Posted on 07/02/2005 3:20:27 PM PDT by nickcarraway
AMMAN -- A new US-funded cartoon series for Iraqi toddlers is being produced in neighboring Jordan in a bid to put a smile back on young faces prematurely inured to the horrors of war.
Filfil the cat and his buddies Hassoun the bird and Thareef the dog are among the characters in the 120-episode series that is designed to be as Iraqi and un-American as possible.
Eschewing the local versions of US hit show "Sesame Street" that dominate children's television in other Arab states, producers have sought to make the series as Iraqi as possible with typical Iraqi names for the characters and the standard Arabic of the soundtrack spoken with an Iraqi accent.
Little Shirin wears the traditional dress of the northern Kurdish mountains and takes boat trips on the Tigris River, which runs through Iraq, including the capital, on its way to the Gulf.
Designed by consultancy firm Creative Assistants, the series went into production at the Amman headquarters of software development company Rubicon in January.
With funding from the US Agency for International Development, a team of more than 30 Iraqi and Jordanian writers, musicians and animators are working to get the first half-hour show on Iraqi television screens by October.
"This program is very good because it will put back a smile on the children's lips and help restore their self-confidence," said Iraqi kindergarten teacher Majeda Hanoun.
"Iraqi children have lived through wars, destructions, economic blockades, deaths of fathers, brothers, and when they came to school in the mornings, we used to add to their miseries.
"We would lecture them on how they should grow up to be good soldiers and eventually they became full of psychological complexes," said Hanoun, one of several Iraqis working on the project in neighboring Jordan.
Nur, an Iraqi animator who preferred to withhold his family name, agreed that the series was an important first step in putting right the abuses of the education system in the past.
"These cartoons will help rekindle children's sensibilities and help them rediscover their innocence, things they have lost," said Nur, who worked for children's television in Iraq under the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein.
Fellow animator Mohammed recalled that under the old regime, children were "brainwashed with pictures of battles and weapons".
"From the minute they woke up they had to praise the [ruling] Baath [Party] and the only songs they sang at school were military anthems.
"Now they will learn to get up and say: 'Sabah Al Kheir, Sabah Al Ward' [Arabic for morning of goodness, morning of flowers]."
Jordanian project manager Lara Al Safadi said that the series was aimed at educating children through entertainment and to "show them there is hope, there is a bright side".
A sometimes-irreverent sense of humor is cultivated in the cartoon series. In one episode in which the characters are taken on a school trip to the zoo, the teacher asks: "Does the fox lay eggs or deliver babies?"
"You can expect anything from a fox because foxes are sly," comes back the answer from the quick-witted pupil.
USAID's Baghdad education director James Weatherill said that the series was aimed at filling a major gap in pre-schooling in Iraq where there are currently only 627 state-run kindergartens for the 1.8 million children aged four or five.
The series covers 13 topics chosen to help prepare pre-schoolers for grade one, ranging from lessons on emotions and feelings, animals, food and nutrition, to, of course, the ABCs.
This is really cool -- thanks for the post!
FYI ping.
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Because Sacrifice begets Sacrifice:
MEL's -PASSION- sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1085111/posts
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What a great idea!
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A sure sign of civilization - kitties!
Thanks for the ping, This is really good!
Thanks for the ping!
HOW CUTEEEE come on Freepers photo capiton this Kitty
A new generation of freedom lovers will leave anti-freedom criminals on the ash heap of history.
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