'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.

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