Netflix cancels Ava DuVernay animated project among others
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Netflix News

Netflix cancels Ava DuVernay animated project among others

Netflix has been having a hard time coping with the subscriber exodus over the last few months that caused the company to lose more subscribers than they ever have, in a decade. To cut down their expenditure, the company has cancelled several projects, including Meghan Markle’s animated series Pearl

It seems like Netflix has axed down mainly animated projects. After laying off nearly 150 employees, Netflix announced the cancellation of four major animation projects, three of which have already been publicly announced, while all four are in development. 

These include Ava DuVernay’s take on the Wings of Fire fantasy series by Tui Sutherland, a film adaptation of Adam Kline’s With Kind Regards from Kindergarten and two projects by Dr Ibram X whose projects were meant to teach children about racism. 

Antiracist Baby and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You were both based on books; the latter was co-authored by Jason Reynolds. Another project on the author’s work Stamped from the Beginning is in post-production. 

This has not been received well by most as the cancellation is targeted toward Black writers and filmmakers whose works could have been an invaluable addition to Netflix’s collection. The works were supposed to focus on the racial inequity and the legacy of racism throughout American history, through an age-appropriate lens for children to understand racism. 

Although the cancellation has taken place during a financial upheaval, Variety reported how several sources claimed that the projects were cancelled for reasons that “were creative rather than cost-related”. 

Other cancelled animated projects include the adaptation of Jeff Smith’s Bone comics and Toil & Trouble by Lauren Faust. 

Hopefully, all these highly-anticipated projects will be able to find new homes. Or perhaps, Netflix will reverse their decision. Who knows?