Khalid alDakheel

Khalid alDakheel ( _ar. خالد الدخيل) (born 11 May 1981 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) is a Saudi cartoonist, animator and director. Known as the first Saudi Arabian animation filmmaker, and one the first in the region, especially when he received awards for his animated films in couple of film festivals. [http://www.kdcartoon.com K.D.CARTOON | Khalid alDakheel Cartoon Studio] was lunched On-Web in 2001.

Biography

Khalid began illustrating and creating cartoon characters when he was five years old. At 10, he started creating comics and at 18 years old, he published his first comic called [http://www.kdcartoon.com/home/wp-content/gallery/comics-1999/hassan.jpgHassan al-Fannan] in a Saudi comic magazine called "al-Jeel al-Jadeed". His drawings and comics are influenced by Japanese Manga and his animations are Anime-inspired, his general style is a combination of Disney-style and motion and the look and feel of Anime characters that Khalid grew up with. Hayao Miyazaki is Khalid's idol and is an influence on his work.

In 1992, Khalid started animating by making flip-book cartoons. He developed his way of animating by working with a video camera and some simple tools he made. He produced his first 15 minute cartoon about Pac Man, which he animated frame by frame. Later, while watching Woody Woodpecker, he discovered the Cel method, which he used to make his other cartoons, by separating the character layers from the backgrounds and props. Khalid also used a video camera to create stop motion short films using clay and toys.

Khalid was always passionate about directing and acting and later began filmmaking with his brothers and friends. He made his first short film called "The Butcher" with his brothers, wherein he personally acted as more than five characters, which led him into video editing.

He joined The Saudi Association Of Culture and Arts in 1998, where he stayed for only a few months. He described the situation there as "a mess". A Saudi channel called al-Arabiya [http://www.kdcartoon.com/home/about-kd/tv-interviews/ interviewed] alDakheel later in 2006 where he spoke honestly about his experience in the Saudi Association, describing the situation there. The interview caused a media furore later on with newspapers and magazines writing about the interview.

In 2000, Khalid started using Macromedia Flash, with which he made couple of short animated cartoons, the first was called "Kick Kivi", which he created using just a mouse. This cartoon and ones that followed were emotional vents of anger and feelings, specifically [http://www.kdcartoon.com/studio/animation/movies/cats_benefits/ "Cats Benefits"] in 2003, a film that was highly rated and participated in couple of film festivals including [http://www.efilmc.com/ Emirates Film Competition] in 2007. Khalid launched his personal website the same year.

In 2004, Khalid went to work with a production company in Riyadh. He worked on couple of TV programs, as an illustrator, video editor, story-board artist and director. He directed TV commercials in a cartoonish style for local companies in KSA.

In 2006, he produced [http://www.kdcartoon.com/studio/animation/movies/sida/ "Sida"] . The film is a traditional Arabian animation and story that takes place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1960. The story, which was told to Khalid by his mother, is about a man called Sida who was known for his bizarre and mysterious character.

Khalid participated with "Sida" in couple of short films festivals, where he received his first award (A Special Mention Award for "Sida"'s Production Quality) at the Emirates Film Competition (Efilm) in 2006, as well as a Daily Third Place Award at the online animation network Newgrounds, among other honors. The film was shown in other festivals and animation networks, including Jordan Short Films Festival, and the first Saudi film festival called Jeddah Film Festival in 2006. These events made him the first Saudi cartoonist and animator to appear in the media and in film festivals, and the first cartoon director to receive awards for his animations.

Awards

* 2005 - Daily 3rd Place Award for the animated short film "Sida" at NewGrounds.
* 2006 - Special Mention Award For Production Quality for the animated short film "Sida" at Emirates Film Competition in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
* 2007 - Announcing animated film "Sida" (Famous Today) at MyToons.
* 2007 - A Thanks Letter from The Saudi Ministry Of Culture And Information for participating with animated cartoon "Cats Benefits" at Jeddah Film Festival in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
* 2008 - An Honor from The Leader of The Saudi Royal Guards for participating with Awareness Cartoons at the “Anti-Drugs” Exhibition in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Some Short Animations

* [http://www.kdcartoon.com/studio/animation/movies/what/ What !?]
* [http://www.kdcartoon.com/studio/animation/movies/vd/ Valentine's Day: Feet Gift]
* [http://www.kdcartoon.com/studio/animation/movies/dhiah/ Udhiyah]

Upcoming Projects

Khalid alDakheel is currently working on a Cartoon Animated Series, which will be the first of its kind in the region. He's also and planning to attend animation and filmmaking courses, as he's been working on the concept of an Animated Feature Film to be showing in the GCC theaters, which will be a historical achievement in the Animation industry, especially in the Middle East.

External links

* [http://www.kdcartoon.com K.D.CARTOON | Khalid alDakheel Cartoon ] The artist official website (Arabic/English).
* [http://www.efilmc.com/english/pr_e.aspx?i1=3085&i2=8053&i3=5425&f1=6657&f2=11625&f3=8997 Khalid alDakheel at Emirates Film Competition ] .
* [http://www.mytoons.com/kdcartoon K.D.CARTOON at MyToons ]
* [http://www.youtube.com/KDcartoon K.D.CARTOON at YouTube ]
* [http://www.myspace.com/kdcartoon K.D.CARTOON at MySpace ]
* [http://www.arabiyat.com/magazine/publish/article_742.shtml Interview with Khalid alDakheel at Arabiyat Network (Arabic)]
* [http://al-madina.com/node/45464/arbeaa Interview with Khalid alDakheel at alMadina Newspaper (Arabic)]