Hyderabad based Magic N Colors, is working on its in-house production “Blu and Mo”, a 26X11” HD TV series targeted at kids aged between 6-9 years. The show which is expected to be ready by Q2 2013 combines wickedly funny humor with a wild adventure story whilst simultaneously gently introducing important environmental issues to its young audience.
“Blu and Mo”, is written by Eminent Award winning Children’s writer, John Gatehouse,
a prolific writer having written multitudes of animation and puppet TV shows and episodes, books, Internet theatre plays, and comic strips and short stories.
The show will be released in English, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil languages and In SAARC Countries, ‘Blu and Mo’ will see its title change to ‘Billu Aur Munna’. ValuePoint Knowledgeworks is looking after the English Voice Cast for ‘Blu and Mo’ and Magic N Colors is currently working out on the studios for Hindi, Telugu and Tamil versions.
Great rigor and effort has been put into the research and development of the product and it is therefore not a surprise to see the kind of strong conviction that the studio has in the prospects of its show and it sure is planning to put its money where its mouth is.
Magic N Colors has great marketing plans lined up to promote Blu & Mo. The series will be showcased at MIPCOM Cannes, France in October this year. Magic N Colors is reaching out to event management companies for conducting various events for this series across all Tier 1 & Tier 2 cities in India. The events will start from last quarter of 2012 and will continue until 1st quarter of 2013. Also, Magic N Colors are planning to launch ‘Blu and Mo’ game for Android, Windows and Mac versions with the launch of the 1st episode of this series.
Speaking to AnimationXpress.com, Sanjay Kommera, Chairman and CEO, Magic N Colors, shared, “We had introduced Blu and Mo last year at MIPCOM but on a very small scale. This year, our focus is again on MIPCOM but on a larger scale.
We have taken space at MIPCOM this year where Blu and Mo would be the main attraction. We have a broadcaster (will be disclosed soon) associated with this TV series for distribution in SAARC countries and we are planning to push this product very aggressively into the international market with MIPCOM as the venue. We have started reaching out to global distributors who have shown interest in Blu and Mo. We will make announcements as we make progress.
This is one of those few television series where there is a “continuing” storyline within the self-contained episodes. Each episode will progress the actual story, but each adventure will be self-contained. The Animals of Farthing Wood (an award-winning – and utterly brilliant for its time – UK 1980s animated series) took a similar approach.”
Talking About the Concept
“The concept of ‘Blu and Mo’ was conceived 2 years ago with inspiration from wildlife conservation efforts of “The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust”. We wanted to develop a concept that is focused on nature and environment and that’s how Blu and Mo has evolved. My belief is, “Instead of working on ten concepts at the same time, work on one concept ten times”. We did the same and I feel the final concept has touched all aspects of entertainment, values and life. This series is an entertainment box with a message, like the films of Charlie Chaplin. We are not teaching kids explicitly but while watching they will realize social and environmental issues that we are highlighting. For developing ‘Blu and Mo’, We did intensive market research, spoke to many international producers and distributors, worked with the industry’s best script writer and hired people who are masters in this field.
Magic N Colors has used multiple mediums for animating ‘Blu and Mo’. Majority of the pilot movie of the series was executed in Flash whereas Toon Boon Harmony is chosen for episodic production of the series. Also, 3D is planned to be used for action, for props, vehicles and 3D camera movement. Over 100 artists are presently working on delivering Blu and Mo and Magic N Colors is planning to boost the artist count to 150 by end of this August to speed up the production of the series.
Elaborating more on the Research taken up for Blu and Mo, Sanjay highlighted, “As a concept, Blu and Mo demands tremendous amount of research as it involves travel through numerous countries and entire continents, we have collected many pictures and videos of the places where the adventures are taking place and are now replicating each and every object as they are seen in the real world. E.g. the great escape happens in the town of DRUMHELLER, which is the DINOSAUR CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. We are replicating this town as it is seen in the real world.”
Eminent, award winning Children’s writer, John Gatehouse has written this series.
John has written over 300 animation and puppet TV shows, more than 100 books, a few Internet theatre plays and thousands of comic strips and short stories. He has also written thousands of stories for in excess of 130 IP series which includes popular brands Inspector Gadget, Scooby-Doo, The Care Bears, Spider-Man, Barbie, My Little Pony, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Digimon, Pokemon, Sylvanian Families, Tom & Jerry, Sonic the Hedgehog, Casper the Friendly Ghost, He-Man, She-Ra, The Land Before Time, Winnie-the-Pooh, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Flintstones, Ace Ventura Pet Detective, Star Wars, Thomas the Tank Engine, The Mr Men, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Power Rangers, The Wombles, Bananas In Pyjamas, Powerpuff Girls, Garfield, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Defenders of the Earth, Sesame Street, James Bond Jr., Woody Woodpecker, Xena Warrior Princess, Postman Pat, Fireman Sam, Goosebumps, The Lion King.
Sharing thoughts on John writing the ‘Blu and Mo’ series, Sanjay, said, “When I was looking for story writers, I happened to get in touch with John and after sharing concept of the TV series with John, he immediately fell in love with it and agreed to work on the series. Elephants are his favorite animal! John is now writing the entire series and loving every moment. We have given him complete freedom with the stories and he is making the most of this golden opportunity.”
“Kids are sure to fall for the immense charms of loveable Blu & Mo. The series is set to become an international success story that will appeal to both the young and young-at-heart. As Bartholomew B. Bunion screamed after Blu & Mo had escaped his tatty old circus: “The Chase Is On!” Make sure that you are along for the ride. You won’t regret it!” John said.
Blu the Elephant and Mo the Monkey are stolen from their forest homes by greedy ringmaster Bartholomew B. Bunion and forced to perform in his circus. With the help of a Fairy-in-Training Mimi they escape, travelling the world trying to get home again, with Bunion and his circus troupe in hot pursuit! This story is composed with significant humor and some nail-biting moments with Mimi as her magic is less than perfect, and she has the habit of “mis-spelling”, casting out wrong bewitchments. She once magicked a grand piano instead of a rowing boat for the friends to sail on, which subsequently sank.
As they cross through numerous countries and entire continents, Blu, Mo and Mimi see wondrous sights, experience exciting new cultures and colorful customs, meet fascinating animals and pass through breathtaking eco-systems, many threatened with extinction or destruction. Rhinos, elephants and lions facing extinction due to poaching, the cruelty of animal circuses and bullfighting, deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest, pollution of the Great Barrier Reef, the melting polar ice caps. These are subjects that are lightly touched upon during some of the episodes of this series. But this show is not “issue”-heavy. First and foremost it is a laugh-out-loud thrilling adventure story infused with the warmth that exists between three special friends.
Informing more on the future plans of Magic N Colors, Sanjay, stated, “We are evaluating multiple in-house and co-production properties and will make announcements as we wrap them up. Apart from Blu and Mo, we are also co-producing Shaktimaan with Reliance Animation. Shaktimaan is another landmark production in setting standards in Indian animation production. Our vision is to develop or associate with the best productions in the country and in global market.”