Yeti Farm Creative partners with renowned chef for pre-school series

Kelowna-based animation studio, Yeti Farm Creative is partnering with renowned chef Pierre A. Lamielle for pre-school series Munchy, Munchy. The series will be based on Lamielle’s The Munchy Munchy Cookbook for Kids along with Alice Eats: A Wonderland Cookbook and Kitchen Scraps: A Humorous Illustrated Cookbook.

The series will have 12 episodes, one minute each exploring the cool, fun and quirky attributes of food and is set to make its debut at the Kidscreen Summit hosted in Miami, Florida, this February.

“I am very excited to partner with Yeti Farm on these digital shorts to bring to life the amazing cast of characters in the Munchy Munchy bunch,” Lamielle said in a press release.

The new series follows Yeti’s successful first original digital pre-school creation Sweet Tweets, which rose to popularity across various streaming platforms such as YouTube and Roku.

“Our goal is to constantly be thinking ahead and at the forefront of new and innovative ways to launch and leverage brands with digital audiences. We are so excited to be partnering with Pierre, who is a passionate culinary visionary and artist,” Yeti CEO Ashley Ramsay said.

Yeti Farm will be working with Daniel Ingram to create original songs for the series. Munchy Munchy has also been adapted for digital books and soon will be launched as a second series of short stories and songs for both digital platforms and linear broadcast.

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‘Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution’ coming to Netflix in February

Pokémon has been a forever charmer for over two decades and with the franchise growing strong with every passing day. Now, Netflix has announced a brand new feature film set in the Poké-world after acquiring the international rights (outside of Japan and Korea).

The global streaming powerhouse has unveiled the trailer of the latest Pokémon film, titled, Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution which is coming to Netflix in February 2020.

Though the last two films told new stories within a new timeline, Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution, is sort of a CGI remake with a few changes of Pokémon: The First Movie, which first came out in Japan in 1998 and tells the story of the creation of Mewtwo and his struggle to grapple with his own existence. The original movie is beautifully animated. The visuals in the latest film do not look as appealing, but has a smooth style reminiscent of Funko Pop.

Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution originally released in Japan and Korea in 2019 and will be making its wider international debut on 27 February on Netflix.

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HBO Max assents satirical animated comedy, ‘The Prince’ based on The Royal Family

The Royal family and limelight are synonymous to each other. With them making headlines even more after The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down from their royal duties, there’s going to be a satirical animated comedy series based on them.

Titled, The Prince, the series has been ordered by HBO Max from Family Guy and Will & Grace fame producer and screenwriter Gary Janetti, who has nearly one million followers on Instagram for the same, and has garnered international attention. 

The Prince is described as a sharp, satirical perspective of Prince George of Cambridge, the youngest heir to the British throne, as he looks at the trials and tribulations of being a royal child. Written and executive produced by Janetti, the series will follow a cartoon version of the six-year-old Prince, voiced by Janetti himself, spilling the royal“tea” on his family, followers and the British Monarchy.

HBO Max original content head Sarah Aubrey told Deadline, “We’re so excited to bring the world Janetti has created on Instagram over to HBO Max, where our viewers can discover what his Instagram fans already know – that George can be hilarious, shocking, and surprisingly sweet. We can’t wait to see what he does with a bigger canvas to paint on than just a 1:1 square.”

Source : Reader’s Digest

The Prince also features notable characters in George’s life such as his parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, his fourth-in-line-for-the-throne little sister Charlotte, his modern Aunt Meghan and Uncle Harry, his great-grandad Philip and of course, his ‘Gan Gan’, Queen Elizabeth II.

The makers have also roped in an excellent voice cast including – Orlando Bloom as Prince Harry, Condola Rashad as Meghan Markle, Lucy Punch as Kate Middleton, Tom Hollander as Prince Philip and Prince Charles, Alan Cumming as Owen, butler to George, Frances De La Tour as Queen Elizabeth and Iwan Rheon as Prince William.

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Patton Oswalt to voice Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. in animated series

Marvel and Hulu announced four adult animated series an year based on characters including Howard the Duck, M.O.D.O.K., Hit-Monkey, and Tigra and Dazzler. The full cast has been revealed for Marvel and Hulu’s upcoming M.O.D.O.K. television series, which will feature Patton Oswalt as the titular supervillain.

