Roslin Press has just announced the first-ever Armenian production of Osamu
Dezaki’s anime rendition of the classic swashbuckling adventure, Treasure Island.
This is an initiative the likes of which the Diaspora hasn’t seen in over a generation. To capture the spirit of the 21st century Diaspora and Armenia, the
26-episode series features a mix of characters speaking Eastern and
Western Armenian. Thanks to the assistance of the Calouste Gulbenkian
Foundation, young Armenians from across the globe can now sail the seven
seas with Jim Hawkins in his search for buried treasure.
Especially
during the pandemic with all of us spending an unprecedented amount of
time at home, finding high-quality Armenian entertainment for children
has never been more important.
A Story We All Love
It was a
dark and stormy night… Jim and his mother were tidying up the Admiral
Benbow’ Inn of Black Hill, a remote part of the English countryside.
Just as they were about ready to lock up, a mysterious old sea captain
arrives at their door. This wayward stranger named Billy Bones warns of a
certain one-legged man – a vicious, brutal pirate who must be avoided
at all costs. Fearing that he may not be around much longer, Billy
entrusts Jim with some mysterious papers-one of them being a map – the
map to Treasure Island. And thus begins an epic saga of high seas adventure, treacherous mutiny, and one boy’s courage, faith, and good will.
High Quality Entertainment to Ensure Language Preservation
Treasure Island
comes at a critical juncture in the Diaspora. There is no denying that
the Diasporan communities of the world are struggling when it comes to
language maintenance. What is needed to keep the youth
engaged with the Armenian language is high quality entertainment with a
strong literary backbone. Children must be entertained but must also be
exposed to complex thoughts, emotions and themes. The new Armenian
production of Treasure Island has all these combined with a fantastic score and beautiful animation.
Special attention was given to the translation of Treasure Island.
Both Eastern and Western Armenian are shown organically interacting for
the first time in a children’s animated series. From LA to Paris, the
old mono-dialect Diaspora is no more. Communities are more diverse than
they have ever been, and we set out to celebrate this fact in Treasure Island.
Characters are depicted with their unique accents and linguistic
styling, encouraging our youth to embrace the linguistic diversity of
the Armenian language.
From Armenia with Love
Each and every single member of the Roslin and TechnoLinguistics team that has contributed to bringing Treasure Island to life has left an indelible mark of love, with a cast of over twenty voice actors and
actresses, going from hours upon hours of video editing to the stage direction to the uniquely Armenian composition of the opening score.
Treasure Island is available now on VLUME,
a new media platform custom-built for the Armenian speaking communities
of the world. VLUME is already host to hundreds of eBooks, 1000’s of
hours of audiobooks, and now with the introduction of Treasure Island
– video content. Whether you are in Buenos Aires or Nicosia, New
Jersey or Paris, Glendale or Yerevan – VLUME provides an unprecedented
sense of community, now centered around fantastic literature and the
best and brightest video content that the world has to offer.
New episodes of Treasure Island are made available every Friday on VLUME.
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