Award-winning Brazilian studio Hype Animation has kicked off production on its first animated feature, Tainá e a Flecha Azul (“Taina and the Blue Arrow”), based on the Quirino Award-winning television series Taina and the Amazon’s Guardians (2018). Virginia Limberger is the project’s producer and Alê Camargo is the director.
Tainá e a Flecha Azul is produced by Sincrocine, with Hype serving as the animation studio and co-producing with Tietê Produções and Claro. Theatrical release is expected for 2023.
“This is a big challenge for Hype Animation. We brought to the table all of our expertise built in 20 years of work in the industry,” says Gabriel Garcia, Hype’s CEO. “Our main goal now is to best translate all the elements — from the environment to the character’s nuances — that made the TV show such a hit in Latin America to the big screen.”
The feature serves as a prequel for the preschool animated series, which was based on a live-action trilogy. The movie’s plot will follow young Indigenous girl Tainá as she trains to be Guardian of the Amazon with the wise Master Aí. She sees her destiny in jeopardy when she loses the ancestral Blue Arrow which guides the Guardians. In the search to recover this treasure, Tainá meets Catu, Pepe and Suri, and together they must stop a great evil from burning down the forest.
Tainá e a Flecha Azul is being produced with financing from RioFilme and Fuji Brazil; Paris Filmes is on board as distributor. The original story was conceived by screenwriter Gustavo Colombo and Rafael Campos Rocha. The key creative team also includes production designer Camila Carrossine and original songwriter Cezar Brandão. Marcela Baptista is executive producer.
Taina and the Amazon’s Guardians airs on Nickelodeon LatAm, and already has more than 630 million minutes watched, plus more than 20 million on the show’s YouTube channel. The brand’s original universe also has karaoke clips, songs on Spotify and is under negotiation for licensed products. The feature prequel was conceived before the series production.
Hype Animation’s recent works also include Guitar & Drum (2019), co-produced with Punkrobot. The studio is part of Latin America’s largest animation collective, Los Amigos, which produces Angry Birds Bubble Trouble (2020). Hype also produced the 2015 series Dino Adventures. The company’s productions have participated in over 100 festival in 35 countries and aired on major outlets including Discovery Kids, Disney, Nickelodeon and Netflix.
