The six-minute trailer for the animated series Saladin did not cost RM20 million as claimed by an opposition politician but did indeed cost RM400,000, a minister said today.

"The allegation is not true," said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Jamaluddin Jarjis in a reply to the claims made by Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh) during her debate last week..

He said the cost was used to produce animation that was up to international standards, such as the production work by Walt Disney Studios, Nintendo and Sony.

The minister also said the contract was awarded to a local animation company that has sold its expertise to international companies such as Sony, Konami and Nintendo.

"The selection of this company was done through a transparent tender process," he said without naming the company.

"The Saladin project was not created just to produce a film or an animated series but was meant to create an industry that will show Malaysian creative talent," the minister added.

Six years taken

Kok in her debate had urged Jamaluddin to explain why it took the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) six years to produce the six-minute trailer at a cost of RM20 million.

She claimed that the whopping amount covered RM5.2 million to set up the Creative Application Development Centre (CAD-C) in 2004, with a core task of producing Saladin .

In an immediate response today, Kok said Jamaluddin failed to answer why the project was outsourced to the local company when RM5.2 million was used to set up CAD-C.

Kok also claimed the sum included a payment of US$1 million (RM3.8 million) to a Hollywood script writer for a pre-production script and multiple trips to the US by MDeC officials since 2002.

Saladin was initially planned as a feature film when it was announced in 2000. It is now planned as a 13-part series.

The series is based on the epic story of the 12th century Kurdish warrior, Saladin, who founded the Ayyubid dynasty of Egypt and Syria and fought against the crusaders.