Supporting Filipino Animators

In theaters this December is an animated film entitled Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia. It is the first all-digital full-length Filipino animated feature film by Cutting Edge Productions, and a budget of no less than PhP 58 million was used in the film's production. Over 500 animators were involved in the project that combined 2D and 3D paperless animation. Two years in the making, the project cast some of the most respectable names in the entertainment industry: Michael V., Peque Gallaga, Noel Trinidad, Nova Villa and Johnny Delgado. It stars child star Nash Aguas as Buboy, a boy out to find his abducted grandparents in the land of Elementalia. Broadway superstar Lea Salonga sang the theme song of the movie, Lipad. Dayo was also given a grade of "A" by the Cinema Evaluation Board. Such a rating allowed the producers a 100% amusement tax rebate.

Despite the effort in marketing the movie to its intended young audience, the numerous sponsors involved in the movie, the endorsements from the CEB and the Department of Education (DepEd) the film did not do very well in the box office. To date, the film is seventh in rank among the eight entries in the Metro Manila Film festival. True, there are some flaws in the animation, but no one can deny the fact that the movie is worthy of praise and as such, is a breakthrough.

Animation in the Philippines has taken a stall, not because we lack animators, but because Filipinos do not take the effort to help out the industry. A couple of months back, another animated film released by APT Productions, Urduja, suffered the same fate. We have very good animators and artists, but will they forever serve foreign animation studios because their countrymen do not recognize their talents and support their works?

On the other hand, Korean animation is seeing a lot of support from viewers all over the world. The quality of their work now is comparable to major animation studios Disney, Warner Brothers, Pixar, Toei and Studio Ghibli. But just a couple of years ago, Japanese animation, or animé, was being outsourced to Korea because of the volume that the Japanese animators were getting. Soon, even the big American networks, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney, were turning to the Koreans. The Koreans learned from the experience and put up their own studios. Now, Korea is proud to have produced animated series like Jang Geum's Dream and I'm Sorry I Love You.

Philippine animation will never progress unless we help out the industry. Our animators will be forever slaves, and not masters, if we do not support this dying industry.