Patton Oswalt

the new castings include Aimee Garcia (Lucifer) as his internet blogger wife, Jodie’ Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) as their son, Lou, who’s described as a kid who marches to the beat of his own drum and is an apparent loner; and Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) as M.O.D.O.K.’s daughter, Melissa.

M.O.D.O.K. title serves as an acronym for Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. M.O.D.O.K. picks up with the titular supervillain falling into a midlife crisis after falling out with both his family and the evil organization A.I.M. Now, the murderous cyborg must reinvent himself in order to recapture the things he loves.

Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. is set to hit Hulu later this year.

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Menstrupedia’s audio visual comic is a boon to women and girls across the country

A husband-wife duo, Aditi Gupta and Tuhin Paul came up with an innovative way to spread awareness about menstruation a few years back. And now are bringing out an audio visual version of the comic Menstrupedia. The audio visual book version of Menstrupedia is very similar to the original comic. It focuses on the same subject of menstruation with different audio content for different frames. 

The comic is targeted at kids aged nine to 13 and revolves around the lives of three young girls Pinki, Mira, Jiya and Priya, a young doctor who educates these inquisitive minds. Menstrupedia provides practical guidance based on real life stories, is well researched and medically accurate and culturally sensitive. The comic is used by more than 7500 schools, 270 NGOs and 1.2 Million girls across India.

 

“The audio visual version will be helpful for those who cannot read or are unable to see and can be a great tool to teach students about menstruation in schools,” said Gupta.

Almost 88 per cent of women use unhygienic ways to manage their period cycles in India due to taboo around the subject of menstruation. “Even I got curious about using sanitary napkins after watching the advertisements on television, but was ashamed to go and purchase them from shops or medical stores,” mentioned Gupta in a TedX chat.

“I was oblivious about the inconvenience due to menstruation and the various beliefs and customs around it. Aditi followed many myths and restrictive customs around menstruation until she started her work on Menstrupedia,” Paul had mentioned in an interview with AnimationXpress earlier.

In this book, you learn about growing up and the various changes that we all go through. What are periods, how they happen and how to take care during periods. Gupta and Paul have together worked on illustrations for the audio visual comic and have also provided the audio.

Though society is changing, the cultural mindsets are still somewhat narrow. Initiatives like these are need of the hour and Menstrupedia definitely is helping girls and women across the country to not be ashamed of this natural phenomenon. The Instagram page of Menstrupedia posts many empowering and fun posts around menstruation regularly, trying to portray the issue as normal and natural amongst all.

With thousands of copies sold and many shipped to countries including Uruguay,  Philippines, US, UK and Australia, one copy of Menstrupedia also lies with the National Art Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

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‘Chhota Bheem’ new episodes to arrive on POGO this summer after a gap of three years

Chhota Bheem fans can rejoice, as the Dholakpur hero is all set to come back with new episodes on POGO, this summer, after a gap of three years. 

Since its inception in the Indian animation industry, Chhota Bheem has been a game changer with a humongous fan-following across the globe. More than 72 per cent of Indian kids are aware of the show and follow Chhota Bheem in his actions and values. 

Commenting on the new development, Green Gold Animation founder and CEO Rajiv Chilaka told Animation Xpress, “I am delighted to inform the loyal fans of Chhota Bheem that brand new episodes of Chhota Bheem will be back on POGO. It’s been three years since we have produced episodic content of Chhota Bheem in 2D and we all are very excited to be working again on India’s #1 Animated Character in its original avatar. About 52 episodes of Chhota Bheem will be produced in 2020 which means we are going to have a very busy year.”

After all these years, the graph of the ‘brand Bheem’ has only gone higher! It has grown from strength to strength giving birth to other successful IPs – Super Bheem, Mighty Little Bheem and the very recent musical Chhota Bheem in Jadooi Adventure live theatrical adaptation apart from the feature film Chhota Bheem: Kung Fu Dhamaka

All rights are reserved by Green Gold Animation

After the 2D version made its mark in the animation space, Green Gold Animation had explored many dimensions of the IP, and also forayed into 3D animation to make the character and the stories more appealing to the younger audience.

Well, we are now waiting to see what Chhota Bheem does new!

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The Jungle Book: Two visions, two creators, one story

We wonder if Rudyard Kipling ever imagined that his fantasy tale of a boy raised by wolves in the jungles of India would be told through various mediums. We wonder if Kipling as he was penning the story, ever thought that it would see the light of day on celluloid and be up for global consumption.

