Maya, la primera gran historia (partially found cancelled Mexican animated film; 2005): Difference between revisions

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As its name implies, the film would be set during the golden age of the Mayan culture. Ah Kin, a little boy, is chosen by the moon goddess Ix Chel to restore order to the world.
As its name implies, the film would be set during the golden age of the Mayan culture. Ah Kin, a little boy, is chosen by the moon goddess Ix Chel to restore order to the world.


The film had a budget of 3,500,000 dollars (approximately 350,000 pesos at the time).
The film had a budget of 3,500,000 dollars (approximately 35,000,000 pesos at the time).


==Cancelation==
==Cancelation==

Revision as of 19:44, 11 June 2021

Maya.png

Promotional poster.

Status: Partially Found

Maya, la primera gran historia (translated as Maya, the first great story) was an animated film produced by Mexican animation studio Animex Producciones, also known for producing La Leyenda de la Nahuala. The film began production in 2003 under the direction of Ricardo Arnáiz and with Bruno Bichir and the musician Emmanuel as producers.

In 2005, a year before the planned premiere, it was announced that the project would be suspended due to creative differences between Arnáiz and Bichir.

Background

Animex Producciones is a Mexican animation studio founded in 2000. After becoming notable with the short series Roncho El Perro Mala Pata, it led to the creation of a feature film based on the Mayan culture.

In conjunction with Ceiba Producciones, a first teaser was shown in 2002 under the name Maya. In 2004 it would be announced in the newspaper La Jornada that pre-production would begin, now with the title as Maya, la primera gran historia.[1]

According to this article, Ricardo Arnáiz, founder of Animex, would take the role of director; while actor Bruno Bichir and famous singer Emmanuel would serve as producers. It is not known if Bichir or Emmanuel would have been voice actors or if they would only have focused on investment.

Other important people were the cartoonists Oscar González and Carlos Ostos, recognized in the Mexican comic scene; as well as counting with the advice of the American designer Mike Kunkel.

As its name implies, the film would be set during the golden age of the Mayan culture. Ah Kin, a little boy, is chosen by the moon goddess Ix Chel to restore order to the world.

The film had a budget of 3,500,000 dollars (approximately 35,000,000 pesos at the time).

Cancelation

In 2005, some trailers were shown to the public revealing how advanced the project was, even reaching an agreement with Altavista Films to distribute the film.

Promotional image published in 2016.

However, that same year the suspension of production would be announced due to creative differences between the director and the producers. In Bichir's words, Arnáiz demanded that the project should be finished quickly, without acknowledging the work done by animators and asking Bichir to leave the project. On his part, Emmanuel stated that it was due to a "problem with the script."[2]

Eventually the project was canceled, becoming the studio's first failure. A year later, and financed by the Government of Puebla, Animex Producciones was able to release its first feature film in theaters: La Leyenda de la Nahuala.

Since the cancellation of Maya, la primera gran historia, it was unknown how much of the production was done. Only a few trailers were revealed to the public, being uploaded on YouTube. According to Ricardo Arnáiz' curriculum, it is stated that there are more than 20 minutes of animation of the film belonging to the shown trailers.[3]

At the end of 2016, Ricardo Arnáiz posted a promotional poster on his social networks announcing the return of the film in 2020.[4] The same image would be published on the Animex Producciones social networks the following year. Since then, nothing has been known of this attempt to revive the film and its 2020 premiere never occurred. Even less so when in 2019, it was announced that Ricardo Arnáiz would direct the last Las Leyendas film scheduled to be released in 2021. Animex would also be involved in other projects by 2022, without Maya being among them.

Gallery

Concept Art

Videos

First trailer shown in 2005.

Second trailer, showing the partnership with Altavista Films.

External Links

References