| Khan Kluay | |
| Director: | Kompin Kemgumnird |
| Producer: | Aummaraporn Phandintong |
| Based On: | Chao Praya Prab Hongsawadee by Ariya Jintapanichkarn |
| Music: | Chatchai Pongprapaphan |
| Cinematography: | Aummaraporn Phandintong |
| Editing: | Evan Spiliotopoulos |
| Studio: | Kantana Animation Kantana Group Public Co. Sahamongkol Film International |
| Distributor: | Sahamongkol Film International |
| Runtime: | 95 minutes[1] [2] 79 minutes (English dub) |
| Country: | Thailand |
| Language: | Thai |
| Budget: | ฿115 million[3] |
| Gross: | ฿196.7 million |
Khan Kluay (Thai: ก้านกล้วย;) is a 2006 Thai animated adventure film set in Ayutthaya-era Siam about a Thai elephant who wanders away from his mother and becomes the war elephant for King Naresuan. It is based on the story Chao Phraya Prap Hongsawadee by Ariya Jintapanichkarn. The film took three years to make, and was released on May 18, 2006, in Thailand. In 2007, the film was released as The Blue Elephant in the United States on September 2, and as Jumbo in India in December 25.
Khan Kluay is directed by Kompin Kemgumnird, an animator who had worked on Disney films such as and Tarzan and Blue Sky Studios' Ice Age.[4] Produced by Kantana Animation, it was the first Thai 3D animated feature film and the first Thai animated feature film released since The Adventure of Sudsakorn, a 1979 cel-animated film by Payut Ngaokrachang. The film's sequel, Khan Kluay 2,[5] is about Khan Kluay's two elephant children, another attack by the Hanthawaddy, and the choice between living with his wife or fighting the Burmese.[6] An animated television series, The Adventures of Khan Kluay, was produced by Kantana Animation Studio and broadcast on BBTV Channel 7.
In the 1500s, an elephant named Saeng Da gave birth to a calf, whom she names Khan Kluay. Phupa, Khan Kluay's father, is a war elephant of the Ayutthaya army. As a young calf, Khan Kluay befriends a columbidae named Jitrit. As the two roam around the jungle, Khan Kluay meets Chaba Kaew, a pink elephant who lived with humans since her birth.
That night, Khan Kluay tells Saeng Da about Phupa, and he sets off the look for him, but he gets in trouble, and he encounters Nguang Deang, the elephant of the Hanthawaddy army who killed Phupa. The evil elephant pushed the calf out of his palace, which led Jitrit to prophesize that Khan Kluay that he will become the war elephant to fight Nguang Deang's army.
Khan Kluay suddenly gets into deadly situations and grows up. As the Ayutthaya army prepares to take over, Khan Kluay and Jitrit find themselves held captive in the logs, where the former saves his mother. However, Mingyi Swa, Nguang Deang's human companion, destroys the army and take over Ayutthaya. Meanwhile, Khan Kluay befriends King Naresuan.
Later, Nguang Deang and his army arrive, and begin their attack. Naresuan leads the army to attack. As the Ayutthaya army battled the Hanthawaddy army, Nguang Deang fights Khan Kluay attracting Mingyi Swa and Naresuan to a sword duel. A ember sets the battlefield on fire and, in a final duel, Naresuan defeats Mingyi Swa and he dies along with Nguang Deang. The battle won, and Khan Kluay is crowned as an royal elephant. He lives with Chaba Kaew, and everything changed as a life.
Khan Kluay was directed by Kompin Kemgumnird, an animator who had worked on the Disney films The Lion King, and Tarzan, and Blue Sky Studios' Ice Age. Produced by Kantana Animation, it was the first Thai 3-D animated feature film and the first animated Thai feature since Payut Ngaokrachang's cel-animated The Adventure of Sudsakorn (1979). Khan Kluay took three years to produce.
Khan Kluay was released in Thailand on May 18, 2006, and the film was shown to an audience of Asian elephants and their mahouts in an outdoor screening in Ayutthaya Province on June 6 of that year. It was released in September 2008 on DVD in the United States as The Blue Elephant. The Indian production Percept Picture Company bought the rights to the film and released a Hindi-language version, Jumbo, on December 25, 2008; Indian actor Akshay Kumar voiced the main character, Jumbo.[7]
The film was released in the US on September 2, 2008, by the Jim Henson Company and the Weinstein Company as The Blue Elephant. Like other foreign animated films which have been dubbed into English (such as My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service), it was released direct-to-video. The film was re-dubbed with celebrity voices, including Martin Short, Miranda Cosgrove and Carl Reiner. Some scenes were deleted for the US version, and character names were changed.
The film released in India on December 25, 2008, as Jumbo by the Percept Picture Company. It was re-dubbed with a cast which included Akshay Kumar and Rajpal Yadav.
A 2009 film sequel, Khan Kluay 2, was a box-office bomb.
An animated television series, The Adventures of Khan Kluay, was produced by Kantana Animation Studio and is broadcast on BBTV Channel 7 in Thailand.
Khan Kluay featured in animations broadcast in 2016 as the lead-in to Thailand Move Forward, a government-information program which all television stations in Thailand are required to broadcast at 6 pm.[10]