Pages

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Encantadia continues to put people under its spell

Scene Stealers:

Well loved Pinoy fantasy characters Panday, Darna, Captain Barbell, Lastikman and Dyesebel have been ruling the Pinoy pop culture for decades already.  Well, I'm not complaining about it but don't you think that we need to enrich the collection already? =)  Anyway, they were unmatched for a long time (in terms of story, influence and impact)... until the arrival of the fantasy series craze in TV in early 2000 such as Mulawin, Super Inggo and the epic fantasy masterpiece Encantadia.

Pirena, the sangre who possesses the power / gem of fire

A few days ago, while my colleagues and I were doing  a round of TV guesting in GMA Network for a campaign we are running, we saw these fascinating displays that really caught our attention.   They are the statues / costumes of the much loved lead characters of Encantadia.  And I think GMA did the right thing to  immortalize and celebrate the cultural contribution of the said creation.


 
Amihan, the sangre who possesses the gem / power of air

Encantadia is a fantasy series that primarily depicted the story of four sangres (princess fairies) who took care of the earth gems (hiyas) - air, fire, water and land and how they faced the battles, magic and twists that took place as they struggled to keep the balance of the four stones and protect their kingdom (called Encantadia) against evil forces.

Alena, the sangre who possesses the gem / power of water

Danaya, the sangre who possesses the gem / power of land

Definitely, the statues / costume displays were unveiled a long time ago (and we are just not aware of it) but nevertheless they were indeed a scene stealer to us and we were in unison in opinion that it's  among the finest creations in Philippine TV because of its unique plot, grand scale production and undeniable mass influence.

And we all wished to see it again in the future (GMA plugged in 2010 that the series will have a come back but for some undisclosed reasons, it did not materialize).  Film could be a great idea too! =)  Paging GMA Network! =)




P.S. And as bonus, they also featured a display of the classic Pinay superhero Darna.

Darna, the classic Pinay superhero

I guess it will be a great idea to have a museum dedicated to Filipino pop culture and will house icons, memorabilias, statues and dioramas of the things that enriched this part of our heritage.  Imagine, a museum that will showcase TV creations like Batibot and John en Marsha; comics characters Funny Komiks' Kalatao & Irena and Kenkoy at Rosing; brand characters like Jollibee and Royal's Joey; popular commercials like Labadami Labango, Di Lang Pampamilya Pang-Sports Pa and McDonald's Karen; and film classics like Bagets, Pepeng Agimat, Inday Bote, Anak ng Bulkan, Zuma, Mang Kepweng and Manang Biday, among many others?  Hmmm... watchathink?  =)

5 comments:

  1. I really loved the costumes and the made-up languages and societies in this show (woot, Etheria!). But too many convoluted love triangles ruined it for me. I guess Philippine stories tend to put a lot of emphasis on romantic relationships to drive the plot of stories, but we can look to foreign shows that present interesting premises without being overly dependent on sentimental pairings. Sana writers concentrate on plotting the main quest of this upcoming installment, with female leads more kick-ass and less touchy-feely martyrs whose reasons of living depend much on other (male) characters.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Jill, a little similar comment here but I think the love spin is not exclusive to the Philippines alone. The Lord of the Rings movie version for example created Arwen (Liv Tyler) to have a love angle in the movie, to have somehow a "commercial appeal" and lighten the story. Raymond Red's Sakay also explored the love angle of the hero even if there were very few documents relating to it. But both LOTR and Sakay were great films, even if they injected love spin. I think the story's beauty will really rely on the execution. But I also do hope for more fascinating battle scenes and set design in the much anticipated installment of Encantadia. =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. @ferdz there is nothing wrong with love angle. wag lang sobra. The relationship between Arwen and Aragorn is a big driving force between the two but as you can see it didn't eat a lot of airtime and to be honest the movie can live without it. While sa Encantadia, pag tinanggal mo yung love angle ni Alena at Ybrahim, di mo na maiintindihan yung story. LOLz

    ReplyDelete
  4. saang museum tong mga costume na to? pls reply to shikaisheng1124@gmail.com.... much appreciated

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Jori, yup, I agree. As mentioned, it really depends on how it's written and executed. :)

    Hi Shikaisheng, the costumes are displayed at the lobby of GMA Network Center in QC. Don't worry, I'll e-mail you too. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete