Take a look at your nearest cinema and see what local films are showing. Usually there are only two genres of film available for movie goers: teen drama and horror.
Are there any local movies for children? Barely. In the last few years, teen drama and horror movies have dominated multip-lexes since the local film industry came back into business in early 2000.
Most parents know how difficult it is to find suitable movies for their children to watch, with barely a handful of movies playing during the school holiday months. It is sad to say that cinemas have (almost) nothing to offer kids.
So far, parents have relied on Hollywood animation movies, which are sometimes difficult for Indonesian children to understand because they have they subtitles.
After the musical film Petualangan Sherina (The Adventure of Sherina) in 2000, which affirmed the resurrection of the local film industry, there are only a few good local films for kids screened at cinemas.
Denias Senandung di Atas Awan (Denias: Hum Above the Clouds) and Laskar Pelangi (Rainbow Warriors) are some examples.
Today, Kalyana Shira Films and Infinite Frameworks (IFW), an animation studio based in Batam, are trying to entertain children through their latest animated musical film Meraih Mimpi (Reaching for Dreams).
It has been dubbed the first-ever animated musical film made in the country.
Animation is not a new thing for the local movie industry. Indonesian animation has come a long way since the first animated cartoon Si Huma was released in the early 1980s.
The entrance of private television stations in the 1990s followed by the demand for state-of-the-art TV commercials helped spur the country's animation industry.
In early 2000, local animation artists tried to regain the glory of animated movies through Homeland and the semi-animated Janus, Prajurit Terakhir (Janus, the Last Warrior). The movies, however, flopped in cinemas.
Based on the award-winning novel by Min Fong Ho, Sing to the Dawn, Meraih Mimpi is a coming-of-age story about a girl following her dreams and fighting for her right to basic education.
Dana (voice by teen singer Gita Gutawa) is a 15-year-old girl growing up in a small village in Batam, but she has big dreams and wants more than what her small town and traditional way of life can offer.
Her dream almost fades away when her father forces her to marry Ben (Indra Bekti), the son of Pairot (Surya Saputra), a landlord in the village.
Pairot imposes high taxes on the people living in the village and threatens to demolish their houses if they pay their taxes late.
Dana struggles to convince people around her to allow her to take a scholarship to study in the city, as well as trying to find ways to save the village from Pairot.
The story reflects the gender discrimination faced by girls in many developing countries living in rural parts of Asia. It also features the life of animals living nearby the village.
The movie, directed by Phil Mitchell, has elements of comedy, education, culture and nature conservation.
Even though the story is quite universal, the creators included some local culture, such as wayang (traditional puppets) and janur kuning (young coconut leaves) in the story.
Every character has its own unique style. Pairot, for instance, emulates rock and roll singer Elvis Presley's style and speaks with the accent of the dangdut singer Rhoma Irama.
On the other hand, the accent of the animals also represents the cultural diversity of Indonesia. There is a lizard that speaks in Central Java's Tegal dialect, a Monkey that speaks Betawi and a deer that has a Chinese accent.
However, apart from the comic, educational and cultural aspects of the film, some of the designs of the characters could be better. For example there is one scene where the animals are singing and dancing in the forest and their movements are odd and stiff.
About 100 young Indonesians worked on the movie, which took more than two and a half years to produce and around US$5 million to make.
The movie's co producer, Nia Dinata, was amazed by the creativity and dedication of young people working on the animated film.
"The production of this animation film may trigger others to produce big-screen animations," said the noted director who once visited the DreamWorks animation studio to see the production of Madagascar 2.
Just like a non-animation movie, she said, an animated film should also have a strong plot.
"Voice casting also plays an important role. You can't just choose random people to voice a certain character. A character should be matched with the character of the actor or actress," Nia said.
Released on Sept. 16, the movie will be like a breath of fresh air to the Indonesian animation movie world, hopefully inspiring other local film makers to create more and more qualified animated movies.
Read more about the making of Meraih Mimpi in the October WEEKENDER, out Tuesday.
