Mix from “Don Quixote” and “Shrek”: Bekmambetov showed the first frames of the cartoon about Nasreddin

The director will turn the story of the folk hero of the East into a computer game

Timur Bekmambetov has long dreamed of telling the story of Nasreddin and has already managed to embody it in a puppet show, which was shown at the Moscow Theater of Nations two years ago. Now the director and producer has gone further: he is making a full-length cartoon about one of the main folklore heroes of the East, attracting young animators and organizing new specialized schools specifically for this project. In addition, he decided to turn the story of Nasreddin into a computer game. The director spoke about his project at the VII International Congress “Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan – the Foundation of a New Renaissance,” which takes place in Samarkand.

Timur Bekmambetov was born in Kazakhstan, and began his career in Uzbekistan. After serving in the army, he came to Tashkent, where he graduated from the Theater and Art Institute, after which he got a job at the Uzbekfilm film studio and the Tashkent Ilkhom Theater. Years later, the famous director decided, as they say, to kill two birds with one stone: to make his contribution to the development of the local animation school and realize his long-standing idea of ​​​​creating a full-length cartoon about Nasreddin.

At the International Congress “Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan – the Foundation of a New Renaissance,” Bekmambetov signed an agreement with the head of the country’s Cinematography Agency, Firdavs Abdukhalikov, on the creation of three new animation schools – in Bukhara, Nukus and Tashkent. Similar studios already exist in Uzbekistan, Turkey and Russia (Tatarstan), and their students are already working on the 90-minute cartoon “Khoja Nasreddin”. He showed the first frames of the animated film at a cultural forum organized by the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Popularization of the Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan.

Bekmambet’s story about the cheerful vagabond, witty philosopher Khoja Nasreddin evokes two associations at once. The first is modern – with the Oscar-winning “Shrek”. This impression is created due to the animation style itself, and also because of the second hero – his faithful friend Donkey, who jokes as sharply as Donkey from the American cartoon hit. But the same Donkey and the plot itself give rise to a second association, a deeper one – with the medieval cunning hidalgo Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panzo, who knew how to ground his Don and protect him from the most reckless exploits. These complex parallels also kill two birds with one stone, connecting claims to worldwide success with the philosophical idea of ​​quixoticism. Bekmambetov’s Nasreddin is a cheerful character, but there is no less tragic philosophy in him than lightness.

The director shoots his film directly on a game engine, so that later he can easily and naturally reformat the film into a computer game with 3D animation. The first frames of the future game present Nasreddin as a superhero who does not wear a cape and walks barefoot. At the presentation, Bekmambetov recalled that the stories about the “Muslim Don Quixote” were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List last year. “The Arab world, Turkey, China, Kazakhstan and Iran, in short, all of Asia and beyond consider Hoxha their hero. Nasreddin unites cultures and people from North Africa to East Asia,” the director noted. Therefore, Bekmambetov decided that an international team should work on the creation of the cartoon saga. Animators from several studios in Uzbekistan, Russian Almetyevsk and Turkish Ankara are already involved in production. The project is long-term – following the 90-minute cartoon, it is planned to make not only a computer game, but an animated series.