''Babak and Friends - A First Norooz'' is a direct-to-DVD animated film by Norooz Productions, later renamed Big Bad Boo Studios. The 33-minute cartoon was released in 2005. The film was made to teach children about the Persian New Year

Norooz Nowruz ( fa, نوروز, ; ), zh, 诺鲁孜节, ug, نەۋروز, ka, ნოვრუზ, ku, Newroz, he, נורוז, kk, Наурыз, ky, Нооруз, mn, Наурыз, ur, نوروز, tg, Наврӯз, tr, Nevruz, tk, Nowruz, ...

, celebrating the coming of spring and is about a little boy named Babak who is stuck between being Iranian and being American. Through a dream and magical visit by Amoo norooz, Babak learns to be proud of his heritage and celebrates the New Year with his family. The movie was produced by Aly Jetha,

Shabnam Rezaei Shabnam Rezaei is a Kids TV show creator, director, producer and co-founder of Big Bad Boo Studios and VOD service Oznoz. She is the director and producer of Hulu Original series '' The Bravest Knight'', the first children's series with an LGB ...

, Matt Hullum, Dustin Ellis, and Mastaneh Moghadam, and written and directed by Dustin Ellis. It included the voices of oscar-nominee

Shohreh Aghdashloo Shohreh Aghdashloo ( fa, شهره آغداشلو, ; née Vaziri-Tabar (); 11 May 1952) is an Iranian and American actress. Following numerous starring roles on the stage, she made her film debut in '' Chess of the Wind'' (1976). Her next two fi ...

Parviz Sayyad Parviz Sayyad ( fa, پرویز صیاد, Parviz Sayyād; born 22 March 1939) is an Iranian-born American celebrated actor, director, translator, and screenwriter of Iranian cinema. He was one of the earliest television stars in Iran. Early life ...

, Ali Pourtash and Catherine Bell. It was the first time the character of Amoo Norooz was animated in Iranian history. The movie was produced in both English and Persian as a language-learning tool for Iranian-American children. ''Babak and Friends - A First Norooz'' first screened in the Soho

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple TV digital me ...

Theatre and subsequently in other Apple stores and various museums such as Asia Society and

The British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

. The producers used this and other channels such as film festivals and Amazon to gain traction for distribution.

References

External links

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bigbadboo.cababakandfriends.com
2005 direct-to-video films 2000s animated short films 2000s children's animated films 2005 animated films 2005 films 2005 short films {{short-animation-film-stub