Defining Value Added Animation to Promote Positive Living...

DEFINING VALUE ADDED ANIMATION TO PROMOTE POSITIVE LIVING ENVIRONMENT: A CRITICAL STUDY OF UPIN AND IPIN Introduction The global animation industry is growing very fast, as practitioners, we are all caught up in the excitement of producing our own animated creations to keep abreast of trends and take advantage of the â€Å"hype†. However, there is a tendency to blindly follow animation styles that are already well established in popular culture. Located in Southeast Asia, Malaysia is strategically situated between the East and West and sandwiched between the great civilizations of China and India; thus it has always been exposed to different cultural influences that have shaped its local culture. Therefore, cultural adaptability and hybridity†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Malaysian animations are generally appealing†¦ the only concern I have is- I can’t really feel the uniqueness of Malaysian values that they should have†¦ Every one of those productions seems struggling to earn recognition...† He also pointed out, when looking at Malaysian animations, he could not see any elements that hold them as a whole. Every Malaysian animation that he has seen is very heavily influenced by others like Western and Japanese animations, whereas, Malaysian identities are hardly found. To him, as a product coming from a supposedly ‘unique’ country with unique cultures, it should strongly bear its own distinctive ‘trademark’ and can give positive examples to the audience. This unique characteristic could be an effective vehicle to educate audience at all level. As western and foreign influences in animation are very much the issue for Malaysian animation productions, it is very hard to pull ourselves away from this ‘norm’ since people are thinking that following ‘the trend’ is the right thing to do. Although to start with, animation shorts that were produced by National Film of Malaysia in the year 1983, directed and made possible by Hassan Mutalib, were quite interesting and can be considered as successful to portray Malaysian scene. It did not only have Malaysian flavours in its looks, the contents were also very much Malaysian.