Iran’s popular animation show Roobi and Chicken has been running for the last 11 years. Developed by indigenous Tehran-based studio Gonbad Caboud Studios, the animated series is the brain-child of brothers Babak and Behnood, who first shot to fame for their short film Stripy, that competed at the Animation Show of Shows in 2015.
Now with the Annecy nomination, the Iranian brothers have another feather to their cap. Roobi and Chicken is going to the International Animation Film Festival in France that will commence on 11 June 2018. Its a silent slapstick cartoon series based on Iranian folktales but with a quirky twist.
It follows the story of a blue fox Roobi and a chicken named Rooster, who although share the same neighborhood, engage in daily conflicts and arguments while the latter tries to evade him from his farm by devising new strategies, only for each of them go down the drain eventually.
Clocking at around eight minutes per episode, the show has spawned over 100 episodes so far.
Roobi and Chicken generated a lot of buzz in Iran before garnering acclaim from the international shores too. Having picked up six awards in four different national film and television festivals, it was later recognised at the Anima Mundi in Brazil. But the Annecy nomination has to be the apotheosis of its success and popularity, and will compete in the TV series category in the competition later this week.
