Nelvana of the Northern Lights (TV series)

Nelvana of the Northern Lights is a Canadian animated television series that aired on Teletoon in Canada and on Cartoon Network's Toonami in the United States from 2001 to 2002. The series is based on the comic book series of the same name, and followed a pilot film that debuted in August 2000. It was produced by Nelvana, which is named after the character and produced both the series and the film in honor of its 30th anniversary. Some of the episodes were written by Joss Whedon, Warner Bros. Animation alumni Bruce Timm, and Franklin co-creators Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark.

The show was canceled in September 2002; there was speculation that the cancellation was connected to the fact that it was a large departure from the studio's fare done after the success of Care Bears, most of which is usually catered to young children. Nelvana co-founder Clive A. Smith stated as much and added the series was the riskiest project Nelvana had ever tackled as a studio since the animated feature film Rock & Rule in 1983, but was able to weather it due to having successful preschool franchises such as Franklin and Little Bear under its belt at the time.

The series ran for two seasons in the US on Toonami and in Canada on Teletoon, for a total of 24 episodes (including pilot). The first episode aired June 12, 2001; the last episode aired August 26, 2002. In spite of its cancellation, Nelvana of the Northern Lights retains a cult following for not only being faithful to the comics it was based on, but being a spiritual successor to Batman: The Animated Series in terms of writing, artistic presentation, and thematic complexity.