To date, "Madagascar" and the other pieces intended to make up "Pronóstico del tiempo" remain some of the last films to receive all of their production funds exclusively from el Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC, the "Cuban Institute for the Film Art and Industry"). During the early 1990s, the Cuban economy had fallen on hard times and ICAIC's budget suffered accordingly. By 1995, the small, semi-autonomous, national industry that had been producing independent works since 1959 had to restructure itself to meet the demands of the international market. Co-productions with outside organizations, intended for release in foreign markets became the only available means of survival.