'Studio D' set to be big hit for Asian kids

'Studio D' set to be big hit for Asian kids

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Singapore

The name "Disney" guarantees fun, so when invited backstage to a
Disney studio you would not expect anything less than a day of
fun and games in a colorful, cartoony setting.

That was exactly the fare for a group of journalists from
Singapore, Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia --
including The Jakarta Post -- last week on a backstage preview of
its upcoming show Studio D in Singapore.

"It's the name of the show as well as the name of the studio
where it is produced in," Marketing Director of the Asia Pacific
division of Walt Disney Television International, Hema Govindan,
said, explaining that the "D" stood for "Disney", of course.

Studio D is an interactive hosted TV show designed to
jumpstart the weekend for seven to 12-year-olds in Brunei,
Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.

The show is scheduled for two hours every Saturday and Sunday
at 8 a.m. in Indonesia, beginning on July 5, 2003. For the first
month the show will run for three hours.

When the journalists -- no longer so young themselves but fun-
loving all the same -- visited the studio last week, the hosts
and crew were busy shooting one of the first episodes.

One of the hosts -- the only male besides Miru the puppet
Space Cat -- Michael was shooting his segment of the show.
Speaking lively in front of a camera, that was taking shots of
the top of his head and the underside of his chin, like he has
been doing it everyday of his life. Never flustered even when he
was told to retake the shot over and over again.

"Well they have had a lot of training previously, months of
training," Ashok Miranda, Executive Producer of the Southeast
Asia and Korea division of Walt Disney Television International,
and producer of Studio D, said.

Meanwhile the other two hosts, Azura and Nikki, were sitting
on squishy-looking bright red sofas preparing their lines.

Reflecting the region, the hosts also come from different
countries in Asia. Michael Lee, 25, is from Korea, Nikki Muller,
17, from the Philippines, and Azura Zainal, 22, is from Malaysia.

The whole studio was just as what one would expect of a Disney
studio, a little bit messy with props -- giant blue and yellow
headphones suspended from the ceiling, the classic four-fingered
white glove of Mickey Mouse adorning the handle of a lever of
some kind, multi-colored, multi-shaped cushions strewn on the
sofa -- bright, and full of colors.

"It's very comfortable," Ashok said, inviting us to sit down
on the "homey" double-decker bed covered with a print bedspread
and strewn with comfortable cushions.

As our intrusion on the set was noticed, the hosts broke from
their shooting, and invited us to participate in one of the
gameshows hosted on Studio D, Scream For Your Team.

Derived from the popular cartoon series Extreme Ghostbusters,
one of the hosts, who dons a crash helmet and a vacuum backpack,
must try to suck and transport as many foam "ghosts" from a
cauldron to the ghostbusters' chest, as long as a screamer from
the TV audience is able to scream without taking breath.

Another interactive game show prepared for Studio D was The
Vault -- a vault-full of toys is the gift for any caller who is
able to crack a number combination lock, with the number of tries
depending on the number of Disney trivia questions they answer
correctly.

And because the show is designed for kids, instead of the
traditional viewer-call-the-studio routine, it is the studio who
calls the children.

"They would need to apply by letter, fax, or email, saying
that they are interested in participating, and we would ask
parents first for consent," Ashok said.

TV audiences from around the Asia-Pacific region can also
participate in the show "from the viewers, for the viewers"
segments, such as Zoom In, StreetCam, Truth Booth, and Shout Out.

"Studio D is about reflecting the kids' lives, it is all about
the audience," Managing Director for the Southeast Asia and Korea
division of Walt Disney Television International, Raymund
Miranda, said.

With the "It's your TV" tagline, the programs are designed to
reflect the lives and interests of children around Asia,
providing them with a voice and enabling them to learn about the
lives of their peers in different countries, he explained.

Zoom In is a video diary for a day in the life of a child with
special talent, work, or activity in the Asia-Pacific region,
while StreetCam is Studio D's eye on all that is hip and
happening in the region, which could range from extreme sports,
urban fashion, game crazes, to new fads and latest trends.

"What would you do if you were the president of the world,"
was a question posed in an episode of Truth Booth where children
are put on the spot to answer questions. Answers vary from "make
statues of me", "make chocolate companies everywhere", to "give
everyone ice cream".

In a segment of Shout Out, a little girl in Korea advised her
father not to work too hard because it makes his feet smelly!

"Sometimes it's just an email that really stands out," Raymund
explained the process of choosing the participating children.

i-box:

Studio D from the Disney Channel will be screened beginning July
5, 2003, from 8 a.m. on cable television.