Trailer for "Arjun" - A Disney Animated Movie Produced in India

[wundermonk]

Link here.

Disney sure loves to buy companies. They own Pixar, they own Marvel and earlier this year they bought UTV, one of the largest media companies in India. A trailer for the first film under this new regime, Arjun: The Warrior Prince, has just been released. The film will be released May 25 in India and is “the untold story of India’s greatest warrior.” While the animation isn’t quite up to Disney standards, it’s interesting to see what the Mouse has their finger on in different countries. Check out the trailer after the jump.

Thanks to Cartoon Brew (via Bleeding Cool) for the heads up on this trailer. It’s in Hindi, but there are some rough translations below.

While I don’t exactly have an idea what’s going on specifically, Arjun certainly seems to have a ton of action and beautiful visuals. In some cases, they could be mistaken for classic Disney stuff. In others, such as the hunting scene early on, it looks a layer or two less detailed from the kind of animation we’re used to seeing. The blend of CG elements with animation also isn’t as clean as we usually see in Disney films, which makes sense as the film has been in production for four years, well before Disney took control of UTV. Still, slap some English subtitles on this thing and I’d check it out.

The movie [as of now] seems to be in Hindi - sorry non-Indian folks.

Methinks it will not be a bad idea to dub it in English for non-Indian Hindus.

We can get Julia Roberts to do the voice over for Draupadi...dont know other non-Indian Hindus who may like to be a part of this though.

[sanjaya]

Methinks it will not be a bad idea to dub it in English for non-Indian Hindus.

...or us ABCDs. It's pretty lame that Indian filmmakers have been wasting time messing around with Bollywood stuff instead of making a well-done movie about Arjuna. But I certainly don't mind Disney doing a sort of Western take on this (after all, film is a Western medium, so it works). I'm looking forward to seeing this.

[realdemigod]

It's a good effort and the trailer has been shown around for quite sometime..but I personally don't think Arjuna is the greatest warrior of Mahabharata...Bhishma is the greatest warrior!

[Jodhaa]

*sigh*

It's...so close.

Sorry, I'm a traditional animation fan, so when I saw the stylization, I was all excited. But it's CGI - and it's stiff CGI at that. There's cleaner animation in some modern video games. I'm a harsh critic when it comes to animation.

However, on the up side - I am thrilled that a company as large and mainstream as Disney is dipping its toes into these stories. I just hope that if it continues, the stories are done justice, and not butchered for today's teeny-bopper, 'Twilight' crowd.

Thanks for sharing the trailer, wundermonk!

[McKitty]

Vanakkam,

Well, I just saw the movie (hindi sub english). I had so much expectations and...Yes the movie is beautiful, the voice acting is great, but this is not the life of Arjuna neither the story of the MahaBharata.

Some events are still here, the game of dice, the house on fire, Arjuna winning Draupadi's hand...But there is nothing else. Nothing is said about tradition, teachings of the scriptures, no Gods ! Well, there is Mahesh disguised as the hunter...Or should I say a crazy jumping old man xD But well, the story is completely distorded.

Krishna just appear randomly in the story, he have nothing to do with Vishnu in fact. He come, kill some guys, basically saying to Arjuna "come on dude, YOLO !"

The great battle of Kurukshetra ? Nope. No great battle, no death of Drona, no Arjuna fighting with Krishna, no teaching or revelation of Krishna.

Basically, at the end of the twelve years of exile, when Duryodhana send his army to the kingdom where the Pandara were hidden, Arjuna just show up, kick everyone's ass, and then just turn back smiling at the camera. Fade to black. Text appears at the screen "Oh yeah BTW, there was a great battle after, the good guys win ! The end"

I mean come on. They told the story of Moses better.

Where are the Gods ? Where are the teachings ? Where are the demons, the giants, the Brahmin ? (Yeah, 3 crazy mens singing and jumping in the air, they are Brahmin. Haha. Riiiiight.) Where is Krishna !? Where is the essence of the Mahabharata !

It's like Disney rippened everything Indian despite the landscape ! I mean this is just the story of a prince that becomes a warrior and kick a bad guy's ass to save an innocent kingdom. This is not the real Arjun ! This is not the real story !


I am really disappointed. What is the use to hide to the yound childrens of India their religious and cultural heritage ! What's the use to show them an empty story instead of a great epic !

Aum Namah Shivaya

[Arjuni]

Namast�,

Thank you for the review, McKitty. I'm sorry you had to sit through an awful, diluted version of Arjuna's story, but I'm glad you posted here so that I can avoid the same waste of time.

Indraneela
===
Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

[Jodhaa]

Vanakkam,

Well, I just saw the movie (hindi sub english). I had so much expectations and...Yes the movie is beautiful, the voice acting is great, but this is not the life of Arjuna neither the story of the MahaBharata.

