Dan Boulos wants to change the animation scene in Hawaii with a 15-minute cartoon and a talking monkey. He says why not? Everyone loves monkeys.

Boulos, an assistant professor of animation at the University of Hawaii’s Academy for Creative Media, is using the fundraising website Kickstarter to help finish "The Amazing Mr. Chim!" because he believes the cartoon can lead to an animation studio in the islands.

If that sounds like a banana peel waiting to be slipped on, consider that Boulos, 44, spent a dozen years in Los Angeles as an animator with Walt Disney Feature Animation, Warner Brothers and DreamWorks Animation. He helped on eight feature films, including "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Prince of Egypt" and "The Road to El Dorado."

And since moving to Hawaii in 2000, he’s operated his own small animation business, Wiki Wiki Cartoons, primarily working with ad agencies.

Mr. Chim — he’s the monkey — is a crusty, cigar-chomping TV producer and the short film is an "animal docu-drama" that seeks to reveal "the monkey behind the mask." As the story goes, Chim was part of a controversial government experiment in which "select strands of Hollywood DNA were spliced with simian genes" to produce a monkey specifically bred for entertainment.

"The whole premise of the film is it’s a documentary about ‘Who is Mr. Chim?’ and it’s tongue-and-cheek humor," said Boulos, who made his first cartoon when he was 15. "Mr. Chim is a legendary figure in the TV industry. He is superexclusive and superhard to track down."

BOULOS started developing Mr. Chim in 2009, working mostly on Web episodes. Recently he decided that a 15-minute film he could show at film festivals was the best vehicle to launch his studio dream.

The film will introduce the character, and the plan is to create episodes for online and mobile device distribution. It could branch out to TV as well, Boulos said.

A successful character can generate millions of dollars over the course of its popularity, largely through licensing fees, Boulos said.

"The goal I have is we could sustain ourselves if we had content that generated revenue," he said. "That’s different than doing service work for ad agencies or filmmakers. License fees for popular characters can carry production companies."

Boulos, who runs his business out of his Makiki home, believes a studio here with a modest staff of 20 people could produce an episode a week for three animated characters. He has pitched the idea to investors several times without success.

Mr. Chim can change that, he said.

"This is a great industry for Hawaii," he said. "Everyone talks about live-action films here but animated filmmaking is an even more natural fit here. There is no effect on the environment. There is no cost to importing anything. In the case of live action, you have crews and transportation costs."

Part of his motivation comes from the students he’s met at the film school — which graduates about 20 animators a year — and before that at Leeward Community College. They want to work in Hawaii, Boulos said.

He is trying to raise $33,000 to hire a small staff of animators to finish the last 112 scenes of "The Amazing Mr. Chim." He has until Sept. 27 to raise at least that amount or, under the rules of Kickstarter, forfeit everything he’s raised.

It’s a daunting task, even with a talking monkey on your side. So far, Boulos has raised just $560. To support his project, go to www.kickstarter.com and "search" with his name.

AND that’s a wrap. …

Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.