The Hindu Business Line : Toon in!

Do toons work in India? That's always been a chancy proposition, and for each animation (for kids; we don't have too much in the adult animation genre yet) or cartoon movie that's done well, five have bitten the dust.

But one film's performance may change all that. Hanuman, all about the doings of the monkey god, raised the bar for box-office collections, by raking in a record Rs 7 crore.

The movie is a classic sleeper success. Audiences built up slowly, and then stayed rock steady. Many factors worked in the movie's favour.

Top of the list was the depiction of Hanuman's birth and childhood, which charmed the little ones. A great scene has the young monkey god flying off to grab the sun, because he thinks it looks a great fruit to gobble! It was, unlike other Indian animation shorts, the kind Doordarshan is still inundated with, and was light-hearted and fun.

It was also, and this was the real surprise, far more sophisticated in its animation. The figures — Hanuman, Ram, Sita, Lakshman, Raavan, and the other monkeys and asurs were alive, and expressive. They talked to us.

A sequel is in the offing. Mahesh Ramanathan, COO of Percept Picture Co, co-producer on the movies, says that its budget will be nearly double that of the first.

Hanuman was made at Rs 6 crore; this one will cost anything between Rs 9 crore and Rs 12 crore. It will have, he says, for the first time in India, 2D characters in a 3D background, just like in the Shrek movies.

That's why the story of the jolly green ogre and his companions has depth, and emotions, which are real, and that's what the sequel will have.

Clearly, the future of Indian animation is bright. "We are very keen," says Ramanathan, "to pioneer our own brand of animation and cartooning. It's time we moved away from the BPO model which keeps feeding technicians and creative people to the west, and move into the creation of our own style and content."

There is no doubt that Indian audiences are eager for quality products with cultural references, which are our own.

And what better subjects and heroes than those in the vast reaches of Indian mythology?

The major disconnect

Ice Age

The disconnect between recent Hollywood animation products and our audiences was evident in last week's release Ice Age 2. The sequel to the original features the same animals, but this time around the ice is melting, and the trio of the woolly mammoth, sloth and sabre-toothed tiger is fleeing, like the other pre-historic animals, to safety.

The technical expertise on display is superb, and some of the action is slick, but overall, the film suffers from sequelitis: it is neither different enough, nor fun enough. For a movie of its kind, it is too word heavy and some of the humour is much too adult.

Who is the movie aimed at? In trying to please the little ones, the natural target of all toons, and the slightly older ones, and of course the ones that will be dragged into the theatres with them, the film is stretched in ways that make it inaccessible to the very young, and not particularly appealing to the others.

This problem has been plaguing Hollywood toons/kiddie animation for a while now. While old-timer Disney is busy trying to re-invent itself, and brash newbies like Pixar equally busy taking-over, creative directors and fund managers are scrambling to find a fresh voice, and to keep the spirit of the genre intact in the desperate search for novelty.

The `mixed' Indian market

As a market, India is seriously mixed. Because of its large base of English-speakers, movies can happily play in the original as well as, in recent years, language versions. But by and large, Indian audiences ascribe to the world-wide view that characters have to be `cute' and `lovable', and that they have to be able to tell a universal story: we are all a little in love with our favourite toons.

Just being smart-mouthed and glib doesn't cut it.

Of late, just the right mix of story-telling skills and `cuteness' (the polar opposite of `cutesy') has gone missing from Hollywood productions. Except perhaps for the Toy Story movies and Finding Nemo, and to a lesser extent, Madagascar, toon features haven't really found viewers.

The Incredibles, despite its superhero dad, mom and kids, wasn't a big success. Even the Hindi version, with Shah Rukh Khan's much-publicised voicing, didn't do well. Chicken Little, the story of a chicken who fears that the sky will fall on its head and saves the world, like a good American hero, wasn't a big grosser either.

Gone are the days when a Lion King could guarantee a steady run. Even such films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Antz, though very different in themes, were crowd-pullers because they were intelligent and well-made, if oriented more towards the young adult. Movies like Ice Age try and coast on a false peppiness, and lots of back-chat, without having much to say.

Hanuman has broken through the barrier. Even those people who would normally not be caught dead near a home-grown cartoon were dragged off by their kids: the target audience — the tots — were a satisfied lot. Ramanathan attributes its success to timing, marketing and promotion. As well as to the character of Baby Hanuman, "a USP which worked". The movie also built up revenue with its merchandise (key chains, pencil sharpeners and so on) to the tune of Rs 1.5 crore.

The sequel is due in Diwali 2007, and doubtless, it will be as relevant in this, the Age of Kaliyug. Hanuman rocks.

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