(PRWEB) March 22, 2006
Magic Cellar, a series of twenty (20) animated shorts is set to have its world premiere on the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC 2) on Saturday, March 25, 2006. A one hour nationally-televised special will launch the series. Over 300 under-privileged children will participate in the national launch.
Magic Cellar is Africa’s first 3D animated series. Beautifully produced entirely in Maya software, the series marks the first time Africa’s children will see themselves reflected in an animated series.
The series celebrates Africa’s culture and traditions while promoting reading as exciting and adventurous. The series is based on African folktales, partially collected from interviews conducted with elders in villages across South Africa. Each episode is broken up into three sections: a brief introduction and set-up; the African story; and a wrap-up with the lessens learnt. Each episode is a self-contained, animated short.
“We are very proud to bring to our young viewers Africa’s first 3D animated series, Magic Cellar, which tells African stories to Africa’s children. Each episode has a story to tell, with a lesson to learn. Our animated programmes attract a large audience and this African animated series will leave our viewers enchanted. It is also an achievement to broadcast the series in English, Sesotho, Afrikaans and isiZulu and we intend to eventually broadcast in all 11 official languages – another first for SABC 2!” says Bessie Tugwana, SABC 2’s General Manager.
Says Firdaus Kharas, Director and Executive producer from Ottawa, Canada: “It has been very fulfilling to work on the first 3D animated series that features a multi-cultural cast of characters, set to African voices and music and based on African stories. The implications for the culture of Africa are far-reaching. South Africa’s children will get to recognize themselves in the series and the world will get to enjoy Africa’s long history of story-telling. The results of two years of hard work are simply stunning and I expect the series to be a great success.”
Magic Cellar was commissioned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation and is a production of Chocolate Moose Media Inc. of Ottawa, Canada and Morula Pictures of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Further information may be obtained from the comprehensive web-site, http://www.magiccellar.tv, which will be operative on March 25.
For additional information and interviews please contact:
In Canada: Firdaus J. Kharas. Director and Executive Producer. Tel: (1)(613) 820-6121 Fax: (1)(613) 820-4679 e-mail: contact @ kharas.ca
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