Jungle Book and Mowgli

Based on the famous Kipling story, The Jungle Book and Mowgli mixed real actors with computer-generated animals to tell this fantasy-adventure story.

Having inspired movies like Elephant Boy (1937), Rikki-tikki-tavi (1975), The White Seal (1975), Mowgli Brother (1976), Zoltan Korda’s Jungle Book (1942), Disney’s The Jungle Book (1967), Adventures of Mowgli (1967 to 1971), the 96- minuter feature film (1973) and the Japanese anime Jungle Book Shonen Mowgli (1989), Kipling’ Jungle Book has its made its mark as an absolute classic that stood the test of time and regaled generations.

Recent adaptations like Disney’s Jungle Book and Netflix’s Mowgli demonstrated how two seemingly analogous films can still vary in storytelling, tonality, CGI technology and the directorial approach.

While Favreau’s version was stylised as a family entertainer that was deliberately diluted to dovetail well with Kids’ viewing standards, Serkis’ Mowgli was a much darker retelling of the story that featured a more raw, violent and adult undertones in its treatment. As it were, turns out that was not the only difference!

Interestingly Andy Serkis’ Mowgli was in development before Disney’s The Jungle Book was even announced. But the Disney film was able to finish the production sooner.  We recently caught up with the senior creature animator Dhanu Muddikuppam who had co-incidentally worked for both the movies. While he served for a shorter amount of time for Serkis’ Mowgli, he played a prominent role in the making of Favreau’s The Jungle Book.

He shares, “Mainly I was there in Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book more than the Andy Serkis’ Mowgli. I was only involved in the beginning of the process for Mowgli.”

Elaborating on the difference in the approach of depicting the animals as in the popular performance capture technology in Mowgli vis-a-vis the more naturalistic portrayal in The Jungle Book, he shares, “It depends on the silent choice of the director you know.. Jon Favreau emphasised upon realistic performance. He wanted it as natural as real animals so when you do that you try to actually cut down the whole thing, you don’t want to push too much stylisation because then it becomes a bit cartoonish. When it’s real, it almost like ‘less is more kind of deal’. In Jungle book, we were trying to avoid so many accents deliberately that if you notice they’re not actually mouthing each and every line. We have tried to put realistic behaviour of animals and just added lip-synch to it. We did not go down the route of getting them to mouth each and every dialogue which you can see in other Jungle book versions.”

Highlighting the subtlety and importance of toning down and not completely replicating the facial expressions of the actors onto the animals, he reflects, “So if you see the Jungle Book they have even toned down the acting to even more minimum and not gone the documentary style like Lion King.”

Enlightening us about the process of previsualization in the preproduction stage, he shared, “But for both of them, they gave us a lot of references and starting points as what they were aiming for. Before the movie, they conducted experiments and tests as in animating a few creatures; with acting or sometimes without acting.. Naturalistic, realistic performances as to how a lion would behave or a tiger would do act. We did that in the Jungle Book basically, finding the right balance like what works well. The amount of acting that would suit rather than pushing it too much on the face. So finding the right balance and we kind of followed the same style for the entire movie.”

While they were seemingly identical films made by different studios, within two years of each other, there was a world of a difference in the twin films. There are balladeers and detractors for both styles yet these movies showed how extraordinary classics can be brought to life using modern technology and artistry.

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Studio of the Week | Studio Durga

Name : Studio Durga

About : We are the first Indian animation studio that creates anime, or 2D hand-drawn animation in the art-style of Japanese manga comics, wholly independent of foreign collaboration. We believe in telling powerful stories through the medium of animation, and design original entertainment that can be enjoyed by teens and young adults.

Location : New Delhi

Projects : Karmachakra: Episode Zero, an 80-minute film is our debut project under this freshly-formed studio, expected to finish production in mid-2020.

1. What are the current trends you’re seeing in the Indian Animation space?

As the cultural materialists would say, artists and their art cannot happen if they do not have a stable and abundant financial background. In today’s world market however, economic strata has more to do with the league of university you end up going to rather than the brand value of the company you are likely to work for. In other words, not only is there a disparity between your qualifications and your acceptance in a certain firm, largely dependent on the job market, but also a widely observable break between your institution of training and your actual skills, largely dependent on yourself. So in the world of free information, there are many ways to subvert the system, some of which can, in a freak chance, prove to be eventually profitable.

