By IANS
London : The British Broadcasting Corp (BBC) has teamed up with a Kerala-based firm for an animation series with a budget of more than 10 million pounds ($20 million).
The animation, called Freefonix, is co-produced by Britain-based Cinnamon Entertainment and the BBC, and has been made in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
Described as a high-energy adventure series following three musical renegades, the scripts for Freefonix were written in Los Angeles and New York, voices recorded in Ireland and the animation modelled by Cinnamon on the Isle of Man.
The series has been animated with computer-generated images in Thiruvananthapuram.
The 40 half-hour episodes, co-written by Magnus Fiennes – brother of actors Ralph and Joseph – will be shown on BBC One television starting Jan 4.
A BBC spokesman said Freefonix was one of biggest animations by a British production company in its genre and added: “The show is a combination of sophisticated storytelling, incredible music and amazing characters and graphics.”
The series will see pop band Freefonix battle to stop the forces of evil and rival band Mantyz and will feature the voices of singer Jamelia, Justin Hawkins from the band The Darkness and guest voicing from X Factor singer Chico, cricketer Alistair Cook, actor Joseph Fiennes and musician Hayley Ecker.
The story takes place 50 years into the future in the city of Los Bosmos.
It features three mismatched heroes BB, Freezbone and Mostart, who form a band called Freefonix to safeguard the most powerful force in the universe, known as the 13th Note, and to save the world from a dark future.
The BBC deal follows a 2005 partnership between Britain’s Virgin Group and India’s Gotham Entertainment Group, the largest comic-book publisher in South Asia.