Press Releases

Ottawa, Canada + Los Angeles, CA – September 18, 2023 – Sony Pictures Television-Kids, producer of the Emmy, BAFTA and Annie Award-winning Netflix series Hilda, in collaboration with Canada’s leading animation studio Mercury Filmworks, will premiere the first two episodes of the beloved animated series’ third season at the Ottawa International Animation Festival on Thursday, September 21. 

Hilda, starring Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us), transforms the Eisner-Award nominated graphic novels by Luke Pearson and published by Nobrow into an incredible animated adventure for older kids. The series follows the journey of a fearless blue-haired girl, Hilda, as she travels from her home in a vast magical wilderness full of elves and giants to the bustling city of Trolberg, where she makes new friends and discovers mysterious creatures who are stranger –and sometimes more dangerous– than she ever expected. 

Hilda originally debuted on Netflix in September 2018, with its second season following in December 2020.  Netflix will stream the third and final season (7 x 22’ episodes plus a 70-minute special) starting December 7, 2023. 

Additionally, Hilda’s celebrated artist and creator Luke Pearson and award-winning director Andy Coyle will participate in an Animation Exposé event during the festival to discuss the art of Hilda, including the series’ inspiration in Scandinavian folklore and classic comics; the process of page-to-screen visual adaptation with Mercury Filmworks; and the show’s highly anticipated third and final season. The panel will be moderated by Hilda Co-Executive Producer Bryan Korn. 

“The production of Hilda, much like the show’s central storyline, has been a long, winding journey—and a deeply rewarding one at that,” said Kurt Mueller, EVP, Creative Content, Sony Pictures Television – Kids. “Adventures were had, treasures were unearthed, and life-long friends were made. Luke’s novels mapped out a clear path for the show, but thanks to the intrepid imaginations of Luke, our head writer Stephanie Simpson, our director Andy Coyle, and everyone at Mercury, we landed far beyond our original destination—and our wildest hopes for the show.”

“Hilda has been an incredibly rewarding project for Mercury Filmworks, and Sony Kids has been a phenomenal creative partner to bring this beautiful and unique series to life,” stated Chantal Ling Vice President, Original Series & Co-Productions, Mercury Filmworks. “While it is always tough to see the end of a series that has been so professionally gratifying, we are thrilled to showcase the latest epic adventures of our heroine Hilda in this final season at the Ottawa International Animation Festival and for audiences around the world to be entertained when the series premieres on Netflix later this year.”

About Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television (SPT) is one of the television industry’s leading content providers, producing, distributing and carrying programming worldwide in every genre and for every platform. In addition to managing one of the industry’s largest libraries of award-winning feature films, television shows and formats, SPT is home to a thriving global content business, operating a robust portfolio of wholly-owned and joint-venture production companies across the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific, as well as linear and digital channels around the world. SPT is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation.

About Mercury Filmworks
Mercury Filmworks is one of Canada's most prolific independent animation studios and is globally recognized as an industry leader for its benchmarks in quality, reliability, and innovation.   As an animation service provider, the studio has worked with major film and television companies, including Disney, Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks, 20^th Century Studios, Sony, Warner Bros. and Mattel, on world-class productions such as Emmy, BAFTA and Annie Award-winning Hilda and Kid Cosmic; three-time Emmy Award and Annie Award-winner Rapunzel’s’ Tangled Adventure; two-time Emmy Award-nominated The Lion Guard; Emmy Award-winning heritage Mickey Mouse shorts as well as The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse series; Emmy and Annie Award-winning Jake & the Neverland Pirates; Emmy and Annie Award-winning Wander Over Yonder, Fish Hooks; Primetime Emmy Award-nominated Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil; Emmy Award-nominated If You Give a Mouse a Cookie; and Hot Wheels: The Origin of Awesome Movie.

Mercury Filmworks’ Original Series division has a number of projects in development both internally and with networks, including Tales of the Underwear Dragon based on Scott Rothman’s picture book Attack of the Underwear Dragon; Octicorn, based on the book Hello, My Name is Octicorn from debut authors Justin Lowe and Kevin Diller; Once Our Land, a fantasy/sci-fi animated feature based on the graphic novel by Peter Ricq; Atomic Puppet, a co-production with Technicolor and Gaumont Animation; and the Emmy Award-winning Toot & Puddle for National Geographic Kids.

Mercury Filmworks affiliates include Ottawa based live-action content producer Sungate Films and Kilkenny Ireland based Lighthouse Studios (Bob’s Burgers Movie, The Cuphead Show, El Deafo). 

For more information, please visit www.mercuryfilmworks.com