Amin Abbas

DUBAI: Dhabdoub the Backpacker, a new Emirati children’s cartoon that brings the joy of exploration and knowledge to kids and families, is premiering this month on YouTube and will feature different countries from the Middle East and Japan.

The first season of the cartoon will include Middle Eastern countries, while the second season will focus on international countries, including Japan.

Rashid Al Rahmani, the creator, writer and executive producer of “Dhabdoub the Backpacker” told Arab News Japan: “I was always inspired by this local small creature ‘lizard’ living in the UAE desert. And I also wanted to create an edutainment, culturally based adventurous show based on our Emarati values and traditions.”

“From scripts to animation, all was fun and challenging. But also keeping the show relevant and interesting to our audiences,” he added.

About the response and feedback from people who saw the series, Al Rahmani said: “It was outstanding, both children and adults loved the show and wanted to know more about planned and new destinations, cultures and cuisines in each episode. As the show tries to touch bases on all three elements: Entertainment, Cultural and Educational.

“The main purpose of the series is continuing to provide good entertainment,” he added.

Japan has been featured in one of the episodes of “Dhabdoub the Backpacker” cartoon series, Al Rahmani said: “I love Japan as it’s a great country. I wanted the audience to experience the culture and the friendliness of the people of Japan as well as the Japanese cuisine and most importantly its popular anime culture.”

Al Rahmani mentioned that he and his team are working on a new series that’s currently in the pipeline and they will provide more information once it’s ready.