It's like Disney rippened everything Indian despite the landscape ! I mean this is just the story of a prince that becomes a warrior and kick a bad guy's ass to save an innocent kingdom. This is not the real Arjun ! This is not the real story !

Unfortunatly, this is something Disney is known for, even with the retelling of European classics. On the one hand, I get why they do it. (The Hunchback of Notre Dame is NOT a story for kids - but somehow they managed to rewrite a happy ending for it - in this sense I give them credit. However, Hunchback was not a religious text nor as cultural important as the Mahabharata.)

The story of Moses you are referring to, I think is , "The Prince of Egypt" and was made by Dreamworks, not Disney- but you are right, they did do a pretty good job of retelling that story - at least God was allowed to make an appearance.

I have not seen the "Arjun" movie, but it sounds like they really watered it down - more so then usual. I suspect the reason for this is that they tackled a project that is really too large for an animated film. The Gita alone could be a two hour film. I suspect they just wanted to take the most exciting parts (from a modern film audience perspective) and leave the tricky spiritual aspect out as a way of not having to address those ideas ("We don't have time for that!") and also because they don't want to risk getting it wrong and insulting anyone so they leave the whole thing out.

Which of course satisfies no one. But still seems to make them money *shrugs*

I'll keep hoping for a film version of any of the Indian Epics that does it justice.

[Arjuni]

Namast�,

I think the reason for the watering-down is even simpler, unfortunately: if the hero(es) refer to a blue Hindu being as "God," Western Christian parents will have several uncomfortable questions to answer after the film, and there will be many complaints.

Heh, I loved Hunchback. I saw it in the theatre and was astonished by the incredible Heaven's Light/Hellfire song; even before the outcry started, I remember thinking, Oh my gosh, I cannot believe Disney has gotten away with this! Never after that film have they taken such a risk, unfortunately. (And don't get me started on The Prince of Egypt. Ugh. )

Indraneela
===
Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

[Jodhaa]

Namast�,

I think the reason for the watering-down is even simpler, unfortunately: if the hero(es) refer to a blue Hindu being as "God," Western Christian parents will have several uncomfortable questions to answer after the film, and there will be many complaints.

Heh, I loved Hunchback. I saw it in the theatre and was astonished by the incredible Heaven's Light/Hellfire song; even before the outcry started, I remember thinking, Oh my gosh, I cannot believe Disney has gotten away with this! Never after that film have they taken such a risk, unfortunately. (And don't get me started on The Prince of Egypt. Ugh. )

Indraneela
===
Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

I don't want to get too far from the subject but I did want to respond- Hunchback is one of the my favorites to this day. I read the book after and thought - Whoa, Disney...whoa. Again, props for turning that ending into something for kids but it was still a dark movie. Very beautiful though. you're right -that haven't taken a risk like that again - and I fear they never will.

My question about your belief that Disney was worried about Western audiences reaction - this is the first I have heard of the Arjun film. I don't know if there's even a plan to release it here. I suppose with the world as connected as it is, some easily offended parent somewhere might get a wiff of it and make a fuss. I remember the outrage around "Tarzan".

As for "The Prince of Egypt'' I can only say I wish Dreamworks had stuck with traditional animation -they're style was beautiful and they were willing to do risky stuff. But alas, they made too many bad films (overall) to keep going I think.

Where are the film students on this thread? We should just stop complaining and make our own!

[McKitty]

Vanakkam,

Meh, I'm a videogame student (artist to be more precise) but if I have the occasion to make a descent game about Arjuna, trust me I will do this in due respect with the original story!

The movie is not planned for a western public, I don't even know if they plan to release it, it's really for Indian kids.

The lenght ? Yes I understant, in 1h30 you can't go in full details. But there are already terrifics shortcuts in the story, and seriously, Krishna ? Krishna ! A random dude that have nothing divine, just come to Arjuna and say "Do what you want, forget the consequences !"
THIS is the exact sentence.

He does not even have any kind of friend or mentor figure, He appear 3 times in the whole film ! And Shiva ? An old man jump like a crazy saying "you killed my boar !" and after, to avoid to show a God maybe, Arjuna just wake up in a land, get attacked by monsters and find the bow of Rudra there !

Showing Shiva giving the bow and blessing Arjuna would have take less screen time than ...this.
Making Krishna blue and speak actual wisdom would not have affected the lenght of the film. I feel uncomfortable showing this film to a child, knowing that the only lesson he will learn from Krishna is "Do what you want, forget the consequences !" and then He kill some guys and set a forest on fire.
This is not what it's all about...Seriously why, whyyyyy


Aum Namah Shivaya