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Mickey versus the Indian mouse

The popular cartoon character Mickey Mouse is in for a tough time ahead from a rival who is being delivered by a leading animation studios located in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Indian character is being created by the fledgling Toonz Animation India, in its animated film Who is the Greatest, based on one of the Panchatantra stories centring around a rat.

Toonz chief executive officer Bill Dennis said that the film would be ready within 20 weeks. Though the Toonz studio at the Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram became functional in August this year, its formal inauguration is slated for November 1.

Dennis said the focus of Toonz Animation India would be on development and production of original animated television series and feature films based on the rich treasury of Indian mythology, folklore and legends for international audiences. Indian stories, despite being rich and infused with moral values, did not get any consideration from the animators at all. "We are aiming at all mythologies and folklore which are popular in India," he added.

"So far we have been aping the western characters and stories because the entire creation happens in the west. Things should change now with the most modern facilities available here," he opined.

Dennis, who served 20 years at the Walt Disney studio, was vice-president of the studio's feature animation division until 1993. He then spent four years as president of FIL Cartoons, a subsidiary of Turner Broacasting in Manila. Before founding Toonz Animation, he was the CEO of RM/USL studios in Bombay and Singapore.

Dennis said preliminary work had already begun for the production of the second animation film The Clever Barber based on an Indian story. A few more stories popular in Kerala and India would be attempted one by one.

Pointing out that there was a dearth of good stories in the west for animation films, he said the strength of India in this field, which remained unexploited, was the presence of the Panchatantra and Jataka compendium of tales. But there was lack of technical quality in the animation field in India. Toonz Animation wanted to fill this vacuum, Dennis explained.

Asked if Toonz would do animation films based on the Indian classics such as Ramayana and the Mahabharatha, Dennis said it would be a difficult task because of the umpteen active characters in them. "But still, we are talking about it to see if anything is possible," he remarked.

He said with the launch of Toonz Animation, the Indian animation industry would have international production values and qualities.

UNI

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