Philippine animation, also known as Pinoy animation or Filipino animation, has a strong history of animation in Southeast Asia introduced between the early 1950s and the 1960s. The animation provided into the medium including films, television commercials and series, and video games.
It came out the very first animated short film was a pencil-and-paper animation shot in 8 mm film developed komiks illustrator and cartoonist Lauro "Larry" Alcala. The early years of Philippine animation were mainly commercial advertising in the mid-1950s and later re-established as an art form started in 1961. Painter Rodolfo Paras-Perez and cartoonists José Zabala-Santos and Francisco Reyes are considered the first pioneers of Philippine animation in mid-20th century."Larry Alcala, 1926–2002", UPdate Diliman (May–June 2002)
Following the establishment of 1972 martial law under Ferdinand Marcos, the animation emerged a turning point to the entertainment industry, which led to the creation of the 1978 animated feature film Tadhana, emerge a new period started in the 1980s known as the Golden Age of Philippine Animation. Geraldo "Geirry" A. Garccia, Severino "Nonoy" Marcelo, and Roxlee were among the second pioneers of Philippine animation in the midst of Marcos and post-Marcos era.Garcia, Leonardo and Carmelita Masigan (2001). “An in-depth study on the animation industry in the Philippines”, mimeo, Center for Business and Economics Research and Development, De La Salle University.
Upon its creation of a new period under Philippine New Wave, animated features became reluctant among the major film studios in the 2000s–largely due to string of box-office disappointments in favor of live-action romance and comedy films–however, animated short films remained widely popular in film festivals, most notably the newly established Animahenasyon, as well as animated television series and commercials from the major networks.
Since the mid-2010s, Philippine animation saw its resurgences after the releases of Carl Joseph Papa's animated features Manang Biring and Paglisan, both were released on Cinema One Original Film Festival and won awards, shifted to more adult-oriented themes influenced by complex, mature storytelling with local issues and evolving cultural norms.
Overview Philippine animation is a body of original, cultural, and artistic works and applied to conventional Philippine storytelling. Using both talent and the application of classic animation principles, methods, and techniques, this reflects and recognizes their relationship with culture and comics in the Philippines.
It delves into the traditional Filipino "sense of going about things" or manner of coping with Filipino's daily life and environment that allows to manifest through the settings, characters, and overall mood of the animation.Pinoy animation defined , Animation Council of the Philippines, Animationcouncil.org
The use of culture in the Philippines manifests through its narration and portrayal of the daily experiences of the Filipino people and objects that we usually see. It also features different elements in storytelling of Filipino mythology and folklore. Though some of them are not able to overtly show the sense of being a Filipino in their stories, which were successful in showing their values that we all uphold.
History
1940s–1965: Origins In 1946, Antonio Velasquez, father of Philippine comics, said in an attempt that he was paid to write a script for an animated feature film based on his famous character Kenkoy, but the project was abandoned.
In 1953, Philippine animation did actually came out the very first animation was Lauro "Larry" Alcala, did a short black-and-white animation on 8mm film of a girl doing jumping rope and a boy playing with a yo-yo.
In 1955, Philippine animation started with cartoonists who converted some folklore characters and their komiks into animated shorts. For example, José Zabala-Santos and Francisco Reyes produced Juan Tamad, a six-minute animated short film serves as an advertisement for Purico cooking oil, based on the famous Philippine folklore character of the same name. However, there was no certainty whether the film is believed to have never had a commercial run or took a PMC product shot in 35mm and processed in the United States had actually been presented as a commercial, resulted that the use of animation in the industry was introduced for commercial purposes to advertise consumer products began in the 1950s. For example, Alcala continued to produce animated shorts for television commercials of products such as Darigold Milk in 1957 and Caltex in 1965."The hiLARRYous Art of Alcala", by Ruben Defeo, Today (August 22, 1995), p. 20"Slices of Larry Alcala" by Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, Philippine Daily Inquirer (July 22, 1996)
A non-narrative abstract and collage 16mm short film Conversation in Space (1961) by a UP-graduated painter Rodolfo Paras-Perez, considered one of the earliest animations and one of the earliest experimental films from the Philippines. These animations expand audience's perspectives of Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art. The film was screened at the first Asean film festival in Manila on 1971 and, in retrospective, the National Gallery Singapore’s ‘Painting with Light,’ an annual festival of international films on art in 2018, making it the earliest animation short film in the Philippines to be rediscovered.
