Meet the voice behind 12-year-old Ejen Ali: Ida Rahayu Yusoff

Ida Rahayu Yusof has been voicing 12-year-old Ejen Ali since the series went on air in 2016.

Voice actress Ida Rahayu Yusoff didn’t plan on being a part of animation series Ejen Ali initially.

“I was in charge of compiling and scheduling the auditioners actually. But after the audition process, the directors still couldn’t find the right voice, ” she tells StarLifestyle.

Ida – who incidentally has experience as a voice actress, previously voicing a supporting character on Upin & Ipin – found herself going from coordinating the auditions to being approached with the opportunity to voice the lead character on Ejen Ali.

Local animation studio Wau Animation eventually gave the job to Ida.

Ejen Ali – an animation series which chronicles the adventures of a 12-year-old schoolboy turned spy – went on air in 2016 and has since churned out two seasons.

Ejen Ali started out as an animated TV series in 2016 before making it to the big screen.

This year, the series is being adapted to the big screen, and is expected to hit cinemas at the end of the month.

Ida says there’s definitely an added pressure, now that the project is going from TV to film: “The scale is a lot bigger now and the storyline is more serious. But I just give it my all.”

In Ejen Ali: The Movie, the titular character fears he is quickly becoming irrelevant when his secret agency, Meta Advance Tactical Agency (Mata), implements a technology upgrade. On top of that, Ali sets out on a very personal quest when he receives information on his parents’ whereabouts.

Ida says there is added pressure voicing Ejen Ali, now that the project is going from TV to film.

“Going from TV to film, we definitely want to see an increase in quality. We want the graphics to be more detailed. So we have over 90 people working in our animation team, ” says director Usamah Zaid Yasin, who also created the TV series.

Indeed, expectations are high for animation films these days.

This year has seen a rise in the animated features, with two local releases BoBoiBoy Movie 2 raking in close to RM30mil and Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal earning RM26mil.

The former is now Malaysia’s highest-earning animated film of all time while the latter is one of 32 films in the running for the Best Animated Film trophy at next year’s Oscar.

Usamah believes Ejen Ali – made with a budget of RM6.5mil – has its own unique attributes and is confident the film will hold its own.

“Ejen Ali’s strength lies in the fact that its storyline not only appeals to kids, but through the various conflicts our characters face, it captivates adults too, ” he says during a press event promoting the film.

“Even teens, which have been said to be quite a hard demographic to reach, follow our show.”

Ejen Ali: The Movie opens at GSC cinemas nationwide on Nov 28.