Kerala firm ties with US company for animation series

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 17 (IANS) A Kerala firm, which had recently tied up with Vijay Amritraj's company, Monday entered into an agreement with the US-based Marvel Entertainment to produce a new animated television series.

First Serve Toonz (FST), formed after Technopark-based Toonz Animation tied up with First Serve International, would produce 26 half hour episodes of an animated series based on wolverine characters.

The wolverine is the largest land-dwelling member of the family Mustelidae (animals such as minks, weasels, otters, etc.)

Bruno Maglione of Marvel International and top officials of FST signed the agreement.

FST will begin pre-production work in a 2D-3D combination of characters and background, a release said.

The initial episodes are expected to be ready for worldwide distribution by 2007. FST will produce the series while both Marvel and FST will oversee the creative direction.

International TV and DVD distribution will be managed by FST whereas Marvel retains distribution rights for the US.

"X-Men is one of Marvel's jewels, and it makes sense to focus on the popular Wolverine character for our second animation project," said Maglione.

Amritraj said he was eager to get Marvel to consider India as a strategic animation production base for its classic Marvel Super Heroes.