‘Some people said it doesn’t exist – that it’s a fantasy.” So says Flordeliza Dayrit of the silk road, the vast network of trade routes that once connected Asia, Africa and Europe – and the starting location for Time Hoppers: The Silk Road, the animated feature she co-created with her husband, Michael Milo.
Speaking from their home in Edmonton, Canada, the couple describe a project that started with personal intrigue and grew into something far more ambitious. With its theatrical release in UK cinemas, Time Hoppers turns this sense of curiosity into a fast-moving children’s adventure: a story in which four young protagonists travel back in time to the medieval Islamic world, meeting the scientists and scholars whose discoveries shape our current everyday lives.
“It’s a time travel action-adventure for families and children,” Milo says. “It becomes a cat-and-mouse chase.”
The children – Abdullah, Aysha, Khalid and Layla – stumble across a time-travel device in a lab, only to find themselves pursued by a rogue alchemist who has discovered its power. As the story unfolds across cities, countries and centuries, the group are tasked with retrieving the device, while also protecting key historical figures from interference.
“What we’re trying to do is make learning about that era fun and interesting,” Milo says. “The individuals they encounter are very influential scientists and scholars.”
Among them are Al-Khwarizmi, considered the “father of algebra”, Ibn al-Haytham, a pioneer who explored the camera obscura, and Mansa Musa, ruler of the Malian empire who is thought to have been the wealthiest man who ever lived. The film also highlights figures such as Maryam al-Astrulabi, a 10th-century Syrian woman who developed the astrolabe astronomical instrument.
“We wanted to showcase that its not only men that were scholars or scientists – there were also a lot of women who were at the forefront,” Dayrit says.
From the outset, Dayrit says, the intention was not to make something exclusively for Muslim audiences. “We wanted the rest of the world to enjoy it too.”
When children saw the film, Dayrit says they were “very open-minded” and “loved learning about other places and histories”.
The project’s origins lie not in film, but in education. Before Time Hoppers became a feature, it existed as an ebook, then expanded into a game and an unreleased television series – part of a broader ecosystem developed through Muslim Kids TV, the platform the platform the couple founded nearly two decades ago.
“We’ve been making content for kids for close to 20 years,” Milo says. “And we knew that Muslim kids are really underrepresented.”
Both he and Dayrit converted to Islam independently in 1995 before the pair married the following year, and their experiences while discovering their faith shaped the direction of their work. Muslim Kids TV began as educational and entertaining content for their own children, but evolved into a wider mission to create stories in which Muslim children could see themselves reflected.
“For us, it was really important to have a story where, first and foremost, the kids were the heroes,” Dayrit says. That emphasis is tied to a broader idea about representation: “It’s not just about visibility, its also about possibility.”
For both Dayrit and Milo, this is shaped by the context in which many Muslim children in Europe and North America are growing up – with Islamophobia on the rise and seeing negative portrayals over their identities in the media. “When you’re constantly hearing that, in the news and in everyday life, you start to believe that you don’t belong in these spaces,” Dayrit says. “It’s important for them to know they belong.”
Time Hoppers is, in part, an attempt to counter that message by reframing history. The production worked with researchers to build a detailed sense of each period, from architecture to costume, to introduce young audiences to a broader cast of historical figures than those in the school curriculum. “They learn about Aristotle or Plato,” Milo says, “but it’s equally important that they understand there are other people that have contributed to the world.”
The film’s release strategy also shaped its trajectory. It initally began with a limited run that quickly expanded after strong audience turnout. In the US, the film was released in 660 theatres, with more than 35,000 tickets sold. In the UK, the film has expanded from showing in 200 theatres to 299. The team are already working on a sequel.
“What we’re showing the film industry is that Muslim stories are not niche. They can be globally relevant and commercially viable,” Dayrit says.
Much of the momentum has come from grassroots community engagement. “We have local champions who are getting people excited and spreading the word,” Milo says.
“We’ve always had the goal of becoming the Disney of the Muslim world,” Dayrit says. For now, though, the focus remains on the children watching. “We want them to feel proud and feel they can make a difference.”
Or, as she puts it more simply, recalling the message she shares with young children she hopes audiences take away: “Hands are for helping, words are kind, and ideas are brave.”