KR1NG is an award-winning and highly entertaining animated short film and cartoon series, with lovable characters, which explores the world through the eyes of a child with dyslexia. Teacher Suraya helps her dyslexic student Mael navigate academic hurdles as we look at events through his wildly imaginative mind.
Apart from being very entertaining, Kr1ng is a wonderful celebration of imagination and neurodiversity, and is a welcome affirmation for any child who struggles to fit into accepted norms due to seeing things differently. It is also a fantastic way to foster greater understanding of the behaviour of children who just don’t fit the mould, through telling engaging and humorous stories, and celebrates the transformative role a dedicated teacher can have through seeing things from the child’s perspective and supporting them in the best way possible.
The series highlights the fact that classmates and students who are being disruptive are not necessarily doing so deliberately or maliciously and considers how best to value and support the creative and unconventional ways dyslexic children’s brains work to help them reach their potential and jump through the necessary hoops in working towards achieving what is expected of them academically and in other spheres.
We spoke to producer Faqihin Fazlin about the creative process and vision behind the making of Kr1ng:
KR1NG does an amazing job of highlighting the weaknesses and strengths of dyslexic children and how to work with them to help them achieve their potential. What is the story behind the idea for KR1NG and the making of the show?
Brainy Bones Studios is a part of a group and Brainy Bunch, an Islamic Montessori school in Malaysia, is our sister company. Much of our school inspired premise was inspired by their success and daily challenges.
During development, we’ve also discovered an untapped pool of stories from kids of neurodiversity and disabilities. Thus, leading to Mael’s dyslexia in our short film.
We were surprised with the response it had from our audience; various teachers and parents came forth and shared their experiences giving the best education for their children. We were truly touched.
We plan to tell more stories of kids with various learning and physical difficulties as this is such a huge part of our society yet to be highlighted in our animation industry. At least, not the way that we’re doing it.
The fact that there is no speech and the whole story is told visually helps the audience experience events from a different perspective and is a great way of highlighting the fact that people see the world in different ways. What were the reasons behind the artistic choice to not use any spoken words in KR1NG?
Visual storytelling is not only our team’s greatest asset but the Animation medium as a whole. We wanted to train our team – both current and future on the importance of visual communication and cinematic language; transcending beyond borders.
This factor becomes twice as important when we are reaching out to kids. Children communicate better through emotions; through facial expressions, body language and music.
How did you come up with the name for the show?
What does the school bell sound like when it rings? KRINNNGGGG!!!
The sound of the school bell is universal in almost every culture; it brings a sense of reliability and nostalgia. We also see humor as a strong storytelling tool to engage with our audience of all ages.
One of the most entertaining things about KR1NG is how very ordinary situations are turned into something much more interesting through the imagination of Mael. Where did the creative ideas for these imaginative interpretations of events come from?
Creative imagination is part of Mael’s personality; it’s important that the audience can relate with Mael’s feelings. Plus, this allows a near limitless possibilities for visual storytelling.
