The creators of Miikshi, wife-and-husband team Lindsay Lee and Justin T. Lee, were puppetry supervisor and director/producer on Thunderbirds: The Anniversary Episodes for ITV in the UK, collaborating with film industry veterans who'd worked on everything from James Bond and Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings.
Upon their return to Canada, they started Gazelle Automations and created the original Miikshi short films in the tiny back room of a pizza shop with a small, dedicated crew. (Yes, there was discounted pizza.)
An award-winning Miikshi short film, The Cosmic Potato, led to the creation of a 10-episode web series produced for TVOkids with Shaftesbury Kids, and with participation from the Independent Production Fund and Shaw Rocket Fund.
Puppets and sets were moved to a larger studio space to accommodate the bigger stories and action.
The series won the 2022 WIFT-Toronto Showcase award for Best Writing, the 2023 Kidscreen Award for Best Original Web/App Series and was nominated for the 2023 YMA Award for Best Program, Live Action (Preschool).
In 2023, a new series of Miikshi mini-movies began production in partnership with the University of Tokyo and its Muographic Liberal Arts Foundation to promote the emerging field of muography through Miikshi sci-fi stories.
Miikshi: Cosmic Rays and Miikshi: Cosmic Rays 2 premiered in April and September 2023 — Cosmic Rays 3 is slated for release November 2023!
"Miikshi" created by Gazelle Automations.
© Shaftesbury Sales Company, a division of Shaftesbury Inc. Used with permission.