The award-winning animation films of Indian American Manick Sorcar have become the subject of a research paper in the US for bringing Indian culture alive through animation.

Denver-based Sorcar's work, including animation classics on children's fables from India, is the research topic of a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design at Savannah, Georgia.

"Manick Sorcar: Animations that Teach Indian Cultures" is the subject of research of Wendy M. Jensen, a student at the collage who has a Bachelor in Fine Arts with a double major in Animation and Visual Effects.

"I am happy to know that my works are now a subject of research in the US. It will help spread Indian culture in the US," Sorcar told IANS from Denver. 

Sorcar is the son of the legendary magician P.C. Sorcar Sr and brother of P.C. Sorcar Jr.

Wendy's paper goes deep inside his award-winning animation classics on children's fables from India.

"His unique and personal creative ideas exceed some of the large companies' consistent styles which tend to be overly standard to the animation business," she wrote.

"They are unique because his intentions are not to compete with commercial cartoons but to give Americans an insight into the folklore and culture of rural India."

Other parts of the research work include analysis of each story treatment, animation techniques, quotations from a series of articles, reviews, and news material from newspapers, magazines, video-rating guides for libraries, letters from schools and television stations.

"The project has been highly educational for me," Jensen wrote to Sorcar after the submission of her paper.

"In your spare time, down in your basement, you produced animated features that taught mainstream Americans about your culture and your people, thereby making many children, and adults alike, not only understand, but accept Indian heritage," she wrote.

"Rule of Twenty-One", an enchanting blend of magic and animation, made by Sorcar won the Bronze Plaque award at the 51st Columbus International Film Festival in 2003.

"Rule of Twenty-One" is based on "Ekushe-Aine", one of the many verses from Sukumar Ray's famous book of nonsense poetry "Aabol Taabol" in Bengali, which is Sorcar's second animation from the popular book.

The first was "Sniff", based on "Gandhabichar", which won The Golden Eagle from the Council on International Non-theatrical Events (CINE), Washington, and was a Finalist in the Children's Programme category at the 36th International Film and TV Festival of New York.

Sorcar shot to limelight in the early 1990s for his first animation in combination with live action, "Deepa and Rupa: A Fairy Tale From India", which won a series of prestigious awards at several film festivals.

The president of a US-based electrical engineering firm, Sorcar is an accomplished artist who slips into the role of a one-man animation company at night.

Mixing animation with live performances, he has produced children's videos from the basement of his home in Denver, Colorado.