The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 125

ER C.O,fLD UJl ty. 7, lk.U.JQ. ELE I KN Hits Cair(ln) Cnpa ffir gdl kairma A 9 1 By JOHN WATSON Special to The Recofd Television has never been the best place to gauge America's ethnic diversity, and animated programs are no exception. But cartoonist Mike Milo hopes that will change just a bit with the Cartoon Network's premiere of his new animated short, "Swaroop." "Swaroop" follows its title character, the youngest member of the Shukla family, which recently left India to settle in suburban New Jersey, as he tries to navigate his new surroundings. Tonight's short, "Swaroop," 8 tonight, Cartoon Network I "Swaroop," a half-hour short by cartoonist Mike Milo with a shot at becoming a regular show, airs tonight on the Cartoon Network.

"Bovine Bliss," finds Swaroop hijacking the cow that his neighbor plans to barbecue. With the help of his family, Swaroop tries to give the sacred animal sanctuary until he can safely send it back into the loving arms of "Mother India." While neighborly feuds and high-scale pranks are nothing new to television, basing a show around a character who calls his brother Baljit a "Hindi homeboy" and uses expressions like "karmarific" is a noticeable change. "I don't think there's anything else like it right now," Milo says. "I think it's a unique idea and one whose time has come." Milo's idea for a cartoon that chronicled culture clashes in suburbia struck a chord with Cartoon Network executives. "When Mike showed me his take on Swaroop, it kind of reminded me of that part of youth that tends to get forgotten about in a lot of what you see on TV today," says Linda Simensky, senior vice president of original animation for the Cartoon Network.

"There are a lot of takes on just plain old kids and their problems, but people really stay away from the whole ethnicity angle." To help build a show around the character, Milo team ad up with the Indian writer Atul Rao. The look of the Shukla family is based on photos of Rao's family, and Milo, who grew up in Old Tappan and now lives in Los Angeles, used memories of his old New Jersey neighborhood to draw Swaroop's new suburban home. "Swaroop" is part of a series of 10 animated shorts on the Brain," and he's been nominated for five Emmys. So, he says it's frustrating to place the future of "Swaroop" in the hands of Cartoon Network voters "a raffle," he calls it Regardless, "Swaroop" is a winner in the Milo home. Milo's preschool daughters, Megan and Melissa, have lavished him with plenty of positive feedback.

"They're cartoon junkies; they watch them all the time," Milo says. "And they've watched 'Swaroop' about 50 times, so that's a promising sign." success before. A native of Bergen County, Milo attended night classes at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in Dover. After working as an animator on commercials and video games, he eventually moved to Southern California and began a career making half-hour cartoons. For 10 years, Milo has served as an animator, producer, and director for such shows as "Animaniacs," "Tazmania," "Detention," and "Generation 0." Milo won an Emmy in 1999 for his work on "Pinky and the Cartoon Network.

When the series ends Aug. 26, viewers can vote for the short they think should become a permanent half-hour show on the network's fall 2002 schedule. Milo is optimistic about his and Rao's chances of developing their short into a full-time project "Between the two of us, I think we've just really made a good show," he says. "I think it has a good chance to be a series because the characters are so strong and defined." The 35-year-old Milo has had July 27 Friday Evening Bug Juice 31 (CC)lln a Heartbeat Zorro(CC) iMickey Mouse -7iMJPra (2001, Adventure) Alex O.Linz, iNktk the Orphan WaK Disney Present Texas John link Paint Club (CC) 786461 390089 (CC) 281992 943428 Club 280461 (1962) Jack Careoo. (CC) 635157 Lanee Guest, SheiJa KaHey.

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