Roslin Press Presents Armenian Adaptation of Animated Series, Treasure Island

In an initiative the likes of which the Diaspora hasn’t seen in over a generation, Roslin Press is proud to announce the first-ever Armenian production of Osamu Dezaki’s anime rendition of the classic swashbuckling adventure, Treasure Island. To capture the spirit of the 21st century Diaspora and Armenia, the 26-episode series features a mix of characters speaking Eastern and Western Armenian. Thanks to the assistance of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, young Armenians from across the globe can now sail the seven seas with Jim Hawkins in his search for buried treasure.

Especially during the pandemic with all of us spending an unprecedented amount of time at home, finding high-quality Armenian entertainment for children has never been more important.

A story we all love…

It was a dark and stormy night… Jim and his mother were tidying up the Admiral Benbow Inn of Black Hill, a remote part of the English countryside. Just as they were about ready to lock up, a mysterious old sea captain arrives at their door. This wayward stranger named Billy Bones warns of a certain one-legged man – a vicious, brutal pirate who must be avoided at all costs. Fearing that he may not be around much longer, Billy entrusts Jim with some mysterious papers – one of them being a map – the map to Treasure Island. And thus begins an epic saga of high seas adventure, treacherous mutiny, and one boy’s courage, faith, and good will.

High quality entertainment to ensure language preservation…

Treasure Island comes at a critical juncture in the Diaspora. There is no denying that the Diasporan communities of the world are struggling when it comes to language maintenance. In our opinion, what is needed to keep the youth engaged with the Armenian language is high quality entertainment with a strong literary backbone. Children must be entertained but must also be exposed to complex thoughts, emotions and themes. The new Armenian production of Treasure Island has all these combined with a fantastic score and beautiful animation.

A true linguistic reflection of the Diaspora

Special attention was given to the translation of Treasure Island. Both Eastern and Western Armenian are shown organically interacting for the first time in a children’s animated series. From LA to Paris, the old mono-dialect Diaspora is no more. Communities are more diverse than they have ever been, and we set out to celebrate this fact in Treasure Island. Characters are depicted with their unique accents and linguistic stylings, encouraging our youth to embrace the linguistic diversity of the Armenian language.

From Armenia with love…

Each and every single member of the Roslin and TechnoLinguistics team that has contributed to bringing Treasure Island to life has left an indelible mark of love.

From the countless casting sessions to the multiple iterations of the translated script …

From the raw emotion poured out by the cast of over twenty voice actors and actresses to the hours upon hours of video editing to ensure a seamless dub…

From the stage direction to the uniquely Armenian composition of the opening score…

It is clear that this was a truly family effort. We are after all creating art for our youth so that they may one day be able to create art as well.

A full list of the Treasure Island family can be seen below during the credits montage: Pay special attention to the beautifully orchestrated theme song, brought to you with love from Yerevan.

A new platform to bring us all together…

Treasure Island is available now on VLUME, a new media platform custom-built for the Armenian speaking communities of the world. VLUME is already host to hundreds of eBooks, 1,000’s of hours of audiobooks, and now with the introduction of Treasure Island – video content. Whether you are in Buenos Aires or Nicosia, New Jersey or Paris, Glendale or Yerevan – VLUME provides an unprecedented sense of community, now centered around fantastic literature and the best and brightest video content that the world has to offer.

New episodes of Treasure Island are made available every Friday on VLUME. Be sure to have your popcorn ready!

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Haig Norian

Haig is a scientist, engineer and author. He made his engineering debut at the age of three when he broke his father's shortwave radio. Since then, Haig has worked on creating photovoltaic thin films for solar energy harvesting, a microfluidic lab-on-chip, and ultra-high temperature pressure transducers. He holds a Ph.D in electrical engineering from Columbia University. His latest passion project has taken him into the world of books. With his LITTLE ENGINEERS series, he hopes to share his home engineering adventures with young readers around the world. When he's not in the lab or office, he enjoys reading outside, alongside a bowl of cracked olives (կամ ինչպէս Կիպրացիները կ'ըսեն՝ «elies tsakistes»). His favorite authors are Hagop Baronian, Vahe Berberian, Kurt Vonnegut and David Kherdian.