Arabic production for children is waiting for more.. “To not hand over our children to others.”

What prevents Arab production companies from presenting works of art suitable for children and in accordance with the prevailing morals and values ​​in our societies? A question that has been widely asked in the last period after the announcement of one of the largest specialized international companies that it intends by the end of this year at least half of the cartoon characters it represents to have characters that are foreign to our culture, customs and traditions, which caused a wide controversy on social networks.

Claims about works that appeal to children and early ages, especially in the recent period, do not mean that there are no prominent productions for this category, but indicate that the arena needs more of them.

For their part, directors, writers and actors presented various proposals to support the animation industry in the Arab world. The most notable of which is star Ahmed Amin’s initiative to present a work for children that he produced and authored, as he said: “I always dream of returning to creating art for children. and in my brain there are many ideas that turn into projects on paper and plans that are postponed like many other projects, but with anxiety in us We all depend on our children for the content that is offered to them, which is almost without an alternative. myself that this is her time, and I decided to rely on God.. and I decided to immediately and urgently start working on a new cartoon series for children. Finally, in a post on his Facebook, he added: “You will soon find out more details. May God protect them and preserve their sanity.”

The talented artist Hala Fakher expressed her gratitude for Ahmed Amin’s initiative, wishing she had the opportunity to collaborate with him in this project, even if it was without financial compensation. And in her statements, she mentioned that children lack works that remind them of the environment they live in and express it, such as the series “Buji i Tamtam”, which brought them important messages at the end of each episode, unlike modern works. .

Where are the facilities?

As for the writer Amr Samir Atef, he went on to propose solutions to encourage Arab productions aimed at children, such as encouraging the private sector to enter the field and providing tax incentives, and said: “The Disney company has announced that a large percentage of its artworks presented to children will contain characters that are foreign to our culture and customs.” And our traditions, I will not enter into a debate about the correctness of this, but this is an important indicator that clearly says that if we do If we do not have successful Egyptian actions in addressing and attracting the attention and admiration of the Egyptian child, then we will surrender the mind, conscience, morals and faith of our children to others. Do we want that? It is true that there is an economic crisis, it can be said that there is no budget for the production of good children’s works, but who said that the state should spend and produce on its own? Do not pave the way for private sector producers to produce content suitable for children. He asked on his Facebook profile: “Why are there no tax breaks for products made for children, for example?”

The director, Mohamed Dandrawi, who produced the cartoon “Ramadan Kareem Family”, called for the obligation of channels to allocate a certain number of hours for children, while studies and workshops are provided through institutes so that there is a market for “animation” in Egypt.

Significant works

Over the past years, the Emirates have presented a group of animated works that, with their quality of production and development of visual and directorial techniques, managed to attract viewers of different age groups, not only children, the most prominent of which is “Freej” by director Muhammad Saeed Hareb, which spanned period. For five seasons, it was picked up by Sony International to dub its episodes into Japanese, to air on Japanese television, and also announced its move to electronic gaming.

Also, “Popularity of cartoons” by director Haider Muhammad achieved great success, and last Ramadan, its last season was shown after the audience had been with him for 16 years. Haider Muhammad has finally announced the conversion of the series into irreplaceable assets, which will be the first Arabic animated work to enter this field.

The art scene also featured animated works that adults and children associated with Emirati creators, such as “Shilat Dana”, “Mansour”, “Khosa Inch”, “Al Mandoos” and others. Image Nation Abu Dhabi also previously announced its role as the main production partner in the animation film “Catsaway” by Emirati director Fadel Saeed Al Muhairi, as part of its strategy to support local talent and develop the animation sector in the UAE. The animated film is the first work of “Image Nation” in this style, and the first fully animated film produced in Abu Dhabi, which is co-produced by the company “Tent Pictures” from the UAE.

Aura Fakher:

Children miss works that resemble and express the environment they live in, such as the Buji and Tamtam series, which used to convey important messages.

“Secret of the Cave”

Coinciding with the Eid al-Adha season, cinemas in a number of Arab countries received the Bahraini animated film “The Secret of the Cave”, which was released on July 7, in Arabic and English, with Union Media for artistic production and distribution in the Kingdom of Bahrain. , in cooperation with the MBC channel group. The film deals with the idea of ​​getting to know the precious and rare stones that the country abounds in, and through the hero’s adventures in unusual and exciting fantasy worlds. .

Artist Ahmed Amin promised to present a work for children that he produced and authored, asking artists to collaborate with him.

Pretensions to works dealing with the early age group, especially in the recent period, do not mean that there is no distinguished production.