Malaysian cartoonist, Datuk Mohammad Nor bin Mohammad Khalid or commonly known as Lat during the opening of Galeri Rumah Lat in Ipoh, Malaysia on July 8, 2023.
WHEN it comes to Malaysian artists, the cartoonist Datuk Mohd Nor Khalid, better known as Lat, is pretty much a household name locally.
There are fans of his works around the world and it has been claimed that "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening is a fan of Lat – particularly one of his most famous works, "Kampung Boy".
Is this true?
VERDICT:
TRUE
Yes, this is in fact true – Groening has openly spoken about his love for Lat and his autobiographical account of growing up in a kampung in Perak in the 1950s.
Highlighted on the website for the book put up by publishing company Macmillan is a one-line review by Groening.
"Sweet, funny and brilliantly drawn, 'Kampung Boy' is one of the all-time great cartoon books," said Groening.
Interestingly, this was also mentioned in a 2007 interview of Lat by the international magazine Readers Digest – where Lat mentions speaking to Groening after hearing that he was a fan of Kampung Boy and his other works.
"When I was in LA working on 'Kampung Boy', somebody told me that Matt Groening liked my cartoons. So I got in touch with him. He liked my work even before he did 'The Simpsons'," said Lat.
So yes, Lat can count the creator of one of the world's most famous cartoon families as one of his fans.
SOURCES:
https://academic.macmillan.com/academictrade/9781596431218/kampungboy/
