Mercury Filmworks on the craft and magic behind Hilda

The animated series, Hilda, directed by Andy Coyle, follows the adventures of a fearless, blue-haired girl of the same name. She travels from a wilderness, filled with elves and giants, to a bustling city where she meets new friends and mysterious creatures. Based on the comic Hilda and the Troll, by Luke Pearson, the series is developed and animated by Mercury Filmworks, alongside Silvergate Media. 

Mercury Filmworks is an independent Canadian animation studio based in Ottawa, Canada. The studio produces animated features and TV series for Disney, Netflix, Warner Brothers and Nickelodeon, as well as their own original projects. 

After developing Hilda, Silvergate pitched the series until it found a home at Netflix. Work on the first season started in 2016, and it premiered in 2018. Hilda, which has since won a Daytime Emmy, Children’s BAFTA and Annie Award is now in production on its third (and final) season. We caught up with Megan Ferguson (assistant director), Jeff Bittle (storyboard supervisor) and Melissa Xu (storyboard artist), to learn more about the making of the series. 

How did Mercury Filmworks get started on Hilda?

Megan: I wasn’t on the project that early on. But basically Silvergate approached Mercury with a beautiful pitch document for the series and Andy came on board. Everyone really saw something in the project. When the animated demo was created and it was passed around to broadcasters; it took a while for it to find a home. No one wanted to change what it was.

When Netflix picked up the series it was a great match. They were on the same page, as far as wanting to push it further than where we started. 

What attracted each of you to joining the team for this series? 

Megan: I had read the Hilda the Troll comic, so when the project came to us I was already familiar with the concept. When I watched the first demo, it filled me with this sense of nostalgia. I was attracted to the folklore aspects of the series, which is very much part of my wheelhouse. But I was also attracted to the project because I knew working on it would be a great opportunity for me to grow individually as an artist, and for the studio to grow too. 

Jeff: When I had my first look at Hilda, I was right away drawn to how the characters are treated. They aren’t just generic cartoons. Each character is a thinking, feeling individual with a lot of depth to them. This, combined with how the series tells stories that are sincere and meaningful. 

Melissa: I remember seeing the first boards for Hilda, with their scratchy rough drawings. I was pulled right into the story. Seeing Hilda interact with her deerfox, and jumping across the rocks in a stream at the bottom of the waterfall, captured my imagination. And I was immediately invested in the series. The story, the characters, and the entire world of Hilda came together in those first storyboards already; creating an overall charm that’s rare and super-special. 

Over the course of three seasons and a movie, how has Hilda's team evolved, grown or changed?

Megan: Hilda is a very team-oriented production. There is a lot of interdepartmental collaboration, and no one person owns a single part of the production. Every member of the Hilda team is equally important. And I think that’s why we’ve been so successful. This collaborative workflow has helped us, through a joint effort, to really elevate the show. 

Hilda was the first show Mercury Filmworks worked on where we were responsible for the full production. So making the series was a learning curve. One thing I’ve noticed is that, over time, we’ve become really good at encouraging each other to not just make the series good, but to make it exceptional. I think this is all thanks to how supportive of each other everyone on Hilda is. And how we’re all so committed to the show. 

Jeff: Hilda is a challenging series to storyboard, because the stories we’re telling are so complex. And we approach boarding them very collaboratively. Even when we start with a good board, we continue to workshop it as a team to try to make it even better; as good as it possibly can be. 

I think this drive to make the show better and better helped everyone on the team to grow as individual artists. I’ve worked on plenty of productions where no one really asked me: "Hey, what are you getting out of this? What are you learning?" On Hilda, the development and progression of each individual artist has been part of the fabric of the production. We’re all coming out stronger as individual artists, and as a team as well. 

Melissa: Season 2 of Hilda was my first storyboard gig. I’d just graduated college and had mostly been working as an animator. I was super excited for Hilda, because storyboarding is what I’d always wanted to do. And I knew Hilda would be a great start because the level of quality required for the series was so high. Working on this series lit a fire under me to learn as fast as I could. The show requires so much creative massaging. It really requires the team to be tight and work as a unit. This created so many opportunities for me to learn from my colleagues. Hilda has definitely become a real launching point for my career in story, and I’m so grateful for that.

Could you tell us about Hilda’s animation style and how your team achieved that look? 

Megan: The end goal when animating Hilda is for it to appear drawn all by the same hand, and for the world of Hilda to look cohesive. We achieve this by making sure that the way our backgrounds are drawn and coloured is similar to how the characters are drawn and coloured. This helps to make it feel like the characters are firmly grounded in the show’s world. 

Aesthetically, we used specific colour palettes and approached the animation with minimalism to create a living, breathing world. Contrast is also very important in Hilda. Because the animation is so minimalist, we use contrast to direct the audience's view and focus. To achieve Hilda’s look we had to be very forward with our teams, because for a cohesive aesthetic everyone has to be on the exact same page.

How did the use of Storyboard Pro and Harmony support animating Hilda? 

