Based on the several editions of folk legends that the team collected during the survey, Lü and his team decided to base the stories in just one Tibetan village instead of the many places featured in the original versions. "Stories about Akhu Tönpa are very popular in Tibetan regions," Lü noted. The pre-production survey alone, during which time Lü and his crew lived in Tibetan regions, took 18 months.
While the Lhasa-based team is responsible for most of the first stage preparation such as the pre-production design and survey as well as all the late-stage work such as editing, dubbing and special effects, the Beijing-based team led by Lü handles the actual shooting. "This was specifically stated as our 'Rule No.1' when we were handed the project," Lü said. As a State-sponsored project, the show has been carefully handled by the team to make sure that the story is purely Tibetan from its visuals to the core values it portrays "rather than tell a non-Tibetan story using Tibetan elements just for show." "It is among the first animated projects made solely by Tibetan companies," Lü Jinghui, the series' director and executive head, told the Global Times on Wednesday.įocusing on the brave and witty legendary Tibetan figure Akhu Tönpa, or Uncle Tonpa, the show has been worked on by Tibetan and Han animators for the past five years.
The production team is now busily wrapping up the Putonghua (Standard Chinese) and Tibetan-language dubs for the series. The 52-episode animated series is one of the first projects co-produced by the government-backed Film, TV and Animation Production Base in Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region and several Tibet-based production companies. Well designed stop-motion figurines clad in Tibetan robes is probably not the first image that flashes into your mind when thinking of China's Tibetan ethnic group, but this may soon become the case for many after Tibetan animated TV series Akhu Tönpa hits small screens nationwide in China in 2018. Promotional material for Akhu Tönpa (Photo/Courtesy of Wang Donglei)
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