MINIK & PANI

We are facing collapsing icebergs in the Arctic, terrorist attacks in Christmas markets, uncontrollable viruses, and global temperature rises.

Facing dangers like a roaring polar bear threaten our everyday lives, our country and our very existence. It's no longer something we hope will disappear in the Far East, but an irreversible danger we must live with.

Greta Thunberg speaks to the results of our actions, and it is now necessary for world leaders to respond and act. But toddlers become scared, adults become numb. And I, as an artist, feel the loss of the ability and meaning of creating fairy tales.

But then I realized that this is exactly what I tried to communicate to 43,000 children in 1600 performances: to dare to defy the danger.

Could it be that what you need to know is that you can save your brother who accidentally fell into the stomach of the scary beast?

Maybe it's useful to know that you can grab your walking stick and rush towards the polar bear to push it over and at the last moment to take hold and, like a bar-hopper, swing into his jaw with to save your brother from inside.

But the story begins way before this. There was a child born with a candle in his throat, a spirit deep down, waving his hands. It was in Greenland in 1906 and the boy had gained unparalleled powers. The boy grew, as boys do, and one day he reached the age of 6.

I heard about this boy, about the kindred stones with which he had summoned his courage and strength, and the polar bear he overpowered and came out of with new-found abilities.

For this production it will be located on a houseboat stuck in the ice at the east coast of Greenland.

While being told, the story will transform from one medium to another, from speech to stop motion using the materials on a clipboard where the artist's hands are visible while they playfully draw and paint and assemble the characters into book format, which then is similarly transformed into the animated version.

It will become a hybrid between traditional stop motion and digitally animated backgrounds. The artist’s creating hands appear occasionally in the running of the film.

To get scared is the first step towards finding one's courage. If you have found the power to believe in your inner self, you will have the confidence to manage most things even if it means jumping willfully into the jaws of a roaring bear.

The tale’s theme is how to transform one’s fears into courage by being playful, hence the story is one of delight and security. Moreover, the narrative is conveyed through colorful and vivid imagery, plenty of music and dance, as well as dialogue and voice-over.

It is about the six-year-old children Pani and Minik, about how they defy fear and meet a polar bear and how they end up in its stomach, and escape empowered and transformed.

How their parents lovingly prepare them to face their fears, and how they through being cunning and clever and courageous avoid becoming paralyzed, but rather act and overcome the threat.

At the foundation lies the way of life and view of the world of the Arctics: A story about finding one's courage through playfulness, and to find the inner peace to deal with that which may be inevitable.

I invite you to Waysidestory's adventure.

I am Malin, a storyteller, and in these 5 initial episodes, the children will join me when I create the animation in my cabin on the east coast of Greenland.

In the first episode, the pictures are painted and cut via an open book on my drawing board. Then they are transformed into the animated figures which are used in the story in the remaining 4 episodes.

Since I am a storyteller, it is my voice and my hands that carry the child through the story. In each section, I paint another ingredient into the story and gently lift it clipped into the stop-motion which we create. Each chapter will be concluded with the characters being lifted out of the animation and into the book.

Important ingredients of my storytelling are dancing, movement, songs, information and facts, play creativity, and inspiration created in a universe around the story in an app that will evolve and grow with each production.

Here we present 25 minutes divided into 5 sections.

The two young children Minik and Pani live with their parents on an iceberg island off the east coast of Greenland.

One day, their father tells us about a couple of enchanted rocks that can give unimaginable strength, and with this, the most important thing of all: the courage to spite one's own fears. The children's father teaches them an old magical song that adds to the ritual. Without it, the magic won't happen.

As they listen, the children look at each other and puff themselves up, because they are not afraid of anything. But their father calms them and says, that courage is not something that you own. It's something that is summoned in the very moment that you get scared, and you never know what might scare you. What's more, the two kindred stones must be rubbed together to provide the strength to withstand any kind of setback.

- We have to find the stones! We want to be as strong as a polar bear. Teach us, pappa! Teach us that song!

Dad teaches his children the words of the song, and suddenly, he scares them by making strange sounds and using a scare mask. But the kids just laugh!

- We told you, pappa, we are not afraid of anything!

- Well, that's all right, but if you do get scared, you now know the song. It will help you to think of more important things than being anxious, he reassures them.

- And, when you are afraid, the first step is to find your courage. Anyone who desires courage is able to sort out just about anything.

That night, the children stay awake and sneak out of the hut. After a challenging climb where they have to use all their skills and help each other up the rocky walls, they find the magic stones. They follow the instructions to rub them together and sing the song their father taught them, and they summon an enormous, ferocious, and furious polar bear. In protecting themselves they end up in a choreographed dance battle with the bear where, Minik stumbles into the open jaws of the bear and disappears into its belly. Pani decides to follow her brother to try to save him by fearlessly jumping into the bear's huge vicious mouth .

Inside the belly of the bear they are trying to think of a way to get out, and they soon realize that even bears must be ticklish. They use their small hands and fingers to tickle the bear from the inside, and the sound of his laugh makes icebergs collapse and avalanches come down, until the bear finally lets out a big fart.

And with a huge poof, the kids come flying out of the butt of the bear, and land all tangled up in the snow. After they finally get their arms and legs stretched out and their clothes put back on, arms and legs in place, they discover that their muscles have grown. Yes, it was indeed the increadible power of a polar bear!

They rush back towards home and their worried parents are shocked to find their children with all this muscle. But then, the lightest touch makes the children fall down and go to sleep and become light as feathers. So, the parents carry them back home to the hut and put them to bed.

Once back, their mother finds the kindred rocks that she believes gave the children the courage to defy their fear. As she looking to hide the rocks, we see that every stone on the ground gleams like the stars in the sky. So, wherever you go, you can find your courage and power within.

As the mother realizes this, she puts down the rocks, and starts dancing and singing a song of gratitude under the starlit sky.

Music by Malin & Celso MACE

We are improvisers and world musicians

All is created in the moment

Lisa is a a young 2D animator from Estonia.

She finished Estonian Academia of Arts, animation department. At the moment she is compeliting an internship in Germany at Reynard Films.

She is very passionate and curious.

Malin met Lisa in Tallinn 2018 when she took private lessons in stop motion from Lisa to be able to start this project.