HE’S a regular 12-year-old old boy who has been unwittingly thrown into the deep end to become a spy. A challenging prospect indeed as he learns the ropes to master the role of a young secret agent for the enigmatic and futuristic agency MATA.
What’s his name? Ali. Ejen Ali. After debuting on television back in early 2016 on TV3 Ejen Ali has been entertaining kids and the young at heart for two seasons.
Twenty six exciting episodes on, the little boy wonder is now ready to take on the big league and make the natural progression to cinema screens.
After all, with the resounding success of other local CGI (computer generated images) animated movies such as Upin & Ipin and Boboiboy that started off as television series there’s definitely room for this format to grow and thrive.
Boboiboy The Movie which saw the popular series presenting its first feature film in cinemas back in 2016 had collected over RM16 million locally.
Produced by Wau Animation, Ejen Ali is distributed by Primeworks Studios and it represents the first animated series as an intellectual property for its parent company Media Prima Berhad.
During a recent media screening in Petaling Jaya for the first 20 minutes of the upcoming spin-off movie, which is expected to premiere locally in cinemas sometime at the end of this year, Primeworks Studios chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Izham Omar said that he was confident that it would be a success.
“Ejen Ali is very popular so we certainly feel that it’ll do well once it begins screening at the end of the year. I don’t want to say too much but we are aiming at collecting about RM15 million at the local box office. We’ll see how it goes, the more the better obviously,” he said of the animated feature film that costs around RM5 million to produce.
The 90-minute movie is scheduled to be screened in 120 local cinemas but if everything goes well then fans Ejen Ali from around the world or the region will also get to catch the boy’s latest big screen adventure.
Tentatively there is the possibility of it being screened in 50 countries but Ahmad Izham says that they’re still in the discussion process at the moment.
HEALTHY COMPETITION
With the second Boboiboy movie hitting cinemas next month, Ahmad Izham says that the competition is good. “The competition is good for everyone, especially the industry and consumers. We all hope that these various animation projects that come out will be a success since we can all build on this.”
“The growth and development is important and as more money and profits flow back in this will certainly help all the artists and creative personnel involved to get to progress, improve and come up with even better work.”
“It’s a small scene so we actually help each other and its good for everyone when we have success,” he said.
Adding that it was a win-win situation for fans of the animation format, people could also be proud of local content and talent.
“With Ejen Ali it’ll be something different for fans and viewers. Malaysia is already known as the animation hub of Southeast Asia. Lots of digital artists also do work for other companies around the region and the world over too. So we have a lot of talent here no doubt about that,” he explained.
The Ejen Ali television series has two successful seasons under its belt and has become a popular brand. At the 28th Malaysian Film Festival in 2016, it won for Best Short Animated Film.
In 2017, it won the Best 3D Animation Programme at the Asian Television Awards and it was also recognised as Best 3D Animation Programme or Series at last year’s Asian Academy Creative Awards.
ALI’S PROGRESSION
In the series, which is set in the futuristic city of Cyberaya, Ali inadvertently becomes an agent of MATA (Meta Advanced Tactical Agency) after activating the Infinity Retinal Intelligent System (IRIS) by mistake.
The device created by MATA is controlled by neuro-signals enabling the wearer to perform actions programmed by a computer.
Since IRIS has been synchronised for Ali, only the little hero is capable of using it to execute some pretty cool and extraordinary moves and actions.
The other heroes of MATA include Ali's big and strong uncle Bakar, the focused and no-nonsense Alicia, her father General Rama who is the head of MATA and the master of disguise Rizwan.
There is also Ali's pet cat Comot, a genetically modified feline with camouflage abilities.
The movie will follow in events after the defeat of super villain Uno and his band of Numeros from Season Two.
Ejen Ali and the academy's young agents have emerged as their city's new line of defence.
MATA has also improved on Ali's invention of the Atlas gadget and creates IRIS 2.0 which enables the technology to be used by the other agents.
“The creation of the new IRIS 2.0 device makes Ali doubt himself and feel like he is not needed anymore. But the world now in Ejen Ali is much bigger than in the television series. There’s an ominous power that wants to take over Cyberaya.”
“We also introduce new things and there’s new technology involved so there’ll be different things that viewers haven’t experienced before in the series,” said Wau Animation chief executive officer Usamah Zaid Yasin.
