Harish Ram LH is a fan of cartoons and animation films. Growing up, he watched a lot of cartoons — Swat Kats was his favourite back then.

“I’ve kept following them, not just when I was a child but even now,” he chuckles, “There is a certain energy in them. For instance, Coco, a film I loved recently, beautifully explained the concept of death to children.”

It’s this attraction towards fun, children-friendly subjects that has spurred him to direct Thumbaa, releasing this week. A Tamil film that tells the story of two people venturing into a forest, Thumbaa is set in live and real locations and not in a fantasy world. “From the many Hollywood animation films, I have taken certain cues on what works with kids. We’ve worked a lot on the sound aspect to appeal to the children. Many mixes these days are very harsh, and this puts off a lot of children. The sound in Thumbaa is immersive and very kid-friendly.” It was also a conscious effort by the makers not to have any glamour or obscenity in the content. “There is not even a love track,” he says, “We didn’t want anything that the kids can see and then question their parents, and put them in an embarrassing situation.”

Thumbaa was shot in difficult terrain — inside the forest areas near Vagamon, Idukki and Kumili, which has many wild animals — but features extensive computer graphics. For Harish, who has earlier worked on Tamil films Ethir Neechal, Kaaki Sattai and Kodi, the biggest challenge in writing (and shooting) such a film was the need to think like a child. “Writing a commercial script is something everyone does, but working on a children-centric storyline is a different challenge. It also helped me relive my childhood days.”