Tadhana

Tadhana (1978)

The first full-length Philippine animated film.

Directed by the cartoonist Nonoy Marcelo, Tadhana is the first Philippine full-length animated film. It was commissioned to be based on the book of the same name on the history of the Filipino people. The book’s author is credited as the authoritarian and then-President Ferdinand Marcos, but was actually ghostwritten by other historians. The film presents a satirical, humorous and poignant view of the Philippines’ history of Spanish colonisation through highly original and surreal vignettes fusing art, mythology and music. Several artists collaborated, voiced characters and appear in the film. Noted printmaker Pandy Aviado served as the film’s assistant director while Santiago Bose was one of the film’s many animators.

Date of release
1978-09-21
Runtime
54m
Genres
Animation
Director
Nonoy Marcelo

Interesting facts

Tadhana is a 1978 Philippine adult animated historical comedy film written and directed by cartoonist Nonoy Marcelo. Presenting a satirical and light-hearted take on Philippine history, the film depicts several historical figures and mythological creatures during the Spanish colonial period through various vignettes.

Production

After becoming interested in animation while working as a cartoonist, Nonoy Marcelo was hired by the Philippine government to work as an animator at the National Media Production Center beginning in 1977. He then collaborated with Imee Marcos, with whom he had previously worked with on the 1977 documentary film Da Real Makoy, and his uncle José Zabala-Santos by creating the first-ever full-length animated film to come out of the Philippines, whic…

While writing and directing the film, he added his own interpretation of the history of the Philippines as a series of vignettes, including whimsical, satirical, sometimes subversive and particularly anti-clerical touches to the narrative. Imee insists that while it was not only a literally faithful adaptation of her father's books, it was faithful to their themes.

The animation studio was set up in Quezon City to highlight the strategic focus placed on the project. Production on the film lasted for three months and employed a team of sixty artists, including printmaker Pandy Aviado, who served as the film’s animator and assistant director, and Santiago Bose, by Imee. Some of the production crew and artists also did voice work for the film, including Aviado and Marcelo himself.

Tadhana was rendered using hand drawn characters using then traced in celluloid before painted. The backgrounds were also primarily painted the same way, however, some of the scenes that was more experimental in form, were rendered using printmaking techniques. Unlike many animated features filmed in 24 frames per second, the film's animation is entirely limited with panoramic drawings using cellulose nitrate or acetate.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended