Unicorns eating sno-cones and making each other into sand-narwhals on the beach.”

For Trower Shuman, the feeling of the book overall in the story that was told was top of mind as the show was developed.

“The book’s artwork and dialogue are right in line with stories we love to write,” says Trower Shuman. “It’s heartfelt, comedic and set in adventurous worlds that you can get lost in.”

Katin says she was as interested in what was shown in the book as what was left up to the imagination of readers. It gave the producers an opportunity to develop the many aspects of the series from scratch.

“Kelp is the only character referred to by name in the book,” says Katin. “I’d say the biggest challenge was creating the entire animated world of Narwhal. What does the ocean look like? Does Kelp live in a house? What does Unicorn Land look like? Where do unicorns sleep? Who are all the characters that embody both worlds? What do they bring to the show and Kelp’s journey?”

The show features a seasoned group of voice actors including Nevin Kar (Mira, Royal Detective) as Kelp, Scarlett Kate Ferguson (I’m Dying Up Here, Pupstruction) as Pixie, Sasha Knight (Cowboys) as Ollie, Ryan Anderson Lopez (Undone) as Cruz and Mixie Chen (Princess Power) as Juniper. Guest actors on various episodes include Matthew Yang King (Riverdale) as Dad Tuskington and Crabby, James Monroe Iglehart (who also worked on SuperKitties) as Chef Jinglehooves, Kevin

Dunn (Law & Order) as Mr. Pearly and Sally Struthers (All in the Family, Gilmore Girls) as Mrs. Polydopoulos.

The series was animated by Lemon Sky Studios in Malaysia. “[Lemon Sky] worked with DreamWorks’ internal HUB team and our CG animation producer, Joe Alessandra, following the HUB’s own pipeline and technical specifications,” says Roberts. “This includes doing asset creation and animation in Autodesk Maya and effects and compositing in The Foundry’s Nuke software.”

After being swept up in Kelp’s story of discovery, the producers hope the viewers find the same things in the story that made them want to make the show. The simple, powerful message of embracing your own story is always timely.

“We hope audiences will have a totally spark time celebrating who they are as they join Kelp and his friends on their adventures filled with laughs, heart and of course lots of spark,” says Trower Shuman.

Roberts believes self-acceptance can also lead to acceptance of others: “Understanding and loving ourselves helps us understand and love others, and life is most richly lived in harmony with one another,” he points out. ◆

Not Quite Narwhal premieres on Netflix on June 19.