The Giant King
Thai theatrical release poster
Directed by	Prapas Cholsaranont Chaiporn Panichrutiwong (co-director) Melanie Simka (U.S. version)
Written by	Prapas Cholsaranont Phanlop Sincharoen Wirat Hengkongdee Nutchapon Ruengrong Mychal Simka (U.S. version) Nathan Ciarlegglio (U.S. version) Doug Davidson (U.S. version)
Story by	Prapas Cholsaranont Phanlop Sincharoen
Produced by	Prapas Cholsaranont Mychal Simka (U.S. version)
Starring	Santisuk Promsiri Kreadtisuk Udomnak Boribroon Junrieng Weranut Tippayamontol Pawanrat Naksuriya Caninap Sirisawut Udom Tarpanich Nathan LaVelle
Edited by	Smith Timsawat Punlop Sinjaroen Prapas Cholsaranont (Film Editing Supervisor)
Music by	Jakkrapat Iamnoon
Production company	Workpoint Picture
Distributed by	Sahamongkol Film International Workpoint Picture Eagle Entertainment (DVD)
Release date	October 4, 2012 (2012-10-04)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	Thailand
Language	Thai
Budget	100,000,000 Baht[1]
Box office	$1,668,124

The Giant King (Thai: ยักษ์; RTGS: Yak; lit. 'The Giant') (released as The Robot Giant in some countries and Yak in Thailand) is a 2015 Thai 3D computer-animated comic science fiction children's/family film starring Santisuk Promsiri, Kreadtisuk Udomnak, Boribroon Junrieng, Weranut Tippayamontol, Pawanrat Naksuriya, Caninap Sirisawut, Udom Tarpanich, Bawriboon Chanreuang, Nathan LaVelle, Santisuk Promsiri, Udom Taephanit, Kerttisak Udomnak and Chris Wegoda, directed by Prapas Cholsaranont and Chaiporn Panichrutiwong and distributed by Workpoint Picture. The story is a futuristic adaptation of the fable of Tosakan and Hanuman the Monkey King from the Thai version of the Ramayana, with robots for the main characters.^[2]

Plot

A re-interpretation of Ramayana, the Thai animation film tells the story of a giant robot, Na Kiew, who's left wandering in a barren wasteland after a great war. Na Kiew meets Jao Phuek, a puny tin robot who's lost his memory and is now stuck with his new big friend. Together they set out across the desert populated by metal scavengers, to look for Ram, the creator of all robots.

Cast

Original version

• Santisuk Promsiri
• Kreadtisuk Udomnak
• Boribroon Junrieng
• Weranut Tippayamontol
• Pawanrat Naksuriya
• Caninap Sirisawut
• Udom Tarpanich
• Bawriboon Chanreuang
• Santisuk Promsiri
• Udom Taephanit
• Kerttisak Udomnak
• Chris Wegoda

1st English version

• Todd (tongdee) Lavelle as Big Green/Tossakan/The old mechanic/Brooks/9 Heads/Planet/Fireman/Fire foreman
• Hugh Gallagher as Whitey/Hanuman
• Stephen Thomas as Kum/Kok/Bartender/Mayor/Dr. Watt/Fireman/Work foreman/Old woman
• Hailey Rodee as Rusty
• Tabitha King as Sadayuu
• Vincent Junior Bergeron as Mayor's son
• Sean Bergeron as Friend of Mayor's son/Boy
• Chris Wegoda as Fireman/Work foreman/Old woman
• Mariam Tokarsky as Mayor's wife/Woman was robbed/Cat's owner
• Ananya LO as Girl

2nd English version

• Bella Thorne as Pinky
• Russell Peters as Zork
• Meg DeAngelis as Rusty
• Gregg Sulkin as Flapper
• Carlos PenaVega as Krudd
• Romeo Lacoste as Bartender
• Nathan Barnatt as Scrap Metal Dealer
• Mark Steines as Bob the Mechanic
• Gina Briganti as Mama Robot
• Joseph Pfeiffer as Dad Robot
• Dan O'Day-McClellan as Mayor
• Mychal Simka as Various robots (uncredited)

Characters

• Na Khiaw (Big Green/Tosakan, Zork in the U.S. version)
• Ravana
• Brooks
• Phuak (Whitey/Hanuman, Pinky in the U.S. version)
• Sanim (Rusty in both English versions)
• Hanuman
• Sadayuu (Flapper in the U.S. version)
• Kok
• Guard
• Father
• French Construction Worker
• Mexican Worker
• Tasokan

Awards

The Best Directors are Prapas Cholsaranont and Chaiporn Panichrutiwong, The Best Score is Jakkrapat Iamnoon, The Best Editors are Smith Timsawat, Punlop Sinjaroen and Prapas Cholsaranont, The Best Art Direction is Chaiporn Panichrutiwong, The Best Sound is made by Richard Hocks and The Best Original Song is "Kerd Ma Pen Phuen Ther" performed by Apiwat Eurthavornsuk.

Release

The film was theatrically released in 2012 and 2013 in Thailand and Russia in cinemas and in Australia and New Zealand at the DVD Premieres. Two English dubs of the film were produced, one in its home country of Thailand, and another in 2015 by Grindstone Entertainment Group. While the original English dub stays very close to the Thai script, the Grindstone dub makes heavy changes to the story, with all the references to Ramayana removed, along with changing some of the character names, personalities, and even some of the genders of characters.

Home media

Yak: The Giant King was released on Blu-ray by Happy. Outside of Thailand, it was first released in Australia on DVD by Eagle Entertainment on December 28, 2013. The Grindstone dub was released straight-to-DVD by Lionsgate on December 22, 2015.

A sequel short film was released as part of the three shorts in Khun Tong Daeng: The Inspirations.^[3]

Theme song

• "We Were Born To Be Friends"
  • Artist: ROOM 39
  • Composition: Stamp^[4]