WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
A chance to get behind the scenes of Taiwan's rather 'hush-hush' television industry is a rare experience, especially for a Westerner. My Taiwanese assistant smirked and whispered, "Welcome to the office - or jungle?" We had just entered an office, about 30ft across, with a depth of no more than 15ft, containing about 25 birds on one side, while on the other, sat 25 workers at their desks. The animals produced an Amazon chorus, while the humans - totally drowned out by all the squawking - silently worked on various graphic designs and totalled invoices. Despite planning otherwise, my opening question to Chao was, "Is it a prerequisite that anybody who works for you must love birds" ... He smiled, as if to say there's no choice in the matter.



Twice a week, staff take the flock out to the sidewalk for sunshine, air and washing, but because of Taipei's humid weather, their feathers can still appear rather dull at certain times of the year. On more than one occasion, passers-by have thought that the Guting location belonged to a pet shop, far from its reality as a production company for children's entertainment... Welcome to the daily workplace of real life character, Tzu-Chiang Chao, otherwise known as 'Grandma Fruit'. While this work environment no doubt offers 'challenges' to his staff, these are much easier than the career challenges Chao has had to face himself, not only in creating an opposite gendered Children's TV character, but also in staying faithful to his primary values. But why a Grandma, in particular, one that is played by a male actor?

In interviews for Chinese language magazines, Chao has remained reluctant to allow both himself and his Grandma Fruit character to appear together on the same page. For 'foreign' media, he is not so cautious. However as a courtesy, we have placed the pictures of his two 'identities' on different pages. In Taiwan, it is exceptionally unusual for a male actor to play the role of a female character, especially one created for children. However, Chao's associates tell me that his reason for such caution, is a concern that he not cause any psychological upset to his key audience, as thousands of children believe that there really is a female Grandma Fruit, with no other identity.

Chao enthusiastically reveals that the idea behind the Grandma Fruit character came from the 1993 Robin Williams movie 'Mrs Doubtfire'. In the movie, an unemployed father finds himself divorced and without access to his children. In an attempt to solve the problem, he disguises himself as a Scottish nanny and, to his surprise, tricks his ex-wife into hiring him/her to take care of the children. Ex-wife eventually sees through the disguise and again, throws him out... Many months later, again in another attempt to have some access to the lives of his children, his 'nanny' character appears working from another American state as the 'Aunt Euphegenia' character, in what had become a hit, soon to be national, children's TV show. The William's movie had a huge impact on Chao...

"I started thinking how Grandmothers in most children's lives are so nurturing, consoling and comforting, they are the ones who are experienced, the ones to go to for more level-headed advice, and often the ones that children in Taiwan spend most of their time with after school..." Chao also felt that Taiwan children needed such a character... "At the time, Taiwan didn't, and to some degree still doesn't, have any strong home-grown characters for children"... "While we have contributed greatly to the economic value of foreign characters from Japan and Korea, the needs and values of Taiwan's children are different." It was with this strong belief that Chao developed the personal value-based character, Grandma Fruit, taking issues from not only Taiwan society, but also from his own upbringing. In true showbiz style, the character was rejected, not only by all production companies, but every television company in Taiwan. Chao refused to give up...

His final call was the PTS; - Taiwan's government funded Public Television Service... Although not being so cashed-up, it has had a record of occasionally taking risks on original programme concepts, while 'risk' is a word that is simply not in the vocabulary of commercial broadcasters. Finally in 1998, with a production staff of just five, the programme 'Fruity Icecream', staring Grandma Fruit, hit the airwaves. From day one, the programme's aim has been to address issues related to children's physical and mental development. Over time, it increased its lineup of other - mostly stuffed - characters and refined its message of looking after one's mind, body and spirit, something that Chao says is missing from entertainment products imported from other parts of Asia.

"There are other programmes broadcast at the same time, from fantasy to drama, to news programmes packaged for children... However, I noticed that all of these were to teach knowledge, but not always focused on values... I made a conscious decision to concentrate on 'values'... This is the big difference between what I do and what they do... It's okay to say 'don't drink so much sugary drinks,' but it's better to begin with, 'love how much energy an Apple a day can give you' and connect this to ideas of approval and respect for oneself." This basic (although hidden) formula worked, with the programme winning four Taiwan Golden Bell Awards (the equivalent of the American Emmy Award) for Excellence in Children's Television. Despite this success, life has since been far from an easy journey for Chao...

GRANDMA FIGHTING GIANTS
Chao has had to fight, every step of the way, for both funding and public endorsement. Despite acquiring periodic sponsorship, he has done a lot of charity work, at a loss of both personal time and income. He says, "I get immense enjoyment in supporting worthy causes, but the reality is, like any person, I have to live, pay rent and travel." Unlike the many TV tricks, the time spent putting on make-up, dry-cleaning costumes and paying for support staff and their transport, has not resulted in funding that magically appears... While the constant flood of requests for public appearances enhanced the fame of Grandma Fruit, at another level, several conflicts were created that Chao has had to learn to overcome. All conflicts have been about how his creation is used, while still being able to maintain the basic values behind 'her' creation. The question he continuously found himself asking was, "How can I keep my values and still be able to make a living?"

During our interview, we discussed the subject of 'Krusty the Klown'... For reader's who are unaware of this despicable creature, Krusty is a spoof children's character featured within the programme 'The Simpsons' who, among many other negative qualities, is a total sell-out... Krusty's catch-cry is, "I heartily endorse this product or event!", before accepting cash for endorsing anything unhealthy, unethical or unfriendly for children and the environment. Like much of The Simpsons, this character is a sad reflection of society... Increasingly, characters are created with the main purpose of marketing extra paraphernalia, usually with little ethical restraint. Although Chao could not be more of an opposite to Krusty, he has had to deal with all the same conflicts; in the process causing confusion and missing out on valuable sponsorship opportunities...

Chao has been absolute in not allowing his creation to adorn any media where 'she' is seen physically endorsing any product. What this means is that you will never see Grandma Fruit shoving a greasy hamburger down her throat, or holding any product in her hands. It is also an unwritten rule that character's 'never appear together with other characters,' although in the past 15 years this has been challenged somewhat, with a batch of hybrid superhero movies. A long time ago, Chao played the part of a clown that would entertain Children in hospitals... As Grandma Fruit, he has also visited sick children, this time with the message of eating a healthy diet. Then there is the subject of recognition... Chao steadily maintains a campaign for public endorsement of his character's values. Regarding the fast/junk food industry, he says he faces giants, as the following facts reveal...

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