Southeast Asia’s animators smashing box office records redefining storytelling

After seeing reels of the animated film Papa Zola The Movie trending on social media, Singaporean engineer Muhammad Latif Mathan caught it with his two sons in Johor Bahru during the December school holidays.



According to Latif “My kids usually can’t stop playing with their gadgets, but for this movie they were glued to the (big) screen most of the time,” said Latif, 42, whose sons are aged seven and nine.



The Malaysian movie made the family laugh out loud, he said. “The animation is comparable to what we see in Disney/Pixar films and the dialogue, in colloquial Malay, makes it very relatable.”



The plot also earned his thumbs-up. “The concept of a food delivery man trying to provide for his family is strong, because perhaps it opens (children's) eyes to the sacrifices parents make to put food on the table,”

.

In the movie, Papa Zola taps his forgotten superpowers to save the world when it is attacked by aliens, and his daughter when she is kidnapped by them.



Propelled by moviegoers like Latif, Papa Zola The Movie has become the highest-grossing animated film in Malaysia, raking in over US$16.6 million as at end-January.



It dethroned Ejen Ali The Movie 2, a local animated spy-action film also released last year that made over RM59 million and ranks among the top 10 highest-grossing films in Malaysia.

Besides Malaysian filmmakers, Indonesian creators are also having a bumper year at the box office.