The 99 (TV series)

Plot

Dr Ramzi Razem and The 99 are introduced and they realise for what they should be using their powers. Friendship and cooperation across differing cultures is one of the driving sentiments in the stories.

The mysterious Rughal wishes to harness the power of the powerful noor stones for his own gains. "Noor" is Arabic for "light".

Background, motivation, financing and production

The TV series is based on the comic book series The 99 created by Kuwait-born and United States-educated Naif Al-Mutawa who felt Muslim children needed a new set of heroes to look up to, to counter jihadist role models. In a 2011 interview with Fox News, Al-Mutawa was quoted "When those guys hijacked those airplanes [on Sept. 11] and committed a crime in the name of my religion, they put a stain on my religion that only God can erase. But they not only hijacked those planes, they hijacked what Islam meant." He also expressed a desire to bridge the cultural divide between the East and the West and said that though he used an Islamic archetype, the stories don't mention Islam, Allah or the Koran but are instead based on values shared by everybody. The comic books were both praised and criticised: In 2009, the comic book series was named as one of the top 20 trends in the world by Forbes magazine and was praised by Barack Obama for attempting to improve dialogue between the USA and the Muslim world. Pamela Gellar said The 99 was part of an "ongoing onslaught of cultural jihad".

In November 2006 a Bahrain investment bank approved $25 million to help finance Teshkeel Media Group and pay to launch an animated series for television. A 13 episode first season of the series was announced, but was later changed to 26 episodes. In total, 52 episodes were produced.

Around 300 people, with director Osborne and Naif in London, an animation team in India a voice recording team in Canada and writers in Los Angeles, worked on the series for over two-and-a-half years. Director Osborne, with more than 20 years of animation experience and having worked at Cosgrove Hall, called The 99 the most technically complex project he had ever been involved in.

Creator Naif Al-Mutawa and his work on the comic books and the TV series were the subjects of the 60 minutes long PBS documentary Wham! Bam! Islam! by Isaac Solotaroff broadcast in October 2011 as the season premiere of PBS's series "Independent Lens".

The interactive website the99kids.com was designed by Aardman Animations.

Marketing, promotion and reception

A preview was released on The 99's own website and YouTube, in December 2009.

The series met with some resistance in the USA to some part because of the character Batina the Hidden wearing a burqa and a couple of the characters wearing the hijab. In other parts of the world the series was criticized because not all the female characters were covered in some way.

In 2014, several months after the show had been off the air in Saudi Arabia, a fatwa was issued from the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and the Higher Council of Clerics calling the work "evil". Naif Al-Mutawa asked the Higher Council of Clerics to reconsider, highlighting that The 99 was based on values like generosity and mercy and had created positive role models for children using Islam as a base for its storytelling. He also asked the work be judged by its intent.

Awards

Ashleigh Midanik was nominated to the 2013 Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role – Television – Young Actress for the portrayal of Rafie the Lifter / Murat.

The 99 Unbound

The first few episodes were released as a feature film, The 99 Unbound in 2011, telling the origins of the core group and how they come to terms with their powers.