High-tech 'Mechamato Movie' was inspired by kids playing with boxes, says writer-director

'Mechamato Movie' is the origin story of the Malaysian superhero Mechamato. Photos: Handout

Writer-director Nizam Abd Razak is a big believer in the power of imagination.

It’s something that was planted in him when he was consuming anime as a youngster.

It is this very notion that the 39-year-old wishes for the Malaysian children to experience when they watch his animated feature Mechamato Movie, which opened at Malaysian cinemas on Dec 8.

“I really want Mechamato Movie to become a catalyst for them to be innovative, for them to embrace their future and maybe to spur them into creating a new technology,” Nizam, who is the CEO of Animonsta Studios, tells StarLifestyle.

“For me, this is not just a movie but the starting point of an idea for the seven-year-old, the eight- the nine- the 10-year-old kids in the audience. So that when they see the characters in Mechamato Movie, they will say, ‘Yes, I want to do that. I want to be that’.”

Mechamato Movie is the origin story of the friendship between a schoolboy named Amato and an alien robot called MechaBot, that has the power to turn everyday objects into high-tech devices.

Together, they synergise and form the superhero “Mechamato” to fight against the bad robots that create havoc at their hometown (a fictional town inspired by Bandar Hilir in Melaka).

As seen in the two-hour film, Amato’s schoolbag is transformed into a jet pack, thanks to MechaBot, allowing the boy to fly high up in the sky.

Likewise, a broom becomes a blaster, the lid of a garbage can is turned into an impenetrable shield, and a toilet roll is not something to be trifled with once it’s mechanised.

Or as Nizam points out, “the possibility is infinite”.

Mechamato Movie explores the unique friendship between a boy and his robot.

Animonsta Studios, also known as Monsta, is behind the successful franchise BoBoiBoy that kicked off the studio’s ambitious Power Sphera Universe.

BoBoiBoy premiered as a series in 2011 and ended after three seasons. Then in 2016, the studio launched a spin-off series, BoBoiBoy Galaxy.

It also produced two BoboiBoy animated films, with the second one earning RM30mil which became the third highest-grossing film at the Malaysian box office in 2019.

All the while, too, the studio constantly updates its YouTube channel with new content such as shorts featuring the popular father-daughter team, Papa and Pipi.

Mechamato is its latest venture within the Power Sphera Universe, and it has a close connection to the studio’s first effort – Amato is Boboiboy’s father.

“I have been wanting to do a show featuring a robot for a long time,” says Nizam.

However, he also knows that there are already a lot of robot-centric stories out there, including animated films.

Amato with his school friend, Pian, who is a genius in building stuff.

The challenge for Nizam and his team was to find a unique idea. And like many good ideas, it came his way by chance.

“One day, I was packing to move to my new home and my kids were playing with the boxes I brought to pack our things.

“They took the boxes and imagined them as tanks, cars and so forth. And I thought to myself ‘this is what we used to do when we were children. This is how we played’.”

This train of thought brought Nizam to a robot that can actually “mechanise” everyday items and turn what a kid imagines into a reality.

And from that point on, Monsta started developing the idea for a film that ultimately became Mechamato Movie.

And how do a bunch of adults tackle a story that could be on par with a kid’s imagination?

“When I wrote Mechamato Movie, I really needed to go back in my memory and extract that feeling of being a kid again, that excitement of me imagining things,” says Nizam.

“I told my writers to do the same thing as well. That they have to access their childhood, remember when they were seven years old and how they used their imagination to create wondrous worlds.

“I told them ‘remember that moment when you were playing with the boxes; remember when you were jumping from sofa to sofa, imagining that you were on a spaceship, and you go there!’”

The movie is set in a fictional town inspired by Bandar Hilir in Melaka. It also features various traditional elements such as keris, trishaw and karipap.

Monsta started work on Mechamato Movie in 2017, with the aim of releasing it in 2020 followed by an animated series.

However, the pandemic upended that plan.

The film was postponed three times due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Instead, the company went ahead to release the TV series, Mechamato: The Animated Series on Cartoon Network in December 2021 to whet the appetite of fans.

Thus far, Monsta has completed two seasons and is in the midst of producing the third and fourth seasons.

The series was a success for the company, so when it was time to release the film version, it already had an in-built audience.

However, the pandemic forced Monsta to update the film – the studio added an additional 10 minutes to the running time, and had to rethink the pacing in the editing room.

The final product delivers both action and laughs throughout its running time, not only with the main protagonists but also side characters like Pian and Mara, who are Amato’s school friends, and a fellow superhero by the name of Maksmana.

The character Maksmana, featured in the movie, could become a fan-favourite.

Due to all the changes, Nizam says the final version of the film was only completed three weeks before the movie was set to hit the cinemas.

“Initially, the storyline was simpler,” explains Nizam.

“But when the series was released first instead of the film, we needed to make sure that those who have watched the series don’t feel the film is redundant. So, we needed to add a few more scenes.

“But the biggest change we noticed from before the pandemic and after the pandemic is the way we consume content. During the pandemic, we watched a lot of short content, we watched a lot of digital content.

“So, the way we edit the film got to be different; the way we tell the story and its pacing have got to be different as well.”

Despite the challenges, the Mechamato franchise is primed for success, perhaps eclipsing the BoBoiBoy franchise, or even bigger.

The film’s infectious theme song – Temaniku, sung by singer and songwriter Muhammad Haqeem Nuriman Nor Azrin, or better known as Yonnyboii – has been getting steady views on Monsta YouTube channel since it was uploaded.

For another, the series has managed to penetrate 65 countries around the world since its launch last year including Japan, South Korea, Portugal, Turkiye and Australia.

It is based on the strength of the series’ popularity that Nizam is planning to bring Mechamato Movie to international releases next year, especially to Japan.

According to Nizam, Japanese kids really love Mechamato: The Animated Series.

It’s stated in the press release that the programme is the only non-local Japanese animation series to be listed in the Top 3 Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2023.

“It’s a surreal feeling, for sure, when I see Japanese kids enjoying Mechamato, because I grew up watching the anime Doraemon. It’s my favourite show of all time,” says Nizam.

“What this proves is that we have the capability. We have our stories, our own culture and traditional elements that we can share with the world.

“That’s why we are looking at Japan as an important market. The anime industry in Japan is massive.

“There is so much anime that it is a saturated market, really. I think if we can make it over there, we can make it in the rest of the world.”

The film features top-notch animation quality like seen in this scene.

But back to local fans, Nizam is confident the audiences will fall in love either for the first time or all over again with Amato and MechaBot.

He shares with StarLifestyle what he adores about the two: “Amato is very playful, kind-hearted and also responsible. And MechaBot, despite having this great power, it’s very easy to trick him.

“For me, the characters must be real, no matter how fantastic the setting is.

“When I was developing the story, I really loved working on their interactions. I think how these two connect with each other will create an excitement for the audience as well.”