Rise of a new animation hub 

  

Over the course of time, with the advancement of technology, there have been major developments in the entertainment field as well as changes in audience preference and expectations. In recent years, one particular aspect of the entertainment industry that global audiences are adopting is the animation industry. Animation is known as the art of making inanimate objects appear to move. It is an artistic impulse that long predates the movies. From Disney’s portrayal of magical and musical world to the immersive realism portrayed in Studio Ghibli’s visual storytelling, the animation industry has been thriving for quite some time. On account of the global success of animation, the growing popularity in Bangladesh is certainly creating the pressure on the local industry to reach audience expectations. The rising demand for animation definitely poses the question, where does Bangladesh stand in the animation industry?  

Many believe animation means cartoons made for kids, as there have been stereotypes that the majority of the consumers of animation are below 18. But recent surveys show, animated content is popular among all age groups, with the highest viewership among the 18-24 age range. That raises the question - why do people love watching animated content in general? The most common misconception regarding animation is that animation is a genre. In fact, animation is a medium. Let’s think of movies. Movies are a series of moving images that make a story, serving the purpose to move people emotionally, to entertain.

People embrace animated concepts for the same reason they do it for movies. But the advantage of animation is, the finished output could exactly match with how animators envisioned and audience expected. They don't need to worry about whether the stunt will be technically possible or the actors can articulate the mannerisms and body language of their characters. There is not much concern regarding technology being available to produce an amazing scene. Additionally, actors and stuntmen are not in any danger, allowing more possibilities for more interesting and thrilling situations that will keep the audiences entertained.   

Animation in Bangladesh was officially initiated with its first major animated project, ‘Meena’, a cartoon series produced by Toonbangla. It was created in collaboration with UNICEF as a social awareness project. ‘Meena’ cartoon quickly gained popularity among kids right after its release on Bangladesh Television in 1993. In 2000, the first 3D animation series in the history of Bangladesh, ‘Montu Miar Ovhijan’ aired on Ekushey Television. Besides local concepts, Indian-Bangla animations such as ‘Thakumar Jhuli’, ‘Nonte Fonte’, ‘Gopal Bhaar’ were immensely popular in Bangladesh. Later, with a few new animation studios entering the scene, things have changed for the better.   

Maverick Studio has significantly contributed to the growth of Bangladesh’s animation industry through its training programs in VFX and Rotoscoping. The studio also contributed in the making of ‘Chacha Bahinir Ajon Kahini’ focusing on Bengali folklore, mythical creatures and adventures, which was crowdfunded by Bangladeshis all over the world. Another reputed animated studio, Mighty Studio Punch was behind the making of highly popular Bangladeshi superhero book ‘Shabash’. One of the most reputed studios in Bangladeshi animation scene has been Ogniroth studios which gained popularity after being featured on Al-Jazeera.  

But Bangladeshi animation studios have not been able to keep pace with technological advancement. As a result, children started to move their attention to foreign animated exports. They were already familiar with popular Disney exports like ‘Micky Mouse’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘The Lion King’. Cartoon Network, Pogo, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel India were the biggest sources. Disney Channel India in general had a great success in Bangladesh because of their content. But their success skyrocketed after broadcasting Hindi dubbed version of Japanese animated series ‘Doreamon’ and ‘Ninja Hattori’. Nickelodeon was also popular for Indian animated exports like ‘Motu Patlu’.

In February 2013, the government of Bangladesh banned the Disney Channel as children were getting more exposed to Hindi language than Bangla. After the ban, Bangladesh decided to broadcast their own Bangla dubbed version of Doreamon on AsianTV, but it did not have the same hype as before. English animations were less popular than Hindi dubbed animations because Hindi is more comprehensible for Bangladeshi audiences than English. But still, popular cartoon network series like ‘Ben 10’, ‘The Powerpuff Girls’, ‘Courage the Cowardly Dog’ and some popular English dubbed Japanese animations like ‘Dragon Ball Z’, ‘Pokemon’. did settle their places in young audiences’ hearts.   

