Toonz to give life to Chandamama story

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 30 (IANS) A story from comic book Chandamama will be turned into a full length animation movie having a budget of Rs.200 million.

The film will be produced by Toonz Animation India Pvt Ltd and Chandamama India Limited.

'Chandamama stories still linger in the minds of generations. The beauty of these stories lies in their simplicity and the socio cultural values they try to communicate. The animated film will be a perfect platform to provide today's youth both engaging and educative entertainment,' said P. Jayakumar, CEO of Toonz Animation.

Toonz will undertake the entire production based in its state-of-the-art studio in Technopark and will finance the production cost, said a press statement.

Legendary filmmakers B. Nagi Reddi and his friend Chakrapani conceptualised Chandamama in early 1947 and since then the company has been publishing stories in 14 languages. The library of Chandamama has over 15,000 exclusive stories.

Commenting on the relationship with Toonz, L. Subramanyan, CEO of Chandamama, said: 'Over the last six decades, millions of Indians have grown up with Chandamama. The association with Toonz and the proposed animated film will help us reach out to the current and future generations of young people and deliver the message across the new and emerging platforms.'

Founded in 1999, Toonz's client list includes the biggest names in media and entertainment sector like Marvel, Hallmark, Paramount, Disney, BBC and Cartoon Network.

Toonz is currently co-producing a 3D animated TV series for BBC, called 'Freefonix'. Other works in the pipeline include a 3D feature film 'The life and adventures of Santa Claus', 2D series 'Brave' for Cartoon Network, Europe, and 'Tales of Lord Siva' for the Indian audience.