Megan: Mercury Filmworks is a Toon Boom studio so it’s a natural choice for us to use both softwares. What we tried to do with Hilda is use the program in a way that, as artists, would give us room to create an effective workflow; without bogging it down with bells and whistles that we don't need. Harmony is capable of so much, but in some cases we purposely simplified a process.

For example, there are a lot of ways to approach lighting in Harmony. We wanted to have a lot of control over lighting, so we approached lighting as part of the posing process. We applied lighting to the rigs as a manual piece, and then the animators would pose out their rig, with the lighting on it. This helps make lighting more of an artistic choice that comes from art direction. 

We have a lot of amazing people who know how to use Harmony so well, they know they only need to use a few features. The gaps get filled in with creative ideas in pre-production and traditional methods. This combination of traditional methods and strategic choices in Harmony helps the show retain a drawn aesthetic.

Jeff: I still remember the days when everything was hand drawn on paper and panels; you’d send in your stuff and just wait to see what was done with it. But now, as a board artist using Storyboard Pro, I can fine tune everything as I go. I love the ability to craft fully rendered panels with effects, animated peg movements that I can time out, as well as creating character performances that sync with the audio. 

Storyboard Pro also makes it possible to edit in real time. We can make adjustments and try different things as we go. It’s so simple to just re-draw something that isn’t working. Having this control makes me feel more like a filmmaker and director, which is exciting. 

At Mercury Filmworks we’ve been using Storyboard Pro for many years. And yet we are still exploring the software and learning new things about it. I’ve been storyboarding for a long time, but I love working with new colleagues because I find they can bring so much fresh knowledge about Storyboard Pro.  I am constantly looking to learn new techniques from board artists of all levels and to keep adapting by learning from their methods.

Back in Season 2 for example, Melissa showed me how she’ll sometimes select specific linework of a drawing and tweak it slightly to create a nuanced movement. By manipulating the existing drawing, she was avoiding drawing a whole new one. I’d never seen this done before, and now I do it all the time!

In working on Hilda for three seasons, spanning several years, how have you come to feel about the series?  

Melissa: My connection to the series has definitely evolved. Over time I’ve felt more and more emotionally invested in the characters, to the point that I have opinions about all of them and the choices they make in the story. I’ve grown into a true fan of the show, which is really special. 

Megan: It’s going to be bittersweet when Hilda is wrapped because some of us have been on the series now for 7 years. I don’t think I’ve ever been so attached to a series or a team before. When we started out, I barely knew my colleagues, but now I have genuine friendships with all of them. Hilda has been a really beautiful space to build trust, experiment and grow. It’s truly changed the trajectory of my career. 

Jeff: Over time I’ve seen that this series in particular has something special that a lot of shows don’t have — it has magic. There’s just so much heart to Hilda, and a depth of character and story that you don’t see in every series. You can really feel this magic when you’re working on the show. 

What has been the most exciting part of making Hilda so far?

Melissa: The most exciting part of working on Hilda for me has been knowing that I have the freedom to try to flex my creative muscles. I’ve been able to just give things a try; that cool camera trick, that creative transition, and different camera angles. When I bring forward an idea, I’m never told no. This creative freedom has been so rewarding and has made Hilda such an exciting production to be part of. 

Megan: For me, the most exciting part has been knowing I can share my opinions and ideas with my team, who are always receptive and supportive. It’s also been super-rewarding to bring my life experiences into the scenes, which I think has made the show more emotionally resonative. I channeled into Hilda childhood feelings I remember; the bittersweetness of moving away from my childhood home, and the feeling of taking the ferry to Vancouver Island, with the wind in my hair. It’s really satisfying to watch the episodes and feel those feelings evoked. The show is all about childhood, and so in making the show, we get to pull from our own childhoods. 

Jeff: What has excited me the most about Hilda is the opportunity I’ve had to create something that is sincere, beautiful and worthwhile. I’ve learned to think more on a cinematic level and really push myself artistically because of the quality we are trying to achieve. Everyone has put so much care into the craft behind the series, and it inspires me to do better. I am constantly challenged by this series and I love that.  

How has reception of the series been, and what’s next for Hilda?

Melissa: The reception has been great. I’m actually in a few Hilda fan groups online. It’s really nice to see in those groups how much people appreciate Hilda, and how wholesome and passionate the fan base is. 

Megan: Season 3 is the final season of Hilda, and so we’re hoping to wrap the show up with a nice ending. None of us wanted Hilda to linger on longer than it needs to, because it’s such a sincere and genuine show. Although I’m sad that it’s wrapping up, I think there’s nothing wrong with letting it end. 

Jeff: Yes, I think Hilda is ending on a perfect note; which feels very satisfying. Not only as someone who works on it, but as a fan, I think everyone is going to love how season 3 wraps up.

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• Exploring for more insights behind Hilda's production? Be sure to watch our Animation Trends Event interview with Andy Coyle and Megan Ferguson.
• Interested in joining the team at Mercury Filmworks? Check the studio's recruitment page for a list of current openings.
• Excited to watch the series? Hilda is currently available to stream on Netflix.
• Ready to get started on your next animated project? Try Harmony and Storyboard Pro free for 21 days.