Come join sharks, Pup and Julius, on a fun-filled adventure
to a place filled with colorful characters and unending mystery — LAND!
When poachers steal dozens of shark egg sacks from Pup's reef, he makes it his mission to save his brothers and sisters no matter how impossible the task may seem. His determination to make right what is wrong takes him above water, into Man's world - a landscape frought with beauty and danger - an exciting destination a young bamboo shark could never ever have imagined!
Afraid for Pup's safety, Julius embarks on his own quest to bring home his best pal. In an outlandish 'fish-suit', you will believe a fish can walk on land in this thrill-a-minute action, laugh out loud comedy, great for the entire family!
Nothing stops a heroic shark from saving his brethren from the jaws of poachers. Not even having to go on land.
SHARKS are cute and friendly. And they can talk, too.
That is what happens when you bring them to "life" on the big screen.
Well, making animals – even the ferocious or filthy ones – adorable and memorable is nothing new in the world of animated movies (who can forget perennial favourites like The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Madagascar, Ratatouille and more recently, Kung Fu Panda?).
But what's remarkable about Seefood The Movie that stars a couple of sharks is that it's Malaysia's first 3D animation movie in English.
The landmark production is set to hit foreign shores sometime between July and September. Nothing has been confirmed yet for the local screening although a distributor is keen on the movie. Plans are being made to dub it in Bahasa Malaysia.
Seefood is not a typo error, by the way. It is supposed to literally mean "seeing food".
Typical of such animal-themed animations, Seefood, billed as a comedy for the family, features the delightful capers of a bunch of characters. It focuses on two sharks which embark on a roller-coaster mission to save dozens of egg sacks stolen by poachers – above water, into the perilous land of man.
Viewers will get to meet Pup, a bamboo shark which can remain on land for 12 hours, and Julius, a whitetip shark which eats just about anything.
Coming along for the fun ride is a cornucopia of colourful marine characters, including Mertle the turtle, Octo the inventor (an octopus, of course), Spin the stingray and a trio of pilot fish named Moe, Curly and Larry (the three stooges of the show)! There's also the lads Lanky and Pudgy ... no prize for telling who's who.
Seefood The Movie is jointly produced by Silver Ant Sdn Bhd and the Al-Jazeera Children's Channel (JCC), with a grant from the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry and also support from the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC).
The man behind Silver Ant is Goh Aun Hoe, the CEO of the company.
Silver Ant has worked with MDeC previously, having been hired in 2005 to produce the trailer for Saladin (also known as Saladin Al-Ayubi), a local animated series about the titular 12th-century Muslim warrior in his young days (the series in English, with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles, currently airs on TV1 on Saturdays, with the encores on Sundays).
The JCC saw the trailer, loved it and decided to take a bite into Seefood.
"The animation is almost complete. Audio will be ready by mid-March and final film output is expected to be done by end of April," Goh said in a recent interview with Sunday Star.
The film transfer (from digital images), he said, would need to be done in Thailand.
On plans to screen the movie overseas, Goh said the company has already secured buyers from Latin America, Russia and China.
"Negotiations are still being carried out with interested parties in several other countries, including the United States and South Korea," he added.
There are no big celebrity names to lend their voices to Seefood, though, due to budget constraints.
"We have 18 voiceover members for the movie; about half of them are locals while the rest are expatriates," he said, adding that some of them are from the local sound production outfit, Imaginex Studios.
Like the Pixar guys behind Finding Nemo, Goh said his animation team has put in much effort into studying the behaviour of the creatures that form the cast of Seefood.
"We have to be sure that they are portrayed in a realistic manner besides projecting a human expression that would bring them to life," he explained.
Working with 40 animators, Goh and his team took about two years to work on the animation process.
"We are now giving it the final touch-up," he concluded.
Judging from its trailer, Seefood The Movie will enchant audiences with its heartwarming story and vivid portrayal of the underwater world redolent of Finding Nemo but with charming local elements to boot.
» For a glimpse into the fascinating world of 'Seefood The Movie', take a plunge into www.seefood-themovie.com.
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