Finding Nen- O
A FAMILY ANIMATION IN 26 EPISODES
Finding Nen- O is a computeranimated series featuring a gang of Bow River amphibians who make their way through the city’s underground, bent on a meeting with Mayor Nenshi in his office. Once upon a time, Dorothy and her friends were driven by their various psychological urgencies to find, and meet with, the Great Oz. Now, the webtoed cast of Finding Nen- O is driven by their roles as environmental “eusocialists” ( the 10 per cent of most species that do not mate or procreate but act instead as protectors). While their brothers and sisters sit on eggs or help their baby amphibians acquire a taste for tent caterpillars, these rogue skin- breathers make their way through the city’s intricate underground system of storm pipes and tunnels in search of the office from whence magic comes. Like many in the land, they believe that the mayor has the keys to the future— not just of the city, but also of the entire planet. Leading the moist charge are Bugsy, the boreal chorus frog ( who can’t stop singing); Lily, the long- toed salamander ( endlessly clumsy, she provides comedic relief); Rahoul, the red- sided garter snake ( who is way less tough than he appears); and Liz Beth, the disoriented lizard from West Virginia whose altitude- sensitivity results in daffy hijinks that provide the others with non- stop trouble, and the audience with endless, if slightly Ameri- phobic, delight.
As they inch their way through the complicated subterrranea, navigating toxins, sub- code wiring and lots of chewed- up gum, the animals must battle weekly catastrophes. There’s Bugsy’s near- fatal dehydration when the new National Music Centre construction crew accidentally sucks the storm sewers dry for three days while the building’s pipes are erroneously filled with gutter water; then Lily’s near- fatal gumming by coyotes whose left- leaning jargon seduces her until she realizes they’re just hiding out underground while the Rangers round up all the off- course cougars in town.
And then there’s the flood. Terrifying, wild, but never tragic, Finding Nen- O is all about the triumph of the human spirit … amphibian- style.