To the conquest of children's audiences, Mexican animated films

In the city Varita Quebrada, a giant who never grew up, a fairy who still does not get her wings -which causes a certain neurosis- and a boy wizard named Trafalgar, are some of the attendees of the most important magic tournament, where the winner obtains a parchment that makes his spells come true.

But the aforementioned trio must face several adventures, when the prize disappears and they kidnap the princess. The previous one is the plot of the film Magos y Gigantes, a 100% Mexican production, made in two-dimensional animation (2D).

Despite the fact that Mexican cinema leaves one pothole to enter another, and most of the computer animators that exist in the country are self-taught, producers Fernando de Fuentes and Fernando Pérez Gavilán, sons of filmmakers with the same names, along with Guillermo Cañedo White, former businessman of Televisa, founded Ánima Estudios.

Magos y Gigantes is his debut film, which began in September 2002 and premiered in November 2003 in Mexico. The new company aims to make a film every 10 months, in a world language: animation in two dimensions. They will be aimed especially at children, a market in which they consider there are opportunities to grow.

The founders of Ánima are confident of achieving commercial success with their films, not only in Latin America, but around the world, their strong point and main challenge is creativity, "having entertaining stories with a message", says José Carlos García de Letona, vice president of production of Ánima Estudios.

At the same time they take advantage of technology. A digital process is flexible, it allows them to make changes, create fantastic environments; in addition, 2D animation is cheaper than a production with real characters and scenarios.

The plan is just beginning, according to José Carlos García, Magos y Gigante had a good response during its exhibition in Mexico, lasted nine weeks and was presented in 290 theaters throughout the country, competing with monsters such as Disney.

The story is by José Carlos García, Adolfo Martínez and Francisco Hirata. The soundtrack, produced by Aureo Baqueiro, features groups such as Kabah and Ha-Ash. While 20th Century Fox takes over distribution in Latin America.

In the production worked 70 people of the new company, and 70 more external. Anima Studios has 120 computers, PCs and Macs. The programs they used for the production of the film were: US Animation, PhotoShop , FreeHand, 3D Studio Max, After Effect  and Final Cut.

The steps of animation
Once you had the story, the process to make Wizards and Giants was as follows:

1. It is an animation created entirely digitally, no animation cells were used, everything was done with digital tablets directly on the computer.
2. The voices of their characters were recorded and then the animators listened to them to make the story board. Thus a kind of comic with voices was obtained.
3. A detailed guide was made of how long each frame would last.
4. 39 sequences were completed. Its programmers developed an image montage system, which allowed directors to modify scenes without the need to draw again on top of the originals.
5. In the area of backgrounds and animation, color and shadows began to be put.
6. In digital composition the scenes were assembled.
7. The edition was carried out with the supervision of the directors, here the department of audio, special effects and sound participated.
8. The composers had contact with the work already done, to make the music.
9. Images and audio were put together to record live.
10. The services of Ollin Studio were hired, where all the computer-generated frames of the hard drives were copied, the color was corrected and they went to cinema negative.

The performance of Wizards and Giants lasted 14 months. "Before, animation was done frame by frame, now, when working in a digital medium, quality and times are optimized, you do not have to repeat all the work if you want to make changes"" adds García de Letona.

The video and DVD release in Mexico continues, it is about to be released in Puerto Rico and in other Latin American countries have dates to be confirmed. Distribution in the United States, Europe and Asia is also being negotiated.

The process of assembling the team to make the film was difficult. For example, a training period, two to three months, was required for the people in charge of the animation to become familiar with the tools. Now they already have a "consolidated group," says José Carlos García.

Ánima Estudios already has a second film in production. For now, it is known that it will be called Imaginum, and it will deal with the story of aliens who escape from an insane asylum and reach the earth.

Anima is trying to compete in the market with giants such as Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks, who recently announced that he would stop making 2D animations and that he would only dedicate himself to making 3D films. At the moment, the Mexican company does not plan to work 3D, but it is something they will have to reach.

A few years ago making an animated film in Mexico was a distant goal, acrylic paints were used and a lot was spent in the recording format, which could be 16 millimeters. García de Letona believes that progress has been made and these are only the first steps.

Advances in Mexican animation
Animation in Mexico is just beginning, but a market has already been generated, especially in the production of commercials for film and television, "companies ask for more than logos, they know they can create fantastic characters and situations. In the cinema it also begins to explode. All films have effects, it is a trend that is increasing, "he says Jorge Lizárraga, CEO of Oelli, a company that promotes the development of the sector.

At the moment, there are about five recognized companies dedicated to animation and with a constant workflow in the country. "We are at the same creative and technological level as the United States and Canada," says the interviewee. "In costs we are also competitive, a job in Mexico would have a price of 40% of what it would cost in the United States, and in less time. "

Lizárraga, director of the company that organizes the Congress of Animation and Visual Effects, which will be held for the fourth consecutive year in Mexico, says that this event arose from the need to have a forum of this type, "there are many young people interested and few spaces where to obtain information on these topics. It is our contribution to driving the growth of this industry."

The tools for making animation are still expensive, but it does not compare to what it was about 10 years ago, you no longer need a computer of 25 thousand dollars; "With a PC, a good video card and programs, which hopefully are not pirates, you can start working," adds Lizárraga.

"We must recognize that 10 or 12 years ago this was a relaxation, animation in Mexico was very bad, you had to go to the United States or Canada, so we earned a little discredit that we have paid during the last years", but now quality work is done in advertisements and films, that they are gaining trust. "The technology that exists today places us on the limits when it comes to animation, reaching total realism. But we must not forget that the human factor is of great weight, it is 80%, and 20% is represented by money and tools."

Chronology
Mexican animated films (several were co-productions with Spain):

- 1974. Los tres Reyes Magos, the first feature film animation made in Mexico.
-1978. The supersages.
-1983. Roy of the space, only lasted three days on the billboard.
-1984. Katy the caterpillar, began as a Mexican project and ended as a co-production with Spain, the second part was made in the European country.
-1987. The adventures of Oliver Twist, was a project for cinema but for the costs ended up in video.

Only Katy the Caterpillar and The Supersages managed to recoup their investment.