Kuwait Times

Published Date: December 11, 2008
By Munifah Akasha, Staff Writer

KUWAIT: It all happened during a cab ride through London. In the London taxi, Dr Naif Al-Mutawa, Founder and CEO of Teshkeel, and his sister discussed all sorts of topics as they whizzed by London's urban scenery, but most importantly, they talked about Al-Mutawa's love of writing. Fast forward five years and the comic book launched in Kuwait called The 99 has garnered fans across the globe. Now Teshkeel, the company which produces The 99, has inked an animation deal to make a cartoon showcasing The 99 cha
racters.

The 99 comics are composed of 99 different superheroes, and every superhero has a specific power. Each hails from a different country, a different culture and a different background. The tie that binds them together is the fact that their powers are based on the 99 attributes of God, commonly known in the Islamic tradition. However, a clear distinction must be made, "None of the characters are defined as Muslim. Religion is never mentioned once in any of the books," stressed Al-Mutawa.

Dr Naif Al-Mutawa is a young Kuwaiti entrepreneur with a vision, and his accomplishments speak for themselves. His children's book "To Bounce or not to Bounce," won the 1997 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Children Literature prize, specifically for its focus on tolerance. Al-Mutawa has a Ph.D in Clinical Psychology from Long Island University and a Masters from Columbia. His clinical experience includes working with Kuwaiti prisoners of war and working in the Su
rvivors of Political Torture unit of Bellevue Hospital in New York.

The Kuwait Times, which publishes a weekly excerpt from his 99 comic in its Friday Times edition, sat down with Dr Al-Mutawa for a Q and A, in which the 99, his accomplishments and his future endeavors were discussed.

KT: What's the history behind The 99?
Al-Mutawa: If you look at the superheroes in the world today, there are two groups. The first comes out of the US and the second comes out of Japan. The ones published in the US are mostly based on Judeo-Christian and Greek stories, and like the prophets, all the superheroes are orphans. Batman's parents died when he was six, Spiderman lives with his aunt and uncle, and Superman's parents die from Krypton.

Also, all of them receive a message from a higher power. Not only does Superman's father place him on a pod like Moses, but you hear the voice of his father from the heavens saying, "I sent you, my only son, to earth." So is Superman a religious concept? No. They're just based on global values that are taken from certain religions but they are there for everybody.
KT: What about the second group from Japan?

Al-Mutawa: If you go over to Japan and look at the phenomenon that is Pokemon, you will find that the Pokemon are a few hundred characters each of which can only do one thing, unlike the western hero who can do everything.
KT: How are these two concepts incorporated in the 99?

Al-Mutawa: As Muslims, we believe that power is Allah and Allah has 99 attributes but these attributes are also human attributes. However, these attributes are not on the same level. Examples of such attributes are generosity, wisdom, foresight and strength and they are not being used to describe Islam today in the media. The idea very simply is 99 heroes in 99 different countries and each character has just one attribute and they work together to solve the problem.

The actual back-story of 99 takes place in 1258 and 1492. In 1258, the Mongols invade Baghdad and destroy it; they throw all the books of the Dar Al-Hikma Library in the Tigris and the Tigris changes to the color of the ink. I re-wrote that story and said that the Mongols invade Baghdad specifically to destroy the library, but the librarians find out and get together to create a chemical solution of King's water to mix these stones in order to save the culture and civilization and placed the power in books
. However, the Mongols get there first and the King's water and the books get thrown into the Tigris. Some librarians escape and over the course of days and weeks soak the stones in the Tigris and suck up all the wisdom that was thought lost to civilization. Those stones are then smuggled to Andalusia and Spain where they were saved for over 150 years.

Let's go back to history in 1492. Two important things happened. The first was the fall of Granada and the unification of Spain. Granada was the last Muslim city in Europe. The second thing was that Columbus was granted funding to go to India but he gets lost along the way and instead goes to the New World. Now let's go back to The 99. A third of the gem stones are smuggled on the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria and are spread in the New World. Another third are shipped to China, south Asia and Southea
st Asia and the remaining third are distributed in the Middle East and Africa. Now it's 2008 and we have 99 heroes from 99 different countries.

KT: Teshkeel just signed an animation deal for The 99. How did that happen?
Al-Mutawa: Ever since I started the company there's always been the idea that we are not just about comics but about content and the biggest and best way to distribute content in the 21st century is through animation, mobisodes, webisodes and online games.

I've been in talks with several animation and media companies during the last few years. However, Endemol was the latest and they did Star Academy, Big Brother and Deal Or No Deal. Endemol started talking to me in March. A big media person, I can't give you his name yet, said, "I would advise you to give The 99 to Endemol." In May, Endemol hired their new CEO Ynon Kreiz, who was the head of Fox Kids Network and was very involved with the Power Rangers and other animations. He decided to get Endemol to do a
nimation. We concluded the deal last month and it was announced in the Wall Street Journal.

KT: How is this deal beneficial to The 99?
Al-Mutawa: It's very exciting because they are co-financing and co-producing The 99, and we are not paying them to do so and they're putting up their own money. Moreover, they are doing it for a global audience. It's not about being the first in Kuwait or the Middle East or in the Gulf. This is going to be the best. I promised my investors five years ago that this was not going to be another third-world country production. This is going to be at the level of Spiderman and I feel very fortunate that we have
achieved what we have been able to achieve.

KT: What is the deal worth?
Al-Mutawa: I can't disclose this information; however, I can tell you that it's a multimillion dollar deal.
KT: Endemol is not the only deal that you have recently signed. Teshkeel also signed with Nestle recently, is that correct?

Al-Mutawa: We signed a deal with Nestlé. They bought a license from us and they will be putting our characters on their water bottles globally. They are going to distribute 5 million units in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, with the respective Saudi and Turkish heroes. We just finished designing with Nestlé in Tehran to do the Iranian member of 99 that's going to be launched in 2009 and now we're talking with Nestlé in China about the Chinese character.

KT: What is your vision for The 99?
Al-Mutawa: I wanted to specifically pull out global values because in the end doing a concept that is just for Kuwait or just for the GCC or the Middle East is a waste of time financially and socially. You don't typically expect to make a profit with a company like this for years until you basically build value and recognition. The investors who bought our shares in Teshkeel two years ago did it with a price four times more than the amount that investors bought it for five years ago. So there has been a bi
g appreciation in the value of the company. This is about building a brand and that takes a while.

Teshkeel has become an Islamic compliant company because Unicom Investment bank bought a 30 percent stake in the company two years ago and thus Teshkeel converted into an Islamic company so what that means is that we don't have any debts and we abide by Sharia laws.

KT: It's been reported that The 99 will have a theme park in Kuwait. Is this true?

Al-Mutawa: The theme park will open in Jahra on February 25. We were approached by some of our first round investors, specifically Mojamat Al-Aswaq and they proposed the theme park idea. The theme park will also witness the launch of the Kuwaiti 99 hero, as for the five years there has been no Kuwaiti hero. I didn't want to be the Kuwaiti businessman with the Kuwaiti comic book and the Kuwaiti hero. That is too cliché.