“I lost my mum recently. And when going through the grief, I turned to Ali, remembering how he handled his feelings when he had to say goodbye to his mother,” shared Ida Rahayu Yusoff, who is the voice of Ali in Ejen Ali, on what she admires about this Malaysian animated character.
Ida’s mother passed away in 2020 from stage four cancer.
“It was right in the middle of the lockdown during the pandemic, so I couldn’t even visit her in her last days.
“Thankfully, I got to go to her funeral. The loss is still tough for me, but I am slowly healing,” the mother of two girls told StarLifestyle.
Meanwhile, Shafiq Isa – who voices Ejen Bakar in the franchise – said that he’s inspired by Bakar whom he describes as a loyal friend to Ali.
“He supports Ali and always tries to be there for him. In that way, I try to do the same (for the people in my life),” explained Shafiq.
Although neither get recognised in public – “Whenever I am introduced as the voice of Ali to small kids, they will say, ‘Really? This makcik?’,” Ida recalled with a laugh – they are both very proud to be part of the team behind the award-winning show.
That pride is also true of the 89 employees at Wau Animation – some of whom have been there from the beginning – that had produced two seasons of Ejen Ali, Ejen Ali The Movie and, now, the series’ third season which premiered on Disney+ Hotstar, June 25.
Ejen Ali centres on a 12-year-old boy named Ali Ghazali who accidentally binds himself to a smart device called the Infinity Retinal Intelligence System (IRIS), belonging to a spy agency – Meta Advance Tactical Agency (Mata).
Due to this, he’s recruited as a Mata agent and becomes part of the team protecting the city of Cyberaya from any outside threats. All the while, Ali also goes about his life as an ordinary boy.
During a press meet at Wau Animation office in Cyberjaya, Selangor, Usamah Zaid Yasin – director of Ejen Ali and CEO of the company – said: “Wau Animation was established in 2013, with a humble staff of just eight people. We started at the living room of my own apartment.
“It was founded with a vision of creating animation content that will move the audience.”
Well, the studio has definitely achieved that, and more.
Ejen Ali premiered on TV3 in 2016. Over the next few years, the series’ two seasons would be a hit not only in Malaysia but also worldwide.
The series has been aired in over 50 countries in South-East Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian sub-continent and North America.
There are also three standalone mobile games with over 3.7 million downloads to date.
Wau’s biggest accomplishment is its first movie, Ejen Ali The Movie, which collected RM30mil at the Malaysian box office, making it the No.1 movie of 2019 and the highest-grossing animated film in the country to date.
The film was nominated in 10 categories at 2021 Malaysia Film Festival, and it won two.
Previously, the series received a nomination at the 2018 Asian Academy Creative Awards in Best 3D Animated Programme Or Series category.
It’s this momentum that has spurred the studio on.
The new season of Ejen Ali sees Wau collaborating with Disney+ Hotstar and Primeworks Studios.
“We are not compromising on the quality and production value for the series that we had set with the movie,” mentioned Usamah.
The third season has Ali and other young agents at the academy take part in a world-class competition.
Ali is especially driven, as he wants to follow in the footsteps of his late mother who was once crowned the champion.
But as always, the young agents are not able to fully focus on the battle as other issues crop up.
Usamah revealed that Season Three will introduce four new characters and lots more fresh elements into its 13 episodes.
A press release stated the new season will also incorporate “Malaysian influences in modern design concepts, paying tribute to local traditional Malaysian elements such as gasing, silat and the kerambit knife”.
Usamah elaborated: “I feel that it’s good to incorporate some Malaysian identities into the story.
“It’s fun and meaningful to do so because I strongly believe in creating something that has a resounding identity.
“Not only do you experience the character, but you also experience the character’s world.
“And for me, personally, when trying to reach the global audience, I think it’s important to tell a story where your characters have globally relatable conflicts.
“As long as the character is relatable, I feel you can be as local as you want to be.
“Because your audience can understand why your character is feeling challenged or sad or emotional, despite the different setting.”
According to Usamah, the company is pursuing this storyline for its third season as the fans are wondering about the other young agents at the academy.
“So, we’ve expanded the story that was first seen in the second season which featured the training of agents from different units at Mata.”
While admitting that the writers did draw some inspiration from various sources such as The Hunger Games films and manga series My Hero Academia, Usamah said the intent behind introducing an arena battle is to broaden Ejen Ali’s universe and build on what else could be out there in the protagonist’s world.
This, he said, could also directly lead to new merchandise, mobile games and more.
When asked how far he sees taking the franchise to in the future, Usamah said: “If you’re asking me about my wish list, then everything under the sun.
“Not just mobile games but console games. And more on-ground events like what we did for the second season and the movie, which we want to continue throughout the third season campaign.
“I believe in bringing that experience beyond just the screen because I loved it when I got to experience things, like, from Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings (beyond the screen).”
However, he added: “We have spoken internally and even with Primeworks, whereby we have spotted certain characters or a group of characters that could grow into their own show.
“We actually started developing a show called Ejen Comot previously, like more fun adventures revolving around Ali’s cat. And we have a few others... To be honest, I see a lot of room for Ejen Ali to grow.
“When we started the show, I kind of had an idea where this story would end. But at this point, I’m more interested in how far we can grow this, along with spin-offs and new IPs (intellectual properties) as well.
“So, there’s a lot of ambitious things that we want to do. I just hope we can manage to get the support and confidence to do it.”
Usamah noted what makes Ejen Ali so special to him: “Growing up, there were characters that I felt very connected to and still do, to this very day.
“I loved Sakuragi Hanamichi from Slam Dunk and Son Goku from Dragon Ball. And I think one of the most inspiring movie characters for me was Maximus Aurelius from Gladiator.
“So, I wanted to (create) a character that would inspire the audience
“When we spoke about what kind of show we wanted to do, we narrowed it down to the protagonist needing to be like a zero-to-hero underdog story.
“At least, he would start off that way and then he would grow and change. And he would need to earn his spot as an agent.
“We wanted to show that he doesn’t have any superpowers but he can be a hero, by drawing strength from those around him.
“So, if you’re asking me what I love about this character, I think I want him to be a symbol or a source of inspiration for the audience.”
He mentioned he got that affirmation when his nephew came and hugged him after watching Ejen Ali The Movie.
“That kind of reaction was very powerful for me.
“And most of the adults who had seen the movie said that they shed a lot of tears, and that it left an impact on them.
“It goes to show that the audience has been connecting with the story at a certain level that’s beyond just entertainment.
“And that is a huge deal to us.”
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
