A new Indigenous-led kids series is officially on the way. Manitoba’s Eagle Vision and Ontario’s Sinking Ship Entertainment Inc. have secured the greenlight for Stevie and the Sacred Animals, a 52-episode preschool show (11 minutes each) commissioned by CBC as lead, with APTN, Knowledge Kids, and TELUS Independent also on board. Production begins this spring, and the series is set to premiere in 2027.
Stevie and the Sacred Animals follows Stevie, a smart, spunky 6-year-old Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) girl who moves from the city to her First Nation community. With help from her cousins, Stevie starts learning what it means to be in relationship with Mother Earth and all living things. Along the way, seven baby Sacred Animals join the story, each growing into lessons of their own as they learn and change right alongside Stevie.
The series is also built around a visual approach that blends vibrant 2D animation with real footage shot in a First Nation community, creating a world rooted in land, family, and place. Music for the show will be created by award-winning duo Burnstick, and each episode will include an Anishinaabemowin language lesson.
CBC Kids Senior Director of Children’s Content Marie McCann said the network is “honoured” to bring Lisa Meeches and Rebecca Gibson’s vision to families, and pointed to the series’ natural landscapes and “gentle lessons” as key factors in its resonance with kids at home and abroad.
The series is co-created by Meeches and Gibson, showrun by Dinae Robinson and J.J. Johnson, and directed by Tara Audibert. Kyle Irving joins Meeches and Gibson as an executive producer from Eagle Vision. CBC’s commissioning team includes Sally Catto (General Manager, Entertainment, Factual and Sports), McCann, and Lisa Cinelli (Executive in Charge of Production, CBC Kids). Additional support comes from the Indigenous Screen Office, Manitoba Film & Music, the Canada Media Fund, the Shaw Rocket Fund, and the Cogeco TV Production Program. SSE is attached to distribute the series internationally.
Preschool TV shapes how kids understand the world long before they have the words to explain it. A series like Stevie and the Sacred Animals is exciting because it normalizes Indigenous knowledge, intergenerational teaching, and relationships to land as everyday life rather than a niche topic. It’s exciting to have a new edition to Indigenous children’s TV that promises something that kids and families can actually grow with.
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