Cartoon Network seeks Pinoy animators
BusinessWorld Online
14 March 2011
Not many people know that the creator of the widely popular cartoon Johnny Bravo is a Filipino-American animator named Efrem Giovanni "Van" Bravo Partible.
Mr. Partible created the character Johnny Bravo as part of his 1993 senior thesis animation project called Mess O’Blues for his Studio Arts degree at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.
After Hanna-Barbera Cartoons saw Mr. Partible’s project, they asked him to do a pitch for a seven-minute cartoon based on Mess O’Blues. He then shortened his project, leading to the creation of a character named Johnny Bravo -- a muscular guy with a James Dean pompadour and a voice like Elvis Presley.
Johnny Bravo was then featured as part of a new animation showcase called World Premiere Toons produced for cable channel Cartoon Network in 1995.
The popularity of the short animated feature led Cartoon Network to commission a full series. Johnny Bravo, the animated series, debuted on Cartoon Network in 1997, and was renewed for multiple seasons until it finally ended its official run in 2004.
Silas Hickey, Cartoon Network’s creative director for Asia-Pacific animation development told Manila-based reporters that he is on the lookout for the "next Van."
"We at Cartoon Network have always known about the talent that Filipino animators have. But instead of just letting them animate the characters that we already have, we have to find talented animators who can come up with compelling characters that we can feature on Cartoon Network," Mr. Hickey said in an interview.
Based on the report by the Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc., there are about 100 animation studios in the Philippines employing about 10,000 animators, producers, writers, and directors, among others.
The animation industry in the Philippines posted total revenues of $110 million in 2008, growing from $70 million in 2006.
Mr. Hickey said Cartoon Network has worked with various Philippine-based animation studios for a variety of projects. "But this is the first time in our company’s history that we are considering to work with Filipino animators to develop a new show that we can produce for airing not only in Cartoon Network Asia, but for our other markets as well, like Europe," he said.
He explained that Cartoon Network has already conducted a similar project with Indian animators with positive results.
"We worked with Indian writers when we spoofed the Indian legendary tale Mahabharata," he said.
Mr. Hickey said developing new characters as created by local talents is part of Cartoon Network’s strategy to remain relevant in the region. "We believe that it is important to come up with characters that our audiences can relate with," he explained.
Mr. Hickey said Cartoon Network has received a huge number of entries from the Philippines when they conducted their pioneering original content development initiative called Short New Asian Pacific Cartoons or SNAPtoons last year.
"The numerous entries from the Philippines have proven to us that there is so much talent here, that is why I went here to check [the Philippine animation industry] out myself," he said.
Mr. Hickey had meetings with various animation studios in the country during his five-day stay until last Saturday. He explained that he will meet with Cartoon Network Asia executives based in Hong Kong to discuss which Philippine-based animation studios made the first cut.
Once the new animated series is ready, it will debut on Cartoon Network, which is aired in over 166 countries in 26 languages across 27 separate feeds, reaching nearly 265 million homes worldwide.
"We are open to any idea. Even if you think no one would ever, ever, ever let you make your character into a new show, we would like to see it," Mr. Hickey said. "Who knows? We might have the next Johnny Bravo on our hands." - Jeffrey O. Valisno
After Hanna-Barbera Cartoons saw Mr. Partible’s project, they asked him to do a pitch for a seven-minute cartoon based on Mess O’Blues. He then shortened his project, leading to the creation of a character named Johnny Bravo -- a muscular guy with a James Dean pompadour and a voice like Elvis Presley.
Johnny Bravo was then featured as part of a new animation showcase called World Premiere Toons produced for cable channel Cartoon Network in 1995.
The popularity of the short animated feature led Cartoon Network to commission a full series. Johnny Bravo, the animated series, debuted on Cartoon Network in 1997, and was renewed for multiple seasons until it finally ended its official run in 2004.
LOOKING FOR TALENT
Impressed with the success of Johnny Bravo, and the talent of Mr. Partible, Cartoon Network executives visited the Philippines last week to scout for Pinoy animators, writers and producers who could help develop new projects for the cable channel.Silas Hickey, Cartoon Network’s creative director for Asia-Pacific animation development told Manila-based reporters that he is on the lookout for the "next Van."
"We at Cartoon Network have always known about the talent that Filipino animators have. But instead of just letting them animate the characters that we already have, we have to find talented animators who can come up with compelling characters that we can feature on Cartoon Network," Mr. Hickey said in an interview.
Based on the report by the Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc., there are about 100 animation studios in the Philippines employing about 10,000 animators, producers, writers, and directors, among others.
The animation industry in the Philippines posted total revenues of $110 million in 2008, growing from $70 million in 2006.
Mr. Hickey said Cartoon Network has worked with various Philippine-based animation studios for a variety of projects. "But this is the first time in our company’s history that we are considering to work with Filipino animators to develop a new show that we can produce for airing not only in Cartoon Network Asia, but for our other markets as well, like Europe," he said.
He explained that Cartoon Network has already conducted a similar project with Indian animators with positive results.
"We worked with Indian writers when we spoofed the Indian legendary tale Mahabharata," he said.
Mr. Hickey said developing new characters as created by local talents is part of Cartoon Network’s strategy to remain relevant in the region. "We believe that it is important to come up with characters that our audiences can relate with," he explained.
Mr. Hickey said Cartoon Network has received a huge number of entries from the Philippines when they conducted their pioneering original content development initiative called Short New Asian Pacific Cartoons or SNAPtoons last year.
"The numerous entries from the Philippines have proven to us that there is so much talent here, that is why I went here to check [the Philippine animation industry] out myself," he said.
Mr. Hickey had meetings with various animation studios in the country during his five-day stay until last Saturday. He explained that he will meet with Cartoon Network Asia executives based in Hong Kong to discuss which Philippine-based animation studios made the first cut.
A LONG PROCESS
He explained that the process of developing a new animated series will take "at least two years" from developing the characters, to the actual production.Once the new animated series is ready, it will debut on Cartoon Network, which is aired in over 166 countries in 26 languages across 27 separate feeds, reaching nearly 265 million homes worldwide.
"We are open to any idea. Even if you think no one would ever, ever, ever let you make your character into a new show, we would like to see it," Mr. Hickey said. "Who knows? We might have the next Johnny Bravo on our hands." - Jeffrey O. Valisno
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