Having released the most successful Ukrainian animated film The Stolen Princess last year, Animagrad is not ready to rest and continues actively working on diverse animated content. For this year, work is planned on Mavka. The Forest Song, Roksolana, Hrafn’s Academy, and The WhizzKids Club. What are the studio’s production plans for each film and series?
Mavka. The Forest Song animated feature. While the production is in active stage we continue developing and expanding Mavka’s Universe, and during this year will keep telling you about headline-making deals struck in licensing and merchandising. We’ll tell you about everything new on our plate as soon as it comes out with the help of our web resources.
Roksolana animated feature. This is a fairytale version of a meeting between Roksolana and Suleyman before they became that legendary couple. Our story will reveal the secret of power thanks to which everything happened and which is still admired the world over. As we have informed before, this animated film became one of the winners at the first pitching of patriotic film projects from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. Presently Roksolana is in the development stage. Now Animagrad is working on the project’s art including the creation of cartoon’s basic elements: art bible, lead characters, main locations, and general style. Preliminary year of completion for Roksolana is 2022.
In this way Animagrad is forming a conceptual line-up of animated features based on unique and strong female characters with historical, literary, and ethnical background. These characters are the protagonist of a popular faritytale poem, Kyiv princess Mila; Mavka – the Keeper and the Soul of the Forest from Fairy drama by Lesya Ukrainka The Forest Song and from Ukrainian mythology; sultan’s wife Roksolana – a real historical personality, a Ukrainian girl who ruled the Osman Empire together with her husband, sultan Suleyman II.
Hrafn’s Academy animated series. An absolutely new product in Animagrad line-up, the first animation for audience aged 16+. This is also the first animated series project of the studio predominantly designed for international audience. For the project’s development and promotion at international markets a partnership agreement was signed with GunHill animation studio (Iceland, part of Sagafilm) which released a box office hit Ploey. The genre of Hrafn’s Academy is a fascinating and original combination of science fiction, black comedy adventure. The series plot is centered on a prominent Icelandic biochemist and misanthrope who is terminally ill. The only chance he has is to find the cure himself, but his time is running out. The researcher opens an academy for gifted high school students in Ukraine even though in fact it is a lab where he tries out makeshift medications on children with high IQ. One season will consist of 12 episodes 22-26 minutes each. This year the project will be in the development stage and participate in international pitchings, forums, and conferences.
The WhizzKids Club animated series. A project of adventure and education series for elementary school students which, along with Roksolana, became one of the winners at the Ministry of Culture pitching held in summer 2018. The main characters of the animated series are a boy and a girl who experience incredible adventures and make amazing discoveries in geography, physics, biology, chemistry, and other sciences in the company of a wise professor and a robodog. In 2019 preparation for the first season production is scheduled; the season will consist of 26 episodes 6 minutes each. By the end of 2020 it is planned to create two seasons of this animated series designed to develop children’s natural interest in science and the world around them.
It is important to note that Animagrad is a part of FILM.UA Group and the biggest Ukrainian full-cycle animation studio producing animated features and series in 2D and 3D and also performing creative and technical tasks in animation production for partners and clients.
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