Mansour, a popular Emirati cartoon created to engage young Arab audiences in their native customs and culture, has come to Pakistan.
Pakistani information minister said that the animated series would be another step in involving the people and children of Pakistan in the country’s “beautiful relationship” with the United Arab Emirates. The show revolves around Mansour, an excitable, curious 12-year-old, who finds himself thrown into numerous adventures with his friends and family, escapades that teach both Mansour and the audience important morals and lessons along the way, including about the importance of family and community, living a healthy lifestyle and pursuing meaningful careers and life goals.
The first episode of the series — which has so far had a run of five seasons and over 100 episodes — was shown in Islamabad at a screening arranged by the UAE embassy. The episode was dubbed in Urdu. “Obviously the relationship [between Pakistan and the UAE] goes back decades and I hope this movie, Mansour, will involve the people and children of Pakistan into this beautiful relationship,” information minister Chaudhary Fawad Hussain said while addressing the screening ceremony at the Sheikh Zayed International Academy in Islamabad.
“I hope this would be a transformation of this relationship to the next generation,” Hussain said. The information ministry said Pakistan was keen to a part of the global animated film industry which would be worth up to $340 billion by 2025. “Even now about 20 companies in Pakistan are doing about $300 million in business here on animation,” Hussain said. “I would like to expand this as much as we can.”
Addressing the ceremony, UAE envoy to Pakistan Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Al Zaabi said Mansour was the first Arabic language television cartoon series aimed to promote social values, empathy, tolerance and friendship in a culturally diverse modern world.
