You may have laughed at the supposedly ugly 3D animation or the negative reviews mocking the movie, but it has been revealed that the homegrown animated film, “Niu Lai” (“Here Comes the Ox”), has now made over RMB 20 million at the box office in China.

Released on 5 August, the film originally earned only RMB 7,711 in cumulative nationwide box office receipts during its first 10 days. Fewer than 300 people had watched it, while the number of screenings had almost dropped to zero.

However, due to its extremely rough and amateurish production, and after clips from the film were widely parodied and circulated online, the movie has suddenly received much love, with audiences embracing it precisely because of how “bad” it was.

“You’ll regret watching it for 80 minutes, but you’ll regret not watching it for the rest of your life!” read one review.

The film, which reportedly took over five years to make by director Xin Yumeng and his mother, Sun Lifang, tells the story of a young calf named Niu Lai who encounters a lark in a meadow and brings it into his dreams. There, the lark witnesses the calf bravely confronting danger and eventually becoming a warrior.

Director Xin Yumeng has since addressed the film’s overnight popularity on its official Weibo account, acknowledging that the production has its rough edges by mature theatrical animation standards, and said he has taken both the praise and criticism from audiences seriously.

(Photo Source: SINA, SOHU)

Continuing its success after Japan, it was revealed Monsta’s popular animated series, “Mechamato” is set to premiere in Portugal next month.

The news was shared by the series itself through its official social media accounts, stating, “Guess what! Mechamato is coming to Portugal via Sic Kids channel, the biggest kids channel in Portugal!”

Sic Kids, or Sociedade Independente de Comunicacao, is a popular TV station in the said European country.

The series will also be dubbed in the country’s vernacular language.

Speaking about the good news, Monsta’s Head of Marketing, Faiz Zainal Abidin, said that the company is excited to be able to entertain children from all corners of the world through their respective mother tongues.

“The strength of the Mechamato series lies in the storyline that focuses on pure values, friendship and culture. Mechamato is famous for combining modern technology without neglecting elements of local tradition. By using Bandar Hilir Melaka as a source of inspiration, the Mechamato series showcased the historical area as a location theme,” he said.

“We hope that in this way, young viewers in Portugal and around the world who have the opportunity to watch Mechamato can learn a little more about the history and culture of our country,” Faiz added.

The animation scene in Malaysia continues to grow. As announced today by Primeworks Studios and animation production studio WAU Animation, the popular animated series “Ejen Ali” is now showing in China.

This is done through the strategic partnership between Primeworks Studios and WAU Animation with China’s biggest video streaming platform, Tencent Video.

The content partnership deal is brokered with CAWRO, the programme’s official distributor in China.

Within just four days of its release on the platform, “Ejen Ali” has already set a record as one of the Top Three highly-rated overseas programmes on it.

Chief Executive Officer of WAU Animation, Usamah Zaid Yasin, said in a statement, “It’s always exciting to see our work meet new audiences, so we hope the series will be equally well received in China. 

“The dream of course is to then bring the series’ next instalment, “Ejen Ali: The Movie” to the big theatre screens in China, so we remain hopeful that can be a reality as the country and the entertainment industry move into the recovery stage from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Ejen Ali’” is received well not only in Malaysia but also in other countries!

Meanwhile, Dato’ Khairul Anwar Salleh, Chief Executive Officer of Primeworks Studios and Media Prima Television Networks, stated that the partnership with CAWRO is a strategic move in expanding the “Ejen Ali” brand to international level.

“It is timely for this showpiece of Malaysian animation created by our talented partners WAU Animation to garner more international attention and this strategic partnership underscores our commitment to bring the best of Malaysian content to the world and to kickstart the brand’s licensing and merchandising business in the region,” he added.

“Ejen Ali” was released on Tencent Video China since 1 December 2020 and is dubbed in Mandarin, as an effort to attract more attention from the locals, specifically the children.

Following the multiple successes achieved by the Brainy Bones Studios-produced animated short film, “Kring!”, director Hilmi Ismail has announced that his studio will be producing an animated series based on it next.

The good news was shared by Hilmi on his Twitter page yesterday, including further details about the making of process of the series.

Like the short film, the animated series will focus on Cikgu Suraya and Mael as the main characters. However, several new characters will also be introduced.

For now, the studio is in the process of selecting the best vocal talents for the two main characters, following an online audition that was held last September.

“The whole process until completion is expected to take two years. The series revolves around school life and issues.

“We are in the process of finishing the pilot episode. We target to complete it by next February. After that, we will present it to TV stations, sponsors and others,” said Hilmi.

Previously, “Kring!” made its mark in history when it was awarded Best Animated Film for Kids at the ReAnima Bergen International Animation Festival 2020 in Norway.

Apart from that, it also won the Best Animated Film award at the Festival International du Film sur les Handicaps 2020 in Lyon, France.

For those who haven’t watched “Kring!”, you can catch the award-winning short film on Brainy Bones Studios’ official YouTube channel.

Good news for “BoBoiBoy” fans as it’s been confirmed that the third movie,
“BoBoiBoy Movie 3“, is all set to be released in cinemas in 2022.

This was revealed by Animonsta Studios CEO Nizam Razak himself, who
also shared several updates on their new projects, including their latest
animated film “Mechamato Movie”.

“Initially, “BoBoiBoy Movie 3” was scheduled to be released in 2021 to
celebrate the 10th anniversary of “BoBoiBoy”, but it has been moved to 2022 to
make way for the “Mechamato” franchise in 2021.

“We are also planning to produce “BoBoiBoy Galaxy Special” to ensure there’s
something special for fans in conjunction with the 10th anniversary,” he
stated.

“BoBoiBoy Galaxy Special” will be a special release for fans in celebration of the 10th anniversary of “BoBoiBoy”.

Aside from that, “BoBoiBoy” will also release a new mini-series called
“Destinasi Terbaik” (The Best Destination), which aims to help the local
tourism industry that has been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The
series is in the same vein as “Fly with Yaya”.

Monsta will help boost the local tourism industry with “Destinasi Terbaik”.

Monsta has also signed a deal with a major network to bring the “Mechamato”
series to the APAC region, including Japan and Korea, in 2021.

The new “Mechamato” series, set in a fictional city that is inspired by
Malacca, will revolve around technology as well as culture.

Each Monsta animation will focus on introducing local culture to international audiences.

This showcases Monsta‘s commitment in promoting the nation’s local culture to the world. 

The main characters in the series are Amato, MechaBot, Pian, Mara and Deep,
with Bula and Bili as supporting characters. 

(Photo source: Nizam Razak’s Facebook)

Even though a year has passed, the film by animation studio Animonsta Studios (Monsta) continues making the nation proud worldwide with the many awards and recognitions it’s amassed.

“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on The Run”

“Doraemon: Nobita’s New Dinosaur”

“Connected”

“Soul”

“The Croods 2”