Showing What We Could Do
After receiving the green light from UNICEF we promptly got started. Fil-Cartoons is a major production house, and although not unfamiliar with preproduction, the bulk of our work in the past, as with most Asian animation studios, has been from layout to workprint; so this was a great opportunity for us to show what we could do. The problem was how to portray such a sensitive subject in only 30 seconds. This posed quite a challenge, so my fellow animation directors Achiu So and Ric Jamlig, and I began work on what turned out to be the first of many possible scenarios. We were having fun, and once or twice thought we'd cracked the problem, only to be sent literally, back to the drawing board.

Bill Dennis, as producer was not an easy person to impress, and he wanted to be impressed. He was very much involved in the initial creative aspects of the spot. He wanted something special, being only too aware that it would be an international showcase for the talents and creativity of Fil-Cartoons and it's artists.

Eventually, Child Soldiers took shape. The main character, Carlos, about 13 years old, dark haired with slightly olive skin, is part of a group of friends seen in typical childhood situations. His friends are an ethnic mix of Asians, Africans and Europeans. The location could have been any one of many countries.

Classroom sequence from Child Soldiers.

We open on Carlos and his friends, at the circus, laughing at the antics of a colorful clown, very upbeat, noisy, happy, etc. Then we cross dissolve though a series of happy childhood situations as the mood and tempo changes to what we now realize is reality: Carlos and his friends standing against a bombed out shell of a building, looking like a disheveled rag tag group of child soldiers as shadows of passing tanks glide over them. We then hear the simple line of voice-over narration, "'To some children, childhood is just a dream." This return to reality is reflected in the colors, from bright colors to greys and blues, in the music, from gay circus tunes to the sound of tanks rolling along a gravel road. Carlos dreaming of what might have, what should have been.

We wanted to keep Child Soldiers wholly within the studio. The original music was written and performed by Egay Bugas and Rommie Fabian, who are equally proficient as animators. For the voice-over narration, we tested around 30 people around the studio and finally decided on Alice Manuel, head of the Administration Department. She spoke the line with such deep conviction that perhaps came, in part, from being the mother of 2 teenage boys. The models were designed by Ric Jamlig. Nary Jamlig as the animator, reminds us how talented and versatile Filipino animators are.

Child Soldiers.