1965–1986: Marcos period During the Marcos period back in the inauguration of the tenth president, Philippine animation become one of the regime's tools for propaganda and patriotism. Later in early films have been introduced by Severino "Nonoy" Marcelo, a cartoonist who was hired by the government and worked in animation at the National Media Production Center beginning in 1977, collaborated with Imee Marcos and Zabala-Santos for directing a documentary film about Marcos going on a field trip to his hometown titled Da Real Makoy (1977) and adapting an animated feature titled Tadhana (1978), a commissioned work which originally conceived as a television pilot and took production in three months. Described the film as "an animated compendium of new Philippine art", it was based on a multivolume book of the same name by Ferdinand Marcos.Widely believed the Philippine's first foray into an animated feature film, Tadhana was premiered in Philippine television as a part of the anniversary of Martial Law in 1978. At one point, Marcelo was supposed to replay and scheduled Tadhana for a commercial theater release, but for some reasons, unclear it was never seen again due to the said film was not released commercially on theaters for public viewing. In 1979, The Adventures of Lam-Ang was produced by the same cartoonist Tadhana made, which was a one-hour animated feature based on the folklore of the same name.Feichin, Ted Tschang, and Andrea Goldstein. "Production and Political Economy in the Animation Industry: Why Insourcing and Outsourcing Occur." DRUID Summer Conference 2004, 2004. At the same year, Marcelo serves as animation director for a seven-minute opening scene in Nora Aunor's Annie Batungbakal.
Due to their immense interest to Filipinos that animation as a hub for subcontracted labor in the 1980s, aspiring animators, such as the Alcazaren brothers (consisting of Mike and Juan) and Roxlee, dominated to create their own experimental animated short films, much of their work have adult-oriented themes and political satire, until the People Power Revolution in 1986.
1986–1990s: Television period
The first Philippine animated television series was Ang Panday, created by Geraldo A. Garccia (credited as Geirry Garccia) in 1986, based on a comic book character of the same name produced by Carlo J. Caparas.Pagsuyuin-Hakim Judith. Animation awards honors Dolphy, FPJ and more , filipinoexpress.com, February 22, 2007 RPN-9 began airing in November 1986. Although it was a consistent success, Ang Panday lasted only for six months due to the high cost of producing an animated feature or series.
The success of Ang Panday led to broadcasting two animated series in the following year: Captain Barbell, based on a komik superhero of the same name by Mars Ravelo and Jim Fernandez, aired on RPN, clashing with Garccia's Ang Panday for broadcasting competition; Darna, based on a komik superheroine of the same name by Mars Ravelo and Nestor Redondo, released by GMA Network.
In 1989, Sa Paligid-ligid is a two-hour educational animated television special about the environmental awareness and conservation produced by the Philippine Children's Television Foundation aired on IBC 13.
Began in the 1990s, topics of Philippine animation have been significantly shifted from an emphasis on satirical and historical events to everyday issues and identities that reflects their reality to Filipino people.
1990s–early 2010s: Fluctuations
In the 1990s, Garccia worked on several animated works including an animated short adaptation of Noli Me Tangere (1993), live-action animated hybrid Isko: Adventures in Animasia (1995) and a passion project Adarna: The Mythical Bird (1997), a fully-developed animated film debut based on the 19th century corrido commonly titled Ibong Adarna. Garccia, wrote the story and directed Adarna under FLT Productions and Guiding Light Productions, said he initially wanted to have the project as a TV series in 1997 but instead to a full-length film, and the film took two years to finish with roughly 300 animators and a new nine-minute segment soon added to the film that had the additional cost of ₱50,000, with producer Rose L. Flaminiano later bought the rights to the film's release when it was nearing completion. Adarna was declared an entry to the 1997 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) on December 3, 1997, and received recognition from the Metro Manila Film Festival on December 27, 1997, as the "first ever animated movie in Philippine cinema" (), although predated by Marcelo's Tadhana. It earned a box office from MMFF worth ₱11.2 million, but did not make it to its production cost. Despite being a box-office bomb and some critics were critical of the film's poor animation, the Adarna's theatrical release and pioneering recognition was considered a highlight to Filipino animation. In 1998, it was also included in the Asian Collection of Japan's 7th Hiroshima Animation Festival.
Following Garccia's pioneering creations, an annual animation festival Animahenasyon was founded in 2007 and organized by the Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI), serves as a flagship project to Filipino newcomers and animators in showcasing their original ideas.Animahenasyon: Philippine Animation Festival » 2011 » About Animahenasyon Several animated short films and music videos premiere at the festival have been made over the years.
In 2007, Garccia produced the very first animated talk show on Philippine television entitled Talk Toons. Guest celebrities appeared in the series like Vilma Santos, Mikey Arroyo, German Moreno and former president Joseph Estrada. All were interviewed on video and transferred into animation.