Animated Mabijo cartoons to launch soon

MONKAGEDI GAOTHLOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Wednesday March 23, 2011 00:00

 

After selling over 2 000 copies of the comic book, Mabijo Vol.1 released last year, Mabijo creator Tebogo Motswetla says he is elated to be launching Mabijo on DVD, and probably on television too, after he successfully got the cartoon character - named after his uncle in Serowe - animated.

Motswetla says he engaged specialists for the animation of the Mabijo character, a process that took them a month.  However, the animated Mabijo story lines are fresh ideas that are not necessarily taken from the Mabijo archives.

While the traditional Mabijo does not have other known characters supporting him, Motswetla says the animated versions will have supporting cartoon characters with names, just like in the Simpsons.  'Mabijo is the main character, but there are other minor characters that he interacts with,' Motswetla added.  The Mabijo creator says he plans to sell the animated series to interested television stations or companies that can sponsor the broadcast, while DVD copies will also be available for sale.

Motswetla says some of the clips of the animated versions run for 1-2 minutes.  Like he did with the comic book last year, Motswetla says he will be launching the animated version of Mabijo in grand fashion - come end of May - where one or two clips running for 3-5 minutes will be showcased to potential clients in the television and advertising industries.

'We have few samples for advertising as well as the main one for television, which will consist of an opening sequence of an animated logo and theme song, to showcase Mabijo in 3D. 'This will showcase Mabijo's physical appearance, his walk, his facial expressions and his voice, all of which have never been experienced before,' he says.

'Another objective for this launch of the animated Mabijo is to market it to the government and corporate sector, especially our area of animation.  The idea is to attract business so that the animators can get paid. This will enable us to recruit more animators because animation is a lot of work,' Motswetla adds.'Our company will be doing animation for entertainment, advertising and education, amongst others.