Echoes: Pakistan Has Yet to Build a Strong Animation Industry

Should I call it unfortunate, lazy, or ignorant of Pakistan that whenever I search for Pakistani animated movies, only four movies are highlighted in the search results: The Glassworker (2024) by Mano Animation Studios, 3 Bahadur (2015-2018) by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor (2018) by 3rd World Studios, and The Donkey King (2018) by Talash Films & Talisman Studios.

Burka Avenger (2013-2016) by Haroon also made some noise, being the first Pakistani animated series to be a multi-award-winning, Emmy-nominated adventure in the region. Other outstanding series include Quaid se Baatein and Team Muhafiz. It should be noted that all of them are celebrated for blending animation with social themes like girls' education, national unity, and environmental issues.

In the past five or six years alone, I couldn't find any eminent animated films from Pakistan, other than The Glassworker. The animation seems to be confined only to advertisements and some music videos, due to the growing trend of anime worldwide. To make it appealing for the modern audience, the music video makers have embraced animation for a change, which is a good start, but that does not conceal the fact that the Pakistani animation industry needs a breakthrough.

One of the core challenges of Pakistan's animation landscape is that most of the films are made for children as the target audience. Animation can be explored on vast horizons, and emulating Hollywood, Japanese, Chinese, or Korean animation films, which have encapsulated themes of violence, revenge, spot-on action, and strong storylines, Pakistan can draw on their experience.

The majority of the theatrical attendance of the current Pakistani animated film is families who have kids. Why can't animators here make movies like Demon Slayer: The Infinity Castle (2025), Ne Zha 2 (2025), or The Boy and the Heron (2023) that could be enjoyed by people belonging to all age groups?

Animation is a medium that should not be restrained for a certain age group; it is rather an art that could produce visuals otherwise impossible to fathom in live-action films. Curtailing other target audiences from its reach limits the exposure, which could have made an impact on a whole new level, especially on a cinematic screen.

Obviously, to engage the audience of all ages, the story of the animated series should be strong enough. I discussed in my previous article that Pakistan is certainly exploring new sides of filmmaking, with incredible VFX attempts in Zombeid, but the story writing is still weak. Take a look at the story of the recently released Japanese TV series Akane-banashi (2026), based on a manga that artistically interweaves cultural concepts. It focuses on an underdog sports story of a young woman whose disgraced father was once a famous figure in his profession. She decides to avenge her dad's name and therefore enters the family business to prove herself.

My reason for mentioning it here is that if Pakistan can turn short films that have won awards and hand-drawn art into a worldwide acclaimed film, The Glassworker, it has the potential to come up with stories that could actually make a difference in the animation field. There are studios already working in this area, including Arafat Mazhar's Swipe (2020), backed by Puffball Studios, which bagged several international awards.

I argue that demand is present, as per The Express Tribune's piece, which shows young English-speaking viewers of the region love anime, making it a broad demographic easier to sustain, which started in the Dragon Ball Z era. Having watched Japanese anime during the pandemic's lockdown, reading English subtitles undeniably requires a reading speed to consume them, though.

The audience is ready, but the industry needs the daring to pursue it. Why was The Glassworker lauded? Because it is the first animated feature film that unshackled itself from the typical preset image of animated films targeted towards children only. The film has a strong story and phenomenal animation that genuinely set it apart from the pack.

The potential is there, but the daring is missing. Tahir Moosa, co-founder of Sharp Image, told Dawn that the presence of a limited number of animated projects is one of the top challenges that the Pakistani animation industry is facing at the moment. They worked on 3D cartoon animated series for Tetra Pak and Bisconni's Cocomo ads, which led to scarce opportunities for this industry's growth.

The animation industry requires significant funding, and successful studios like Mano Animation, which gave us The Glassworker, also used Kickstarter campaigns and crowdfunding attempts rather than financing it all out-of-pocket. The funding could then go on to hire the best animators and provide them training, which Tahir Moosa mentioned was another challenge. His only in-house training academy produced resources with formal education who are now working locally and internationally.

The Pakistani animation industry needs to take the first step. It could be with limited resources, but via readily available platforms. It could begin an animated series on YouTube, as famous as the recently famed The Amazing Digital Circus (2023), which was extolled on a scale gigantic enough to get streaming on Netflix and its finale episode to be screened in theaters before hitting online.

Though meant to be for adult viewers, the animation is appropriate for family viewing. Even I enjoyed watching it with my 14- and 9-year-olds. My favorite episode? Episode 7, proving its entrancing hold over people of any age. My daughter was desperate to watch it in cinemas, but again, woefully, Pakistani cinemas haven't tapped this side of the animation potential yet.

Echoes is an opinion column on film and television from the perspective of a writer based in Pakistan.