Cuba releases
Meñique, its first
3D animation film
Photos: ICAIC
Meñique, Cuba’s first 3D animated
film premiered on July 20, in the Charles Chaplin
Theater, Cinemateca de Cuba, in Havana.
Written and directed by Ernesto
Padrón, the film was made possible thanks to co-production
with the Spanish company Ficción Producciones and
the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC) Animation Studios.
The film is loosely based on a fairy
tale by the Frenchman Édouard de Laboulaye, which
was adapted by José Martí for his children’s
magazine La Edad de Oro. Meñique is a metaphor for
wisdom and intelligence, and promotes values such as
love, friendship, honor and justice.
Another of Meñique’s great cultural
assets is its soundtrack, including songs composed
by singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez, and performed
– for the Spanish and English versions - by
musicians Roko and Xuso Jones, with the musical
direction by Spaniard, Manu Riveiro.
José Martí published the story in La
Edad de Oro with very good reason, given its
formidable teaching values, as articulated by Miguel
Díaz-Canel, first Cuban vice president, with the
phrase "Knowledge is worth more than strength,"
after attending the world premier of Meñique, a film
which he also described as a gift to all Cubans. He
stated that the story is very relevant to Cuba’s
current reality, commenting, "I am very proud that
we have made this film." (Excerpts from
Cubadebate)
