August 5th, 2020 – Bardel Entertainment Inc. (“Bardel”) of Canada, one of the world’s top animation companies, is picking up where it left off with Wonderstorm to co-produce four more seasons of the recent Emmy-winning Netflix Original Series, The Dragon Prince, created by Aaron Ehasz (head writer of Avatar: The Last Airbender) and Justin Richmond (game director of Uncharted 3). As announced at the series’ Comic-Con@Home panel, Netflix is committing to fully realize the creators’ vision for the saga, as The Dragon Prince story unfolds its full epic scope over seven seasons. On the heels of this news, The Dragon Prince also won the 2020 Daytime Emmy® Award for Outstanding Children’s Animated Series.

“We are very excited to continue this creative collaboration with Wonderstorm and Netflix, and expand this rich universe into another four seasons,” said Tina Chow, SVP of Development and Production of Bardel Entertainment Inc. “I’ve said it before but it’s truly a perfect partnership. Wonderstorm has a sweeping vision for this saga, and Bardel’s success has always come from pushing boundaries. We are delighted to go down this creative path with them again.”

After three hit seasons, Netflix renewed the original animated series for four more seasons. Seasons four through seven will each have nine episodes and the premiere date for season four, which is currently in pre-production, is TBD.  Wonderstorm and Bardel began their collaboration on the series during the development of the first season. One of the most intriguing aspects of the show is its combination of 2D and 3D animation. Bardel’s prior roots in 2D animation with The Prophet (produced by Salma Hayek) bridged the gap of artistic merit that Wonderstorm wanted in an animation studio. The result is a visually stunning 3D CG animated show with 2D traditional hand-drawn backgrounds.

“We are so grateful for all of the love and care that everyone at Bardel put into creating this magical world with us in the first three seasons,” said co-creators Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond. “The Dragon Prince was made by an incredibly special team and it took all of us to create this vision together. We are so excited to deliver an epic animated series together, end to end, and make Xadia an even more special place for people to visit.”

Richard Grieve, SVP of Finance & Business Affairs and one of Bardel’s Executive Producers for the series, said, “The Dragon Prince’s success can be attributed to the shared vision for storytelling across the entire creative team.  I’ve been impressed with the passion and commitment of everyone involved in this project, and look forward to continuing this exciting saga.”

The Dragon Prince has developed a large and passionate fan base and all three seasons have a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It won a Daytime Emmy® Award on July 26, 2020, for Outstanding Children’s Animated Series, and was nominated for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition. During The Dragon Prince Comic-Con@Home panel, the creators revealed that Netflix had renewed the series for 4 more seasons. Check out this clip for the moment the cast found out the big news, and click here to watch the full panel on YouTube.

 

About Bardel Entertainment Inc.

The Emmy Award®-winning studio, Bardel Entertainment Inc., has been a leading animation studio in North America for over 30 years due to its stellar reputation built on three core values: quality, creativity and innovation. Bardel has two state-of-the-art studios, one in Vancouver and one in Kelowna, Canada. Currently, Bardel is the only full-service animation studio concurrently providing animation services in CG and 2D animation television and features for a diverse slate of U.S. blue-chip partners: Netflix, Wizards of the Coast, Warner Bros., Cartoon Network-Adult Swim, Nickelodeon, HBO Max and Disney, as well as an outstanding group of content creators. In 2015, Bardel was acquired by Italy-based Rainbow Group, one of the largest animation producers and licensors in the world with subsidiaries in Moscow, Hong Kong and Singapore.

www.bardel.ca.

About Wonderstorm

Wonderstorm is a double threat media studio that creates timeless stories and engaging video games that anchor their entertainment franchises. Wonderstorm’s first franchise, the Emmy® Award-winning The Dragon Prince, began as an original animated series on Netflix in 2018. All three seasons have been a Top 10 digital original and are rated 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. A world-class video game for The Dragon Prince is under development by the same creative team. Wonderstorm was founded in 2016 by Aaron Ehasz, Justin Richmond, and Justin Santistevan, creative leaders of popular, award-winning media content including Avatar: The Last AirbenderFuturamaLeague of Legends, and the Uncharted series. Wonderstorm is a place where creators work with visionary teams to do meaningful work that will last for generations.

https://wonderstorm.net/

About Netflix

Netflix is the world’s leading streaming entertainment service with 193 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.

https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/80212245