Talking with Dustin Ellis
 Born to an Iranian mother
and an American Father, Dustin Ellis embraced cartoons
from early childhood. With an impressive resume, Dustin
embarks this year on the most exciting adventure of his
career, the
creation of Babak
and Friends. Having worked on great classics
such as "The
Iron Giant", "The
Rugrats Movie", and "Jimmy Neutron" among
others, Dustin brings years of experience to an area that
has long needed much professional and industry attention.
We were ecstatic to hear this news and to be able to chat
with him for a short time.
PersianMirror: Tell
us a little about yourself.
Dustin
Ellis: As a child I
went back and forth between Iran and the US frequently.
The only thing that kept me sane during all this going
back and forth were: a loving family... and cartoons! So
naturally, as I became an adult, I majored in Film Production
and worked my way up in the animation ranks. My other fond
memory growing up was watching holiday specials. Mind you,
for me anyway, it wasn't a religious thing. It was excitement
for the holiday and watching more beloved cartoons! More
recently, while I was working at Nickelodeon, my boss produced
a cartoon called "A Rugrats Passover" which was
followed by "A Rugrats Chanukah". Both were very
popular as they were the first "high quality" projects
for the Jewish market. At the time I thought, "What
a great idea! I wish there was a Norooz cartoon!" Now,
here we are, years later, and finally my dream is becoming
a reality!
"When
I learned about 'A Rugrats Chanukah', I
thought,'What
a great idea! I wish there was a Norooz cartoon!'" -
Dustin Ellis
PM: Tell us a little about "A First
Norooz"?  DE: The cartoon is about
an Iranian boy named Babak ("Bobby" to his American
friends). His parents have been living here so long and
wanted him to
assimilate as much as possible, that they unfortunately
haven't been teaching him very much about his Persian heritage.
As a result, Babak doesn't know about his own culture and
feels left out of his friend's celebrations as well. His
cousins Saman and Sousanne come to live in America with
their parents, and again, Babak is forced to feel like
a third wheel because he has so little in common with them.
But thanks to a little help from Amoo Norooz and Haji Firooz,
Babak learns about his heritage and ends up celebrating
a very special Norooz! This cartoon is obviously for the
children of Iranian parents who are living in countries
other than Iran. But I also hope that the parents will
take the time to watch it as well. I have tried to make
this as much fun for parents as it is for the kids, so
ideally I would like this to be a true "family picture" that
kids and adults of all ages can watch and enjoy, together.
PM: Tell
us who is putting it all together and the people that are
making this dream a reality?
DE: Because of my extensive
experience working in the animation industry, I have had
the privilege
of working with some of the top artists from Nickelodeon,
Warner Bros. and DreamWorks. Several of the storyboard
artists worked on some of the best episodes of "Tiny
Toon Adventures" and "Animaniacs". My Co-Producer,
just finished working on "The Clifford Movie" and
the animation studio doing the animation, is the same one
Disney employed to do the "Lilo and Stitch" sequel.
PM: How
do you think your work fits in with the traditional Iranian
children story telling? Is it comparable and how?
DE: That's
a tough question! As far as I know, Iranians have never
had a series that is high quality animation with accompanying
storybooks that have targeted the kids of Iranian immigrants.
I will say this: I have tried to promote "Iranian
art forms" within the cartoon itself. For example,
there is a sequence in the cartoon when Babak is dreaming
that he is in Persepolis, walking around the impressive
ruins that his ancestors built thousands of years ago.
And later, Babak's mother sits down the kids and reads
them the story of Norooz. This segment of the cartoon is
done in "Persian Miniature" style animation...paying
homage to a distinctly Persian art form.
PM: Do you think this will be appropriate for children
who may have nothing to do with Iranian culture - do you
think you are sending a global message at some level?
DE: Very
much so! And I think the timing couldn't be better. When
I was nine years old and Iran and America were caught
in the hostage crisis, I took a verbal beating in the schoolyard,
from ignorant classmates of mine. I can't help but think
that this kind of problem could be repeating itself today,
with the news being inundated with stories about Iran's
nuclear ambitions and other negative images and stories.
I would like to show Americans a side of Iranians they
rarely see in the news: loving families celebrating a
wonderful
holiday and having the ups and downs of life like everyone
else. This cartoon doesn't only teach Iranians and others
about Norooz; it shows a side that people (non-Iranians)
rarely get to see...and teaches them a history lesson
about the Persian Empire as well.
PM:
Desert Island. Three things. What will you take?
DE: A
swimsuit, a hammock and an airplane.
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