“NFTs and Cartoons With Them Help Us Tackle Burning Social Issues”

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been used as a collectible and trading tool for a few years so far, but their application goes well beyond these niches. Digital cartoon characters couldn’t stay unnoticed by animators, so it’s no wonder series and films based on popular NFTs have recently hit the market, and vice versa – studios began to produce NFTs with their own characters from existing and to-be-released titles. One of the first companies to produce cartoons with NFTs was Toonbox. Their team has created several animated series, including the iconic Mr. Freeman and Take My Muffin. We interviewed Pavel Muntyan, the studio founder, to discuss NFTs and how they help solve social problems.

How NFT series and stories for them appeared

The Toonbox studio gained recognition after the release of the Mr.Freeman TV series, which became viral in the CIS (in Russian language), the USA and the UK (in English language).

“Initially, the Mr. Freeman series was intended to tackle the most sensitive social issues that stay off the table. For example, child suicide, hardcore human modifications, the ethical side of abortion, and stuff like that”, – said Pavel.

That’s exactly what Mr.Freeman has become: this popular social series delves into burning issues without censorship. Viewers can enjoy an explosive cocktail of deep philosophical themes, dark humor, sarcastic jokes, and provocative questions to muse about.

“Our second series for the adult audience, Take My Muffin, has been widely acclaimed for its thought-out script design, as well as many aspects based on fifteen years of experience in content creation. The very top layer of the series is essentially a sitcom: a story of modern entrepreneurs who aspire to launch their own startup. This project raises business-related issues, such as team formation, testing of ideas, searching for investments and so on”, – Pavel explained.

This animated series served as a source of inspiration for the creation of Bluelight.inc – a WEB 3.0 game, which is essentially the first simulator of Silicon Valley. The action takes place in the virtual city of San Crypto where players, similar to the characters in the Take My Muffin (TMM) series, develop their own businesses, assemble teams, complete tasks and get paid.

“Production of each episode takes our team months of work. We stick to one golden rule: implementing only ideas that appeal to everyone. If at least one team member speaks out against it, we proceed to the next option. It applies to scripts, graphics, and voice acting”, – explained Pavel Muntyan.

The project was started back in 2018, and it will take at least 3 years to create all the series, which is why Pavel himself calls Take My Muffin the last animation work in his career.

NFT integration and entry into the real world

The characters of TMM have broken the boundaries of the animated world and are entering the real one.

“We have already concluded three agreements with clothing manufacturers and retailers. CIS residents can buy awesome outfits by Asia St. 71, and very soon we will present clothing collections with our mascots produced by two other brands. Besides, we plan to integrate the characters of the Bluelight.inc game into the series”, – said Pavel Muntyan.

According to TMM creators, the game’s mascots will appear in Episode 9, and the full connection with the game will be unfolded in Episode 10. Pavel also does not exclude the possibility of integrating TMM NFTs into the Bluelight.inc metaverse.

Here’s how Bluelight.inc CMO Alexander Skorik commented on these plans:

“Currently, the Bluelight.inc team is working on NFT integration mechanisms and I hope that we will find a technical solution to combine non-fungible tokens of our game and the cartoon”.

During an AMA session with Alexander Skorik, Pavel also mentioned the hidden meanings in Take My Muffin episodes.

“We wanted our series to illustrate all the pitfalls faced by startups and businesses – it turned out to be waggish and exciting. We also hid a prize worth 10 ETH, and the most attentive viewers will be able to discover it”, – he said.

It is worth noting that Take My Muffin is the first series that was fully sponsored by the sale of NFT tokens (these funds were enough to cover all the preparatory work and release the first two episodes).

Most of the characters in the series have their prototypes in real life. “One of our characters’ prototypes was businessman and our shareholder Pavel Cherkashin. A few years ago, his foundation bought a church in San Francisco and used this building to create a startup lab and co-living. But according to the local laws, the purpose of real estate cannot be changed, so Pavel had to create his own digital religion (“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was “Hello, world!”), and then become the shepherd of this religion. We introduced a character who repeated this very story”, – says Pavel Muntyan.

At the end of the interview, Pavel emphasized that the Take My Muffin series will soon be released in English. It will help with audience growth and Bluelight.inc game promotion, which was developed in active collaboration with the Toonbox studio.