A fictional animation based on an ancient book ‘Marzubannama’ is under production by filmmaker Behrouz Soltani.
The book authored by Sa’ad ad-Din Varavini, is a collection of 10th-century fables in Persian, translated into Arabic around 1220 AD.
The text survives in an illustrated manuscript dating to 1299 AD (Ilkhanid period, in the Archaeology Museum Library, Istanbul). It contains the earliest extant representation of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in a Persian manuscript.
All the characters of the animation are imaginary, narrating the stories of the book in a comic style. “The film has 14 episodes of 15-minute each,” said the director, adding that all the episodes follow the general plot of the book; however each part portrays a short adventure.
The stories are not direct translations into animated pictures, but more of adaptations, with changes in scenarios and scenes, he noted.
In addition to the script, the original characters of the book are animals, but the animation narrates the stories by beasts who have no actual existence in the real world and are totally imaginary.
Antagonists, protagonists and neutral characters will teach ethical lessons to the viewers, who will be children and young adults.
A production of Saba, the animation is currently in the process of dubbing and will be ready for release in a couple of weeks, Soltani added.
