Indonesia's animation industry growing steadily

Indonesia's animation industry growing steadily

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian animation industry is still in an infant stage,
but this year it has taken its first baby steps with the
screening of Janus, Prajurit Terakhir (Janus, The Last Warrior),
a combination of 3-D animation and live action.

Janus's flop in movie theaters last June, though, should not
deter other movie makers in exploring this new medium, instead it
should become a case study for future animators about the
importance of the right balance of form and content in animated
movie making.

"The biggest problem with Janus, is that the filmmakers seemed
so exhausted from the efforts required to put together all the
animation that they neglected other important issues," The
Jakarta Post's movie columnist Joko Anwar once wrote about the
movie.

These "other important issues" he meant included a mature
storyline and rounded characterization. Great form -- technique
and execution -- without a strong story will only make the film
hollow, on the other hand, a great story executed poorly will
impede clarity of expression and make a poor movie.

Industry veteran W. Paterson Ferns, from Canada's Banff
Television Foundation, once said that an animation should work
for audiences, not for the animators themselves.

Unfortunately, not many Indonesian animators seem to be aware
of this.

"Our animators are excellent in technique, but they lack
depth. They have little knowledge of social conditions, history
or culture," noted cartoonist and animator Dwi Koendoro said.

Or perhaps they are aware of such things, but for many reasons
do not employ other experts and resources to share complement
their work.

Dwi likened the animators' tendency to "go it alone" to the
break up of major political parties that create small offshoots
at the whim of egotistical individuals. "Which is why I am
impressed with America, they are capable of bringing together
different elements (to create a movie)," he said.

Nevertheless, any start is better than no start at all, and
despite everything, Indonesians are for the first time put in the
spotlight instead of working behind the scenes of animated
movies.

Indeed, Indonesian animators are well known for their work as
"inbetweeners" -- artists who fill in the action between key
drawings.

PT Asiana Wang Animation was the inbetweener for well known
animation films such as Doraemon, Sailor Moon and Johnny Quest.
And Indonesia's Castle Animation is the creative artist behind
Spain's primary-school edutainment series The Adventures of
Carlos Caterpillar.

Indonesian animators, with their short films, are also no
stranger to international accolades. Dementia Animation's Robie,
Quest of the Bracelet, for example, won third place at the Asia
Animation Super Pitch 2002 held in Singapore. It also
participated in the Taiwan International Animation Festival this
year with No Plan No Gain!. The company's executive producer,
Deswara Aulia, was invited to speak at this year's Animation
Super Pitch conference.

Meanwhile, local animation production and distribution are
also growing, including Red Rocket Animation's Dongeng untuk Aku
dan Kau (Stories for Me and You) for private TV station RCTI, and
Penangkaran Bening Studio's animated local legends such as Keong
Mas (Golden Snail), Calon Arang, and Cindelaras distributed on
VCD.

Riding the coattails of a growing advertising industry,
Indonesian animation has come a long way since the first animated
cartoon Si Huma in the 1980s.

The entrance of private television stations in the 1990s
followed by demand for state-of-the-art TV commercials helped
spur the country's animation industry.

Indonesian artists of all types can also thank all those who
helped topple Soeharto in 1998 for the kind of freedom they enjoy
today.

"Reformasi has been a good thing, it allows us some freedom to
grow, to move. It allows wider room for cultural expression," Dwi
said.

In a way, software piracy has also helped the growth of this
industry in Indonesia. Cheap, pirated versions of animation
software ensured that they are readily accessible to university
students and individual enthusiasts, who make up the bulk of new
generation Indonesian animators today.

Studio Kasat Mata, whose members are mainly students from
Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, started off doing shorts
from their campus computers.

"We used to sneak in at night when the computers weren't in
use," Kelik Wicaksono from Studio Kasat Mata said. On the down
side, because of the use of dubious software, the VCD of the
studio's one-hour animation Loud Me Loud was banned in Singapore.

But thanks to Yayasan Kelompok Kerja Visi Anak Bangsa (YKKVAB)
they are now putting the final touches on their, and Indonesia's,
first fully animated 3-D feature length movie Homeland, scheduled
for release at the end of January.

"Indonesia's creative talent has been able to produce more
than 1,500 independent creations within one year. It's
incredible, but they all still suffer a crisis in production
funding that has held them back," YKKVAB's director Garin Nugroho
said. The foundation has provided Rp 150 million (about
US$17,657) as part of its annual Visi Anak Bangsa Award.

With help in cinematography from director Garin Nugroho, pop
culture workshops with Bre Redana and Rizal Mantovani, and on
scriptwriting with Ada Apa dengan Cinta?'s (What's Up with Love?)
Jujur Prananto, Homeland looks to be a more promising production.

It is exactly this kind of collaboration that is lacking in
the otherwise promising animation industry. That and support from
television stations, that are more likely to purchase low-cost
bulk animation films from Japan than pay higher for the products
of struggling local animators.

All this will hopefully change in the next few years,
particularly with the Indonesian Animation Film Festival (FFAI)
giving more exposure to local animators' work.

The festival, organized for the second time this year since
2001, showcased 50 animation works from across Indonesia, as well
as screening international creations from Germany, the U.K.,
Canada, the Netherlands, Mexico and Switzerland.

"It's a good opportunity for our animators to study the work
of animators from other countries. A chance to observe and
learn," Dwi said.