Annapurna is launching its own animation division

Today, Annapurna announced that it has tapped former Walt Disney Animation Studios president Andrew Millstein and screenwriter Robert Baird (Monsters University, Big Hero 6) to head up its animation production arm, which will release the studio’s forthcoming Nimona adaptation in 2023 with Netflix. In a press release about the new studio, Annapurna founder and CEO Megan Ellison said that Millstein and Baird’s contributions to Nimona’s production were key to bringing the project home and described bringing them on board as part of the studio’s efforts to bolster its animated offerings.

“Working with them and the Nimona team has been an incredible experience and we cannot wait for audiences to see the film,” Ellison said. “We believe adding animation alongside our other divisions, in combination with the depth of our catalog, will lead to tremendous opportunities. Anything is possible.”

In the statement about his new role, Baird described the indie darling as “a deep match with our values and the types of impactful stories we want to help bring to life.” That’s exactly the sort of thing you’d expect to read in this kind of press release, but it is going to be genuinely interesting to see just what Annapurna’s vision for animation entails. We still don’t know exactly when Nimona’s going to hit Netflix, but Annapurna stepping in to complete it is the reason people are finally going to be able to see the movie in 2023.