Pumping
high levels of energy into creating a string of original animated
titles, Mumbai based Animation Dimensions is thriving in abundance
with its arm full of original animation projects.
The
animation studio with its new acquisition of Kathaa Animations is
currently working on international as well as indigenous projects
which are entirely in- house endeavours. The international projects
include The Sea Prince, Bombay Dogs, Pammi and I,Messy Bessy
and Wacky Powers whereas the Indian titles are Once Upon a Time,
Adventures of Loin and Mona, Mighty Babies, Potbelly Narayana, The
Adventures of Crazy Singh, and the Legend of Kalari Kutty.
Sea
Prince is about a young lad, who goes in search of his destiny,
and finds that there is a whole new world out there waiting for
him. It is a story that has a deep philosophical context relating
to everyone who at least once in his/her life is faced with a question
that can change destinies.
Bombay
Dogs revolves around two dumb dogs that are at the right place
at the right time for all the wrong reasons. A slapstick comedy
adventure of an American Dog, called Hugs who is left behind in
Bombay and befriends a stray Dog named Shake after which the life
of both of them is never the same again.
Wacky
Powers is about a seven year old boy who wakes up every morning
to realize that he has got a super power, but unfortunately it is
very stupid like sneezing spaghetti out of his nose. The catch is
that he has to save his world with these 'wacky' powers.
Messy
Bessy is a pre-school series, which is a story about teaching manners
and etiquette's to children through the story of the Clutters and
the Manners family.
Pammi
and I is a story of a difficult five year old girl named Greesha,
who is always grounded for her pranks, thereby going into a fantasy
where the stuffed toy elephant Pammi corrects her mistakes in a
very non-preachy and friendly way.
Speaking
to AnimationXpress.com , Prakash Nambiar, Creative
Head at Animation Dimensions shared, "Currently Animation Dimensions
is focusing on creating original content, both for the International
and Indian market. We have four international IP's that we have
started work on, all in their pre-production stage. For the International
market we have four projects lined up. The focus is to cater to
all the genres - from preschool to matured audiences. These IP's
were pitched at MIPTV and has got an incredible response from potential
co-producers and distributors alike. For the Indian audiences, we
are currently working on five IP's, again crossing all genres."
"Further,
David Snyder, Director of Brandissimo and former Senior Vice President
of Walt Disney Television International, has joined us as a Creative
Advisor who will creatively supervise the development of all International
IP's. We are also producing a Bollywood film Aiyaiyyo Balle Balle,
which will have 20 minutes of animation in it," he added
In
Once Upon a Time, Rishi and Sona find a new friend in an
old lady who lives in a mystical jungle. She tells them stories
that impart education and moral values.
The
Adventures of Loin and Mona, as is evident from the name says
is about the adventures of the famous Loin and his beloved mistress,
Mona.
Potbelly
Narayan takes a look at modern India through the eyes of Narayan,
a common man with a sense of humor and a fantastic pair of dancing
feet. And yes, his potbelly is something to die for.
Adventures
of Crazy Singh are the chronicles of a taxi driver. Apparently
here all the crazy characters in Mumbai hire Crazy Singh's cab,
and that is where the ride begins
Legend
of Kalari Kutty is set in ancient Kerala. The legend of Kalari
Kutty has spread wide and far, of a little kid who no one has ever
seen except the glimpses by the thieves and dacoits he has captured.
Many
of the projects are in the pre-production and scripting stages while
some of them are still in the pilot stage. Most of the Indian IP's
are slated to release between September 2008 and December 2009 while
the international projects will begin hitting the stands from summer
2009.
Animation
Dimensions has over 300 artists spread across studios in Chennai,
Mumbai and Trivandrum.
Concluded
Prakash, "Animation Dimensions has in the past two years of
its existence, fortified its presence in the international arena
as one of the most formidable flash based animation studios in the
world. We will be beginning production on a Flash Animation film
commencing in December and three Flash animated series for Hollywood
studios in August. The outsourcing module has helped us in delivering
high quality global animation and we look at the outsource business
as a learning module while its core focus is development of Intellectual
Properties. All the IPs that we are creating have an international
flavor with an Indian heart (except Wacky Powers Messy Bessy which
are specifically targeting the North American market). One of the
major aspects that we are focusing on is to create unique stories
that are universal."
-
Esha Birnur
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