A CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF MALAYSIAN COMPUTER ANIMATION STORYTELLING

Abstract

Malaysian animation storytellinghas significantly transformed over the past 40 years.The initial utilisation of storytelling could be retraced to early Hikayat Sang Kancil episodes(a series of short animation produced in the 1980s). Specifically, thestorytelling method within the aforementioned seriesencompassed folklore, fables, Malay proverbs, localculture, and mythology. With the emergence of computer technology, the landscape of Malaysian animation drastically changed from traditional to computer animation starting in the year of 2010. Despite the higher number of computer animation content being produced with a few penetrations at the international level, one of the key struggles highlighted by many animation practitioners and content distributors are lacking good storytelling. The major time spent and investment for the overall content lies in the technical aspects of the animation production compared to the storytelling development. This has resulted in low interest in the number of audiences and television stations to select the digital content as animation series. In order to understand the fundamental issues, this paper presents an overview of Malaysian animation storytelling development for the last 20 years. It carefully analysed the storytelling and narrative approach, content, and processes involved. These are then compared to eastern and western animation. The results of this analysis will be used as part of the guiding principles to suggest a conceptual model of Malaysian computer animation storytelling.