Within this market, India has two distinct spaces. When it comes to animation, there is the corporate framework that primarily churns out kids’ content, either for the Indian audience or for foreign companies. That’s the money-raker, even in markets where there is a sufficiently developed parallel non-kids market, such as Japan’s. Alongside, there are independent small-businesses like ours, and there are quite a few, who are putting Indian animation on the world map in a way different than the corporates by taking the pains to showcase a broader and more evolved original animated product, which may or may not eventually be of interest for the buyers/distributors to license or promote, and largely depends on when (and if) they aware of its potential and foresee its commercial viability. Both the art style and variety of stories within Japanese anime have a wide appeal in the Indian animation fan base, which includes us, and so we decided to go for the same.

2. What are the challenges in this ecosystem?

There is a certain break between what we’ve grown up to admire about foreign entertainment and how most of us (are widely conditioned to) conduct ourselves in the Indian creatives industry. Broadly speaking, the socio-economic movements of say the US, UK or Japan, are both chronologically and essentially different from those in India’s history. So both the Indian market and the (nascent) ecosystem work differently for people trying to pursue creatives in a fashion other than the style of mainstream media, and more so when the work contains a certain level of integrity in terms of global aesthetic trends or emotional maturity. Simply put, there is an alienation that is felt by many creators similar to us, many of whom hope to escape it by altogether abandoning the thought of working in India and for the Indian audience. Then again, it’s the age of the internet and of a radically aware and up-to-date global audience, including Indians. It would be a waste to not leverage this phenomenon, and it’s one of the reasons why we went social although the project isn’t funded yet.

We’ve found it extremely difficult to find people with the specific skills for this project, mostly due to the lack of inclination or need to flex the muscle given the nearly non-existent scope for 2D hand-drawn animation within India for people who want to make a livelihood out of it. Besides, our product was rejected by Indian agents/aggregators (we couldn’t contact the platforms directly) who sell to every major broadcasting/OTT platform, for fear that it will be a financial failure with the Indian audience because it does not contain titillation, graphic violence, oversimplified plots and other massy elements, although they were thrilled with the quality of the product and praised us for following international benchmarks in animation. Apart from humongous production efforts that all of us at the studio share, also being the producer who has invested money in the production of this movie (I don’t like when anybody works free for me) since day 1 more than two years ago, and not having made a single penny from it till date, I have realized well that there is no other way this could have been done. Pre-destination and free will have become two sides of the same coin, and so ‘motivation’ has proved to hold little significance to me.

3. What’s one message you’d like to share with the aspiring enthusiasts?

Don’t wait for things to change, and don’t compromise or settle for less. If it’s anime or manga you want to eventually make, refine your skills towards that direction, instead of getting stuck with something you are not really into. The ‘odd-jobs phase’ is important for you to understand how the market runs and realize the value of money within it, but it shouldn’t be the arbiter of your entire career. It’s not necessary for everybody to take the path of most resistance that we have taken and create content like this within India, there is a lot of scope abroad, so if you feel you will blossom and flourish better, go ahead and do that. Almost every creative product out there has taken years of dedication and hard work on part of the creators to make it what it is, and an unbelievably long process to bring it to you. Respect that journey, and continue to try and fail, because it’s really all you can do. Don’t compete with others, compete with yourself. Build momentum.

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In memoriam: Arnab Chaudhuri

It has been almost a month since the unfortunate demise of industry veteran Arnab Chaudhuri.

While there was an immediate sense of shock and sadness throughout the industry, soon people from across the world started sharing their condolences while reminiscing the good times that they have spent working or collaborating with the Arjun director and how he inspired so many of them.

In a mail to the director’s family, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra mentioned, “I remember Arnab so clearly. I remember everything about that film, because it meant so much to me get it right. And getting it right he did.”

The aforementioned film was a live action documentary piece for MRV – the Mahindra Research Valley, on which Chaudhuri had worked.

The chairman further adds, “I mourn Arnab’s passing all the more because he was a part of India’s creative fraternity. One is left with a feeling of real sadness at what the world has missed with his premature passing and what he could yet have accomplished, had he been granted a few years more.”

