femalenetwork.com

The trailer for Urduja, the first full-length animation film to be produced by a local production company, has been out since December last year--you can catch it on GMA-7 or Youtube --but it's only recently that Mr. Antonio "Tony" Tuviera of APT Entertainment Inc. spilled the beans about the upcoming movie in PEP.

"It took us almost ten years to make this," Mr. Tuviera told PEP. "My original dream was to make a series of animated features on television...which was impossible to do because of the cost."

Set in the 13th century, Urduja tells the story of Princess Urduja (yes, that princess Urduja of the Filipino myth) of the Tawilisi tribe, who falls in love with Limhang, a Chinese pirate. One of the best reasons to watch out for this film is because of the voices behind the characters: Regine Velasquez is Urduja, Cesar Montano is the voice behind Limhang, while Eddie Garcia is the patriarch Lakanpati. Jay Manalo also stars as Simakwel, Johnny Delgado as Wang, Ruby Rodriguez as Mayumi, Epy Quizon as Daisuke, and Michael and Allan K as the animals Kutkut and Tarsir. You can watch the trailer here.

From the trailer alone, Urduja promises to be very interesting. For one, the animation is smooth and believable; it can actually be mistaken for a classic Disney animated film. We also give props to the creators for choosing a story from our own culture, and not some lame imitation of anything western.

So, what do you think of Urduja? Will you give this promising local animated film a chance when it comes to theaters this June? We definitely will. After all, it’s not everyday we get to see something like this!