Indian by Design

The 88-minute film,which released in September in the US,ran for 12 weeks grossing over $ 9.5 million in the opening weekend. “This is just the first project from the three-film deal signed between Lionsgate and Crest,” adds Madhavan. The English animation which releases in India this week,portrays the love affair between a pair of Alpha female and Omega male wolves. The story follows their adventures in the Canadian Rockies,eventually being captured by humans and shipped off to a national park in far-away Idaho.

In the summer of 2007,a team of animators from Crest,were engaged in discussions with director Anthony Bell and Ben Gluck at their Los Angeles studio,about evolving the look of the animals. For reference,they glanced through images of landscapes of Jasper Park in the Canadian Rockies and few other National Parks in Idaho. While the pre-production work was finalised in Los Angeles,actual designs were done in Mumbai. The team built clay models of the animals using Computer-generated imagery and infused life in them with dubbing and voice-overs. After building,compositing and lighting the models,they were flown across to the Los Angeles crew. “When we were signed by Liongate,people were skeptical whether we would be able to pull off the assignment since this was our first 3D animated film,” says Madhavan,who in the past has made short animated DVD productions for the US market.

The Mumbai studio came into limelight after producing an animated TV mini-series,Jakers ,in 2003 for the US market. “This received BAFTA and Emmy Awards,opening the doors for Hollywood,” says Madhavan. The studio has already begun work on its second project,Norm of the North,the story of a polar bear who enters New York City. They have plans for an Indian market too. “It is a coming-of-age story about a father who wants his son to be successful in life.”