Arnab Chaudhuri speaking at Kochi Design Week, 2019

As we had mentioned earlier, his most notable contribution to the Indian animation industry was Arjun: The Warrior Prince. Alongside Ronnie Screwvala’s UTV, Arnab Chaudhuri directed one of the most iconic animated feature films from India.

Says Ronnie Screwvala, “Arnab and I go back over a decade to when he was contemplating moving back to India from Hong Kong to pursue his dream in animation and movie making. Arjun is his legacy to the highest level of quality animation and story telling coming out of India and have only fond memories when we worked together. His talent, attitude and creativity was unique and he will be missed by all.”

The film was released in 2012 as a Disney film since Disney had acquired UTV. The same year, Arjun: The Warrior Prince earned a Best Feature Film nominations at numerous prestigious international animation festivals. From Annecy to Holland International and Ottawa International, the list was long. In India too, it had brilliant reviews even though, it ran for a limited time.

But what actually put the stamp of excellence on the feature was that – Walt Disney, U.S submitted five films that year for the Oscars and Arjun: The Warrior Prince was one of them. Putting up an animated feature which was acquired and not created by Walt Disney or Pixar, the companies which create some of the best animation in the world, is a clear indicator that Disney considered Chaudhuri’s film as a potential Oscar winner, and it was in the long list.  What is interesting is that it wasn’t an India submission, but the Walt Disney Worldwide submission.

The company screened the film at the prestigious El Capitain Theatre, released ads in LA Times and hugely backed it. In fact, the critic blogs at that time were truly appreciating it. Even Jerry Beck, the famous animation historian, wrote about it of being “a worthy possibility for nomination.” However, it was unfortunate that it had to be taken out of the short list running owing to a technical reason just a week before the shortlisted films were announced.

Right after that, John Lasseter of Pixar Studios, invited Chaudhuri to showcase the film at Pixar Studios in the U.S.A and even presented him with a small memento in the form of the film’s disc, thanking him for making the film. This was the first time that an Indian animated feature was being showcased at the Pixar Studios, in fact there has been none since then either.

Apart from his stint around Arjun: The Warrior Prince, Chaudhuri has been instrumental in other roles across brands.

At Turner, he held the position of senior creative for South Asia – Cartoon Network and Pogo. He helped create Turner’s first pre-school block in the region, Tiny TV, which was an instant hit.  Then, in late 2003, the team was apparently given 90 days to create and launch a totally new kids channel for India which required them to find a name and create an identity from the ground up.  The result was Pogo, which launched on 1 January, 2004.

Orion Ross was then the regional creative director for Turner Entertainment Networks Asia Pacific. He shares, “Arnab mocked up a logo animation early in the process to show everyone how it would work—nobody in management really understood the name until they saw it, but afterwards they were totally convinced.  Arnab directed a live action shoot to create the launch promos and channel branding, with real kids shouting, bouncing, flying and being covered in paint.  They loved every minute of it, because Arnab treated them all like his family and brought so much love to the set.  I think we won 17 Promax awards year.”

A still from ‘Marinate You’

Chaudhuri wrote and directed a menacing Tom and Jerry spot called Marinate You inspired by Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, which was performed by Channel [V]’s deep-voiced former creative director Rob Middleton. According to Ross, Chaudhuri brought his NID training, and his NID network, into play for Pogo’s new arts program M.A.D. (Music Art Dance).  He infused the show with his usual mix of attention to detail, a passion for excellence in design and execution, and irreverent counter-cultural comedy.  He was also at the heart of development for Turner’s co-production with Sesame Workshop, Galli Galli Sim Sim.

Says Ross, “Throughout his career working in children’s media, he never dumbed down his work or shied away from sophistication; if anything he was driven by a responsibility to make things extra special to engage, delight and inspire a young audience.”

Ross, who is now VP of original programming animation, media networks Europe and Africa, The Walt Disney Company further adds, “Arnab was a brave, boundary-pushing creative explorer who tackled every brief with heart, soul and wit—and a drive to always make something both fresh and excellent.  He made friends with everyone, learned from everyone, respected everyone—and then pushed everyone to do something better than they’d ever done before. I missed him when he left Turner to move back to India and direct Arjun—but I always knew he was on his way to bigger things and was incredibly happy he had this opportunity.  I remain profoundly grateful for the time we had working together, and for everything he taught me. Arnab remained a dear friend to the end and I am utterly bereft by his sudden passing.  He had so much more to give.”

