Coming soon: Pinoy cartoons for an international audience

MANILA, Philippines - Music is not the only field where Filipinos shine all over the world. Cartoon Network has its own Fil-Am star animator in Van Partible, the creator of its hit series, Johnny Bravo.

So impressed is Silas Hickey, the international company’s creative director for Asia Pacific Animation Development, he and Jennifer Doing, regional director for public relations are in town to “look for another Van.”

“Van is very good in all aspects of production,” observes Hickey. “He has an encyclopedic mind for ’70s music. His friend, Joe Barbera (the legendary American animator) helped Van create Johnny Bravo.”

Partible is not the only ace up Pinoy animators’ sleeves. Hickey sees a love for comedy that not only makes Filipinos one of the happiest in the world. It also makes them good sources of stories for a network forever looking for funny, original tales.

“A lot of submissions for Snaptoons (the network’s original talent search) came from the Philippines,” he relates. “They were really impressive. Some came from individual anime creators while others were from studios.”

Then there’s the country’s geographical edge. The Philippines is close to Hong Kong, where Cartoon Network’s office is located. This makes dealing with Filipino talents easier and more convenient.

But first, a couple of guidelines. Hickey and company won’t settle for the mundane and tried and tested.

“Our motto is ‘fun, funny and fearless.’ Even if you think no one would ever, ever, ever let you make this show, we want to see it.”

A good place to start in these stories for boys and girls aged six to 11 is comedy. It’s okay to be funny and silly, says Hickey. Junk the smart girl in glasses look or the odd couple formula where one partner is neat and the other messy.

You must put yourself in the kids’ shoes, he adds.

Hickey suggests going back in time and recalling your favorite show as an eight-year-old child.

And don’t give him situation-driven stories. Hickey and company are looking for strong characters like Johnny Bravo and the popular Ben 10, whose choices drive the story, episode after episode.

“Even the bad guys in the stories are cool because they’re jerks,” he points out.

He’s not just letting other people do the work. Hickey wants to scour bookstores for original Filipino characters and give them a modern personality.

Juan Tamad with a modern look? Ibong Adarna for today’s kids? Hickey is all ears.

He’s as excited about meeting makers of Filipino animated films and co-producing projects with them.

The aim is for Filipino-made projects that can be shown not only in Asia but in the US and Europe.

“I’m excited because it’s a first in the company’s history,” he points out. They can adopt today’s trend in 3D animation. Or they can have Filipino sub-titles.

Whatever it is, Hickey and company promise to stay attuned to cultural nuances and to be sensitive to other people’s feelings. Thus will they consult local talents every step of the way.

“We worked with Indian writers when we spoofed Mahabharata,” Hickey reveals. This way, no Hindu viewer shouted ‘ouch!’ when Krishna appeared more human than godlike on TV.

Silas Hickey and company hope the next big Cartoon Network character is Pinoy, and its creator even more so. At the rate Pinoy creativity is going, this historic day could just be around the corner.