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Saudi Crown Prince’s firm to launch first feature-length animation film

May 28, 2019 at 3:02 pm

‘The Journey’ animation film [Youtube]

A Saudi animation company owned by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has announced that it is launching its first feature-length film.

Manga Productions, a subsidiary of the MiSK Foundation, will launch “The Journey” which is being c-produced by Japan’s Toei Animation.

The film is described as “an epic tale…with a goal to present the ancient civilizations of the Arabian Peninsula and Middle East, in an attractive, high-end, and commercial form of animation that is universally enjoyed by children and families of all generations.”

Animation on the feature will completed in Riyadh and Tokyo. With production expected to take 27 months, employing 330 people, at a cost of $10-15 million. Manga will fully finance the project and will ultimately hold worldwide distribution rights to it.

“What we are doing here with The Journey is representative of our larger role in creating the ecosystem throughout Saudi Arabia and the Arab world, in which young talents are given opportunities and are supported, and high quality work representing our culture is produced,” Manga CEO Essam Bukhary said.

Toei Animation Managing Director Shinji Shimizu added it was “a great honour to cooperate in making Saudi Arabia’s very first animation film based on the history and culture of ancient Arabia.”

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