During his time at Channel [V], as everywhere, he made a position for himself.

Famed actor Vinay Pathak had the opportunity to work with him during his time at the channel. Shares he, “Arnab Chaudhuri, my friend, buddy, and an ex colleague (at channel V) , was someone that I always aspired to be like. One very seldom comes across a creative mind like his. He was the head of promos when I joined channel V, and the impressions he’s made on me , are still intact and going to last forever. He was a true artist. Immensely talented , great visionary and a ‘Real Genius’. Genius is not a term I use loosely, but for Arnab, Genius is where the adjectives commence with for him. He had a gift of simplifying anything complex, and most creations are complicated. He’d indulge in anything that required improvement and would make it seem so easy, like a Gene Kelly’s uber machismo and that dancing grace.”

A shot from “Arjun:The Warrior Prince”

Even when he decided to part ways with Channel [V], the team rallied in support of his future endeavours. In a note to the internal team, then Channel V creative head APAC Rob Middleton said, “Arnab has made more than this mark here, he’s the epitome of everything that’s good about us. His incredible prolific ability…. constantly churning out the best in himself and all those around him is the stuff of legend. His belief in what we do and our reason for being inspired more than those working directly for him. I have seen depressed, down-beaten, ulcer-ridden salesmen come out of his office with a look on their faces normally reserved for television evangelists. When there was a problem, he beat away the drunken swine of finger pointers with a ‘how can I help?’ at once sobering them up and getting them to work together for the greater good. If he put his mind to it, I’m sure he could be leading the free world in a matter of months. He taught me a lot more than I could ever teach him about the idea of a team.”

Pathak concludes, “Arnab was a magician who could do/fix/create anything, but he never acknowledged that in his own polite, unassuming way. He didn’t know how to take a compliment. That’s the first thing I learned from him, because it was not a deficiency in his case, it was his elegance. I’ve always been in awe of my friend Arnab, and till date I remain so. He’s left us very soon, too too soon. It’s truly a huge loss, personal, and (let me tell ye) social. He was a true liberal, and how we need him now, and always.”

Apart from his career being a stellar one, Chaudhuri undoubtedly inspired a lot of individuals throughout his journey. According to one of his juniors at NID, after Chaudhuri had completed the course and would come visit the campus for some presentations, the entire college would know that he had come. In the message the junior says, “He was among those legendary super seniors who could start a party around him in 15 minutes!”

Another individual who was his junior at NID and had worked with him post that shared, “All of us who worked with him or within the creative platforms he put together, I think have variations of the same sense of having experienced something that left holding points for being irreverently serene with what happens. And not allow squalor or sloppiness in the application of self. He was way, way up there as an example, interacting with him however didn’t require a pedestal.”

All that said, the industry indeed has lost a true legend. Going by the testimonies of people he had worked with, irrespective of the time frame, Arnab Chaudhuri left an everlasting, somewhat surreal, yet a very real impression.

Of creativity and professional splendour, the demise of Arnab Chaudhuri will definitely leave a void in the Indian industry, but we hope his legacy continues to live!

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Animation studio Xilam acquires 50.1 per cent of Cube Creative

French animation house Xilam has finalised its acquisition of 50.1 per cent of the capital and voting rights in Cube Creative, a French CG and 3D animation studio. The acquisition will be consolidated in Xilam’s accounts as of 20 January 2020.

By joining forces with Xilam, Cube Creative will benefit from the strength of Xilam’s sales in France and abroad and privileged relationship with major digital platforms, as well as the company’s know-how in the realm of digitalisation, its resources and its editorial expertise.

Founded in 1999 by Marc du Pontavice, Xilam owns a catalogue of more than 2,000 animated series episodes and four feature films, including such brands as Oggy & the Cockroaches, Zig & Sharko, The Daltons, its first preschool series, Paprika and animated feature I Lost My Body.

Cube Creative has successfully developed proprietary productions, including the Athleticus series (broadcast on Arte), Kaeloo (on Canal+, Teletoon+, C8), and Tangranimo (underway for France télévisions), as well as Pfffirates (underway for TF1). The company also has a variety of high-quality projects in development.

Xilam will secure a singular team of talents with expertise in these cutting-edge technologies and a will be a strong brand that is well-established in the market. The merger allows Xilam to continue accelerate its delivery of animation programming and to expand further in the medium term.

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