Imagine Design, Thailand & Asia Animation, Malaysia developing 'Squatting Tiger'
Imagine Design, Thailand and Asia Animation, Malaysia is developing ‘Squatting Tiger’, a 3D Animation series. Currently 40 artists of Imagine Design are working on the series which is in the pre-production stage. They are looking to develop 52 episodes of 11 minutes each. The IP is shared by both the studios.
The studios are planning to complete the series by June 2012. They are primarily talking to broadcasters and are also looking at Mobisodes as well that will be 156 episodes of 3 minutes each. There is not much voice in the series but there is strong ambience and music. The target audience is up to 12 years and below. The studios are planning to start the production from April. Talks about merchandising and licensing are on and they are still negotiating.
Speaking to Animation Xpress Asia Pacific J. S Foo from Asia Animation shares, “The pre-production will be done by Imagine Design, Thailand together with the part of the animation whereas Asia Animation, Malaysia will do part of the animation and the post production. Currently we are doing characterization, rigging and even the story boarding”.
Both the companies have signed the MOU to co-produce this series in the SIPA organized Creative Collaboration 2011 held in March. They wanted a story that has got a human touch and wanted to tell the story which is good for the Asian people with Asian values. Reggie Lee, the Malaysian political satirist and cartoonist is the story writer of the series. He has done long comic strips and his comic strips appear three times every week in Malaysia.
The studios are using 3D animation, 3D rendering but are trying to make the series look like 2D. Foo adds, “This is a story which kids will enjoy watching and it’s very unconventional because the lead character is very different and he’s not the normal cute looking character. He is actually a little bit ugly and also is a Kung Fu expert. And he has got tremendous appeal through out the region and Asia which is our primary market”.
The total budget of the series is around Ringgit 10 million. Lak from Imagine Design asserts, “The government of both the countries is very supportive but in terms of funding we have to self fund most of the things on our own. But I think what’s important is that it’s a business venture and we have been in the production business since a while and both of us are friends so it’s all about mutual benefits”.
About partnering with each other Foo replies, “We like the work that Imagine Design has done. In fact, we saw the past work that they have done and also because we looked at the company and the stability of the company itself. The directors and share holders haven’t changed for the last ten years. So I think it gives a very good feeling about it”.