The main changes started when the Japanese animation started taking over the world . Besides Disney, another channel named ‘Animax’ was popular among Bangladeshi audiences for broadcasting some of the popular Japanese animations like ‘Fairy Tail’, ‘Bleach’, ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’ and more. Animax was also banned in Bangladesh but made a comeback in October 2021.

   

With the help of internet, Japanese animations started being more popular among the young audiences. Crunchyroll, a legal streaming website for anime is not quite popular in Bangladesh yet, but anime enthusiasts started exploring other mainstream anime like ‘Tokyo Ghoul’, ‘Attack on Titan’, ‘Haikyuu’ and more. Widely popular Studio Ghibli animations like ‘Grave of the Fireflies’, ‘Spirited Away’, ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ became more popular in 2020 during pandemic. Right now, anime has a huge rising audience in Bangladesh.   

Animation industry started thriving globally more when individual animators started putting their content on YouTube. Animators like TheOdd1sOut, Jaiden Animation, Domics, Swoozie paved the way with their animated content. The YouTube animation scene in Bangladesh was pioneered by Antik Mahmud, a popular Bangladeshi cartoonist mostly known for his artwork and cartoon videos. Later other Bangladeshi YouTube animators like Samima Sraboni came into light.   

One of the most prominent successes for Bangladesh Animation Industry was the release of the Bangladeshi animated short film ‘Tomorrow’ in 2019. ‘Tomorrow’ was produced by Deepto TV and Cycore Studios. It won the best animation film award at Cannes world film festival for the month of August 2021.   

Although Bangladesh Animation Industry has seen some improvement during a period of years, there are still many obstacles to overcome. As time went on, Bangladesh's animation sector was unable to compete with the worldwide animation sector. In 2020, the Bangladeshi YouTube channel "Deshi Reacts" posted a video of young viewers reacting to cartoons from the 1990s. Their response, however, caused a stir online by branding the comic as "strange" and "cringe." When questioned, students named several Japanese animated exports, including "Haikyuu" and "Assassination Classroom," "Saikik," "Demon Slayer," and "Doraemon," as well as a number of Nickelodeon and Disney shows, as their favorites. What’s more perplexing was the kids were more preoccupied with CGI and logic than with concepts. It is fairly evident that Bangladeshi audiences locally, and more notably the younger generation, have been impacted by technological innovation.  

One of the biggest problems for Bangladesh’s animation industry is the shortage of skilled animators. Animation enthusiasts are mostly young people. Therefore, it makes sense that they make up the majority of those working in the profession. Animation does not only require skills but high technology. Al Amin Hossain, admin of ‘3D Animation Bangla’ stated that there are around more than 20,000 animators across the country who are skilled in 3D and 2D but only 3000 to 4000 are active here. Technology is expensive in terms of learning and device cost. That’s why a large number of new animators cannot stay in this profession.

Another significant problem is lack of investment in the animation sector. Local animators claim that the country's main consumer of animation is the internet marketing or advertising sector, followed by freelancing. The majority of animation-related work is currently completed here due to animators' low working hour requirements. Therefore, if the government chooses to invest in it by establishing new institutions and providing loans for the artists, animation might become a promising area for Bangladesh.  

Arif Mohammad, CEO of TechnoMagic, when interviewed by The Financial Express stated, “Daffodil University and Department of Computer Science and Engineering of Dhaka University are some of the places which have been producing good animators lately. Other than that, animation studios such as Simec Systems, Maverick Studios and Cycore Studios have started their very own animation training centres where artists can join in early stages in their career and get proper industry level experience that will help them further enhance their skills sought after by industries worldwide relying on 3D animation.”  

  

The foreign market has already carved itself a substantial niche for the animation sector. Bangladesh's animation sector may not be making into worldwide waves yet, but it is undoubtedly growing thanks to the enthusiasm of many young people. The majority of Bangladesh's successful animated initiatives focused on raising social awareness. Therefore, despite the potential, there is a glaring shortage of concepts and adequate finance. If properly funded, Bangladeshi animation can easily establish itself in the international market.  

* Ayesha Humayra Waresa is a student of Dhaka University