There is also a rogue figure who approaches Ali and claims to have knowledge of a surprising connection to Ali. The young hero then decides to embarks on an exhilarating pursuit to unravel these mysterious links, at the risk of betraying his loyalty to MATA.
INSTANT APPEAL
Ahmad Izham said: “There’s quality in the storytelling here and it can grab the attention and entertain not just children but adults as well. It’s layered and features many elements, from the mystery aspect of finding out about his background to exciting action.”
“The young ones will enjoy other things like the cute cat but there’s something for everyone,” he added.
Pre-production began last year in March and actual work on the new movie then took place four months later.
Talking about the appeal of Ejen Ali, Usamah said: “It’s a mash-up of the science fiction and spy genre with action and adventure included as well.”
“The spy genre itself is already intriguing. You can show cool tech, there’s plenty of nice gadgets, not to mention mystery and allure.”
“After Season 2 aired we realised that the story resounded not just with children but adults as well so the parents themselves are excited. This is something we can take pride in.”
“So we continue to make it friendly for children but engaging for adults too. The older viewers get sucked in and want to know what’s next as the story progresses,” said Usamah.
Ahmad Izham added that they also branched out to include merchandising aspects such as toys, clothing and many other things.
The isometric action-puzzle based mobile game, Ejen Ali: Emergency, had won the Audience Choice Award at the International Mobile Gaming Awards.
Usamah added that the ongoing popularity of Ejen Ali also lies in the hero’s everyday aspect. “I named him Ali because it was a very ordinary and common name and I tried to make him a classic underdog character.”
“I wanted people in general to be able to relate to him as an everyday boy. When he first started out he wasn’t confident or strong and was flawed.”
“So when he’s thrown into that situation the learning process is hard for him and we as the viewer follow him in the various adventures. For two seasons we see him learning all sorts of things and developing himself.”
“In this movie viewers will see him discovering himself and why he’s in MATA,” said Usamah.
A HOST OF INSPIRATION
He added that he drew inspiration for the characters and the world of Ejen Ali from a variety of sources. “I’m inspired by everything and anything I consume.”
“For Ejen Ali, certain people had pointed out that the design and look was kind of like (Disney Animation Studio’s 2014 CGI movie) Big Hero 6. When we created the final look for Ejen Ali the series, that particular movie was one of the visual benchmarks we were eyeing but not the only one.”
“I watch lots of anime as well so if you see some of the abilities of the agents they are derived from similar looking action s or movements from the likes of Dragon Ball, Naruto as well as others,” said Usamah.
Even Ali’s use of a yo-yo as his weapon was something that he chanced upon online. “I stumbled upon a video clip of an 8-year-old boy doing fantastic things with a yo-yo so I decided to include it for Ali.”
Although inspiration can come from anything, he also added that Malaysia played a part in the look of the series and movie as well.
During the short preview, the media got to see an elaborate and hilarious scene at the good old mamak establishment.
“We certainly try to include lots of Malaysian elements and a local feel to organically include in the movie. It’s very Malaysian and this is something we’re proud of,” he said.
Ahmad Izham added: “The story has to be universal but the setting can always be local. Foreigners like new, fresh and exotic things. To foreigners, some of the things we have here are seen as exotic. There’s something different and it’s a sort of introduction of our Malaysian culture which is great.”
FRANCHISE POTENTIAL
Although the team is still planning to include a few celebrities in the upcoming movie either via cameos or just voice work, one thing for sure is that hip hop singer-songwriter Altimet will be making a special appearance and producing the theme song.
Potentially pushing Ejen Ali to further success, both Ahmad Izham and Usamah feel that there are plenty of opportunities to create more content for the exciting title.
“So right after the movie we’ll already be planning to continue with Season 3 of Ejen Ali, so its a long term endeavour for sure,” said Ahmad Izham.
“We just need to keep going on with the world building. It’s all in how you link the stories together and how you expand the stories. The opportunities are always there,” said Usamah.
Ahmad Izham agreed with, “There are opportunities for other spin-offs, combining things or creating a shared world to get fans excited. The ability to turn it into a full-blown franchise is definitely there so we’re all very excited about the prospect.”
Since premiering in 2016, Ejen Ali’s animated series has been broadcast in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.