Kompin Kemgumnird, 41, has worked on big films for Walt Disney and other US animation studios, but is making his debut as a director with the first Thai-made 3-D feature, "Khan Kluay", the story of a war elephant from Thai history.

The film is now at the final editing stage and will be screened locally in May and also put on the international market.

Kompin, armed with a bachelor's degree from Silpakorn University, was doing further study at the California Institute of Arts in the US in 1996 when he won a scholarship from Walt Disney. He later became a member of the giant studio's animation team that produced world-renowned titles like "Atlantis" and "Tarzan".

Kompin worked for Walt Disney for two years after which he joined Blue Sky Studios in New York, where he was involved in the production of "Ice Age".

On returning to Thailand four years ago, Kompin joined Kantana Group and helped produce an animated TV series called "Zon" or "Naughty". The TV series was like a prelude to "Khan Kluay".

"Khan Kluay is the name of King Naresuan Maharaj's war elephant when he fought the Burmese some four centuries ago. Later, this elephant was bestowed the royal name of Chao Phraya Prab Hongsa.

"We tried to make Khan Kluay a more fanciful character by drawing him as a naughty wild elephant who is raised by his mom. Khan Kluay's dream was to reunite with his father, so he embarks on a trip to look for daddy.

"However, he ends up as a royal war elephant playing a historic role during the war between Ayutthaya and the Burmese. Love, protection and sacrifice figure prominently in the story.

"As an animated character, Khan Kluay looks distinctly Thai, especially in terms of expression and motion. He's quite different from the animated elephants in Western films like 'Ice Age'. The audience will love Khan Kluay," he said.

In fact, Kompin and elephants are like relatives as he was born in Surin, a province where elephants are a major part of the population.

"I even held my wedding at the Chang [Elephant] Building in Bangkok," he added.

As director of "Khan Kluay", Kompin headed a 100-strong technical team of artists and computer specialists to ensure that the main character, Khan Kluay, looks as natural as possible.

"Everything was based on trial and error, so the project took more than four years to complete. We also had to take our staff to various locations such as Ayutthaya and Khao Yai National Park to observe the animals' behaviour, way of life, etc," he said.

Compared to working with Walt Disney, he said: "The animated film industry in the West has several decades of experience. We're just at the beginning stage. Our Thai animators are quite competitive in terms of both technical skills and creative ideas."

Kompin said the Thai animated film industry is set to follow the Western trend, but noted that each project is very capital intensive, so there would be a boom-and-bust cycle. When a major film succeeds, many titles follow and the supply becomes excessive, leading to a fall in audience interest.

Kompin said "Khan Kluay" was aimed at both domestic and foreign markets. The domestic market alone is unlikely to generate enough revenue to cover the Bt150-million investment, so export outlets will be tapped for additional income and international reputation.

"Khan Kluay" is expected to enter the international film festivals in Cannes and Pusan shortly.

Currently, there are about 50 Thai companies doing computer graphics animation, of which about ten plan to produce animated titles.

Kompin suggested that the government should render financial support to the fledging industry so that more firms can initiate projects.

After "Khan Kluay", he said he was interested in turning this year's Seawrite award-winning book "Jao Ngin", written by Binlar Sankalakhiri, into an animated film.

Kompin considers the California Institute of the Arts, his alma mater, a dream art school.

"Various kinds of art works are all available there, while the atmosphere for study is great. We even got free beer every Thursday during the 'art party' to meet all the people in art circles," he recalled.

His outstanding work at the school prompted Walt Disney to give him a scholarship on condition that he would have to work with the firm after graduation.

Kamol Sukin