Don’t go by the harmless Tom & Jerry, or the affable Bob and Noddy. Behind Tiny TV lurks a dark big picture, just noticed by the Indian animation industry. In a letter to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, it has put its fears down in black and white: ‘‘The unabated invasion of television homes in our country by international cartoon and animation channels full of foreign characters is an attack on the culture of India and will have an adverse impact on the next-generation Indians.’’ The answer, the Animation Producers’ Association of India helpfully suggests, is reserving airtime on cartoon channels for more ‘‘Indian’’ characters churned out by its own houses, like the Pandavas, Hanuman or Tenali Raman. The letter, dated March 29, asks I&B Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to create a level-playing field and promises that given this chance, the Indian animation industry—which has produced well-received series like The Adventures of Tenali Rama, The Pandavas, Bhagmati, Panchtantra and Hanuman—can give the Johnny Bravos a run for their money. Apart from keeping aside airtime, the Association wants the Ministry to ensure that cartoon channels wanting to beam their programmes into India enter into co-productions with local companies. The signatories to the letter include 2nz/Climb Animation Co, A&A, Acropotel, MM Studio, Mumbai Animation Bridge, Aum Creations, Crest Communications, Digital Art Media, CWL Global, Digikore Studios Ltd, Jadoo Works, and 40 production houses of the country. Hitting just the right note with this Government, the Association warns in its letter: ‘‘Our ancient culture and traditions cannot be treated as just another commodity. We not only have to preserve them but also create a balance between our culture and the programming being beamed into India.’’ Ramesh Sharma of Moving Pictures shares the concern: ‘‘Our children do not have adequate exposure to Indian content, and the animation industry has social ramifications.’’ Going a step further, Mike Pandey of Riverbank Studios points out that animation is not just about cartoons or squiggly creatures, and that its potential is immense. ‘‘From water harvesting to AIDS, graphics can be more useful in putting across in simple terms what one aims to teach.’’ In India, some 70 companies turn out animation, the more prominent ones being Tata Elxi’s Visual Computing Labs, Digital Art Media, Deccan Animation and Jadoo Works. The annual revenue earned from animation in the country is expected to go up from $0.6 billion in 2003 to $1.5 billion in 2005.
