Vancouver-produced animated series ‘Molly of Denali’ wins Peabody Award

ATHENS, Georgia – The children’s animated series “Molly of Denali,” produced by Vancouver’s Atomic Cartoons, has won a Peabody Award in the United States.

The Alaska-set PBS show, which has aired in CBC in Canada, won the George Foster Peabody Award in the children’s and youth category.

“Molly of Denali” is heralded as a rare children’s series featuring an Alaska Native lead character.

Washington-based Sovereign Bill voices the 10-year-old Indigenous protagonist, who helps her parents run the Denali Trading Post in the fictional Alaska village of Qyah.

A total of 30 programs were named in this year’s Peabody Awards, which honour “compelling and empowering stories” in the broadcasting world.

“Frontline” and “The Simpsons” received the Institutional Awards, which go to programs “that have made a significant impact on media programming and the cultural landscape.”

Cicely Tyson received the Peabody Career Achievement Award. All winners were chosen unanimously by a board of 19 jurors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2020.