Upin & Ipin

Upin & Ipin is a Malaysian television series of animated shorts produced by Les' Copaque Production, which features the life and adventures of the eponymous twin brothers in a fictional Malaysian kampung. Originally a side project for the blockbuster animated film Geng: The Adventure Begins, Upin & Ipin was introduced on TV9 in 2007 as a six-episode Ramadan/Eid special, to instil significance of the Islamic holy month amongst children. To date, the series has reached its fourth season, including another Ramadan special season in 2008, and, season three onwards, the year-long, secularly themed Upin & Ipin and Friends, the series' international debut via the Disney Channel Asia, which is not explaining Ramadan, but telling the lives of Upin and Ipin with their friends on the normal days. The show has a running gag in its English dub about the characters being confused and often saying "Huh?".

Production

The creators of Upin & Ipin are Mohd Nizam Abdul Razak, Mohd Safwan Abdul Karim and Usamah Zaid, who also are among the founding members of Les' Copaque. The trio were Multimedia University graduates who started off as animators in another local animation, till in 2005, they met a former oil dealer, Haji Burhanuddin Radzi, and his wife, Hajjah Ainon Ariff, to open Les' Copaque.
The first Upin & Ipin series were produced specially for Ramadan in 2007 as an edutainment programme to instil the significance of the holiest month of the Islamic calendar amongst its audience. According to Safwan, "We started this short four-minute animation series last year to test local market acceptance and to gauge how it would react to our story telling capabilities." The series of six animated shorts was well-received, which encouraged Les' Copaque to make another season of the Upin & Ipin for next year's Ramadan.
Nizam believed that the international animation market may be interested in a particular Malaysian cultural aspect made of a relaxed, unhurried kampung life. He explained in a 2008 report, "Famous animation series, such as Japan’s Doraemon, are based on their respective local rather than international culture. We believe we can do the same with ours." Moreover, the popularity Upin & Ipin not only in Malaysia, yet also in neighbouring Indonesia, moulded Les' Copaque into a well-known Malaysian firm.
The Autodesk Maya CGI software has been employed to animate Upin & Ipin (and the Geng film). In a 2009 Autodesk press conference, Fuad Md. Din, Les' Copaque's chief designer, remarked on Maya's ease of use, aside their long experience in using the software.
In 2009, Nizam, Safwan and Anas departed from Les' Copaque to found a new animation company, Animonsta Studios; yet Upin & Ipin remains in the works under the directorship of Haji Burhanuddin.
To date, there are about 70 creative and technical artists working in Les' Copaque Production. According to Hj. Burhanuddin, there are plans to push the numbers up to 120 people. Aside from developing the animation business, he aims to build a gaming side as well, "I also plan to introduce Upin & Ipin games in collaboration with UiTM. We have set up a dedicated team and UiTM is helping us on the content. We want to focus on mathematics in our games.”

Background

Further information: List of Characters in Upin & Ipin

Upin and Ipin are five-year-old Malay twins who live with their elder sister Ros and maternal grandmother Uda (whom they call Opah) in a wooden house in Kampung Durian Runtuh. They have lost their parents in their infancy. Upin and Ipin study in the village's Tadika Mesra (Friendly Kindergarten), where they befriend a motley bunch of classmates, including the adorable and right-thinking Mei Mei, a jocular and poetic Jarjit Singh, the firm but clumsy and short-tempered Ehsan, an easygoing and sarcastic Fizi (Ehsan's cousin), and an entrepreneurial and meticulous Mail.
The headman of Kampung Durian Runtuh is Isnin bin Khamis, better known as Tok Dalang, the wayang kulit champion. Tok Dalang keeps a cluster of rambutan trees for commercial purposes, and a rooster named Rembo. Among the village's other notable residents are Muthu, owner of the village's only food stall who lives with his animal whisperer son Rajoo and pet steer Sapy; Salleh (Sally), a waspish transgender-apparent, who owns a mobile library; and Ah Tong, a strident-voiced vegetable farmer. Kampung Durian Runtuh also invited an Indonesian girl named Susanti who moved in with her family