Life is an Animation

To Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks in the movie), life is a box of chocolates. How sweet!

But to Antonio “Tony” Tuviera, head of TAPE, Inc. (which produces the 29-year-old Eat, Bulaga!, the long-running noontime show in the history of Philippine television), life is an animation that has been playing and replaying in his mind since time immemorial. Fantastic!

It’s his love for animation that inspired Tony to produce Urduja, said to be the first-ever Philippine full-length digital and traditional animation showcasing the Pinoy talent and animation capabilities calculated to pave the way for more large-scale animation projects.

“It’s an ambitious project,” said Tony, “very expensive,” although he doesn’t reveal the total cost. “Basta...Pero okey lang because this is a long-time dream come true, years in the making.”

Voicing for the title role is no less than Regine Velasquez, with Cesar Montano for the male lead Limhang. As you must have noticed, Urduja brings together a big Kapuso star (Regine) and a big Kapamilya star (Cesar). Together, because they believe in the great potential of the project, they help raise the local film industry to a higher level. They lend to the film not just their speaking voices but also their singing voices.

In time for the film’s playdate end of this month, a soundtrack will be released, containing 12 songs (five of which are sung in the movie), with Babae Ako as carrier single. The heart-warming lyrics were written by Joey de Leon, with music/melody by Ogie Alcasid and musical arrangement by Mon Faustino and Noel Zarate.

“I grew up on animation,” recalled Tony. “The very first animation I saw was by a Canadian animator named, if I remember right, McClaren. It was a pas de deux; ginawa niyang animation ‘yung dance na naging flowers. I was amazed. I told myself, ‘Someday, I’ll do my own animation’.”

Tony’s life itself is as amazing as an animation.

A self-made man, Tony was a UST Architecture undergraduate when he started working as production aide at IBC Channel 13. For eight years (in the ’70s), he was a drummer for the band Eddie Villanueva and the Technicolors which livened up the music scene together with other bands like Jose Mari and the Electromaniacs and The Tiltdown Men (one member was Tito Sotto). It was Spanky Mata (now based in the US), a fellow band member working at IBC 13, who tipped Tony off about an opening in that station.

When martial law was declared, Tony quit IBC 13 and did musical scoring for movies. Then, he joined Production Specialists, the company owned by Romy Jalosjos, which aired beauty contests (Miss Young International, etc.) and the PBA games. In 1979, Production Specialists launched Eat, Bulaga! The show was soon taken over by TAPE, Inc., a new company headed by Tony.

How and when did your interest in animation begin?

“It started years ago when I got into television, in late 1968. I’ve been interested in reading books about animation and I really love watching Walt Disney animated features, such as Cinderella and Snow White. I started as an editor in IBC Channel 13 and I experimented with animation techniques, 16mm pa noon, for the OBB (Opening Billboards) of newscasts and public-affairs shows. Simple techniques lang, like moving circles that formed graphics. At that time, I was using cutouts. It took time, unlike now when doing animation is much easier because of advances in technology. When we started Eat, Bulaga! in 1979, I did an animation as OBB, showing Tito, Vic & Joey leaping out of a pot.”

And when did you come up with the idea of an animated film?

“In the late ’70s, I started asking myself, ‘Why can’t we come up with our own animated feature, first on TV, ‘yung talagang Filipinong-Filipino?’ I wanted to do a TV series. There was no animé yet at that time. I gathered several animators. We did try but we realized that it was impossible because of the cost. We have the manpower and the talent but not the money.”

It’s a good thing that you were not discouraged.

“I went on, I continued to do research. I wanted to finish something that maybe I could sell to producers abroad. But after more than three and a half years, I told myself, ‘A, hindi talaga kaya.’ So I gave up. Luckily, one of the animators stayed with me. He’s none other than Reggie Entienza who eventually directed Urduja. We began experimenting on a concept for an animated film, toying with a story about Lapu-Lapu and other historical figures. Wala pang Urduja noon.”

What other stories did you try doing?

“Limahong. There’s an interesting story behind it. Back then, I was living in San Juan where I had Artemio Tecson for a neighbor. He used to direct movies at Sampaguita Pictures and an assistant director of Manong Gerry (de Leon). Tecson was doing a script/storyboard and it was Limahong which he planned to submit to a producer in the States. He would go back and forth to the States but nothing happened. Finally, he gave up. He was growing old, so he decided to entrust the Limahong material with me.”

Did you know that the best animators in Hollywood today are Filipinos (some of them are with Pixar)?

“Exactly. I was asking myself, ‘There are talented Filipinos not only in Hollywood but in other parts of the world, and yet there’s no Filipino animated feature?’ The Filipino animators have never been given due recognition. So I decided to produce Urduja both to fulfill my long-time dream and to call attention to Filipino animators. Reggie Entienza and my son Michael were the ones who wrote the story of Urduja which is fiction.”

Is it more expensive to produce an animation than a regular movie with human actors?

“Oh yes. Hindi lang expensive, mabusisi din. And it requires a lot of patience and sacrifice. Up to now, dino-drawing pa rin ‘yung characters. Urduja was conceived seven years ago and in those seven years, seven times din ako almost nag-give up. There were four of us working on it, patiently doing storyboards, but we were not happy kasi parang hindi mag-gel. We would do it over and over again. It really needs a lot of patience. We encountered all sorts of problems.”

So Urduja is fiction.

“Yes. It’s the story of a princess. We put in Limahong even if, they say, he and Urduja never really met because they existed in different centuries. Also in the film are other historical Filipino figures, although their names were slightly  changed, like Lakanpati (voiced by Eddie Garcia), Wang (Johnny Delgado), Simakwel (Jay Manalo), Kukut (Michael V), Tarsir (Allan K, obviously inspired by the primate Tarsier), Mayumi (Ruby Rodriguez) and Daisuke (Epi Quizon).”

Why Urduja and not, say, Limahong (since you have the Artemio Tecson storyboard with you)?

“Kasi, I think may mas appeal sa mga Filipino ang female characters. Even in Hollywood animations, most of the characters are female, like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Pocahontas and Beauty & the Beast. Even other animations with males as leads, mayroon ding female characters, like Finding Nemo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Pinocchio. One of my favorites is Lion King.”

Who chose the voice-actors? Didn’t you have a hard time convincing them?

“I did. No, they didn’t give me the run-around. In the case of Regine, I told her about it as early as four years ago. She’s my one and only choice because Urduja is a singing part. I gave her only the synopsis and the character design but she said yes right away. We didn’t even discuss the talent fee. Same with Cesar and the rest of the actors. And they all gave fantastic performances.”

Do you think there’s an audience for this kind of film?

“I think so; I hope so. If Filipinos patronize Hollywood or Japanese animated films, why not our own? Even then, I don’t think I can recoup my capital but I’m happy that my long-time dream has come true. I want to give back to the industry which has been very, very kind to me and my family. So far, I’m happy with the feedback. I’m thankful to Mother Lily and Vic (Sotto) for letting me show the teaser of Urduja with their entries at the Metro Filmfest last December. The audience response was very encouraging. They were telling me, ‘Kaya pala ng Filipino gumawa ng ganoon, parang Hollywood.’ Very inspiring.”

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