BLue KaRiPaP
Feast on this achievement called Blue Karipap, Malaysia’s first major cartoon in cyberspace.
A favourite Malaysian snack (albeit in a strange colour) has lent its name to the country’s first major cartoon in cyberspace.
The Blue Karipap online animated series, a creation of MFX Pictures, offers a zany bunch of characters — all very Malaysian — who hang out at a cafe owned by an eccentric scientist and his overweight, ex-beauty queen wife.
The cafe’s name, incidentally, gives the series its name.
Sidney Tan, the cartoon’s creator, writer and director, said the Blue Karipap was inspired by young Malaysians living in Kuala Lumpur.
It hammered home the point of not giving up on one’s dreams, and picking oneself up when life is down.
The series’ catchphrase "Life’s Not Blue, It’s Up to You!" neatly sums it up.
"This is my first major animated cartoon. The characters were inspired by friends, relatives and bits and pieces of me. Everyone is unique, yet they all have dreams of making it big in the city," he added.
The 30-year-old Tan, who dreams of creating fully Malaysian animated movies content-wise, is responsible for those cartoons in magazines Off The Edge and Men’s Review.
He is also behind comic series Malaysian Superheroes, featured in entertainment magazine Klue.
A graphic design graduate from Limkokwing University, he has been a cartoonist for six years.
"I grew up reading the wonderfully Malaysian cartoons of Lat and Reggie Lee. They capture the essence of Malaysians, especially urban residents, with their hilarious caricatures," he said.
The Blue Karipap characters speak in English, occasionally uttering words in Bahasa Malaysia.
He has uploaded the cartoon on the Internet "as it reaches a worldwide audience".
At the moment, the cartoon features five main characters. There are six episodes, each lasting a minute.
Twenty more episodes are in the pipeline, with new characters gradually joining the cast.
"The Blue Karipap will evolve, and public feedback helps," he said.
The cartoon’s music and lyrics are provided by WASP Music, headed by its creative and musical director, Paul Morrison.
Morrison, from Staffordshire in Britain, has worked as a sound engineer with acclaimed British bands such as UB40 and Black Sabbath.
He has worked in Kuala Lumpur for 12 years as a composer for television advertisements.
One of his most memorable credits is the 1990s Malaysia Airlines advertisement All Our Lives, a heart-warming National Day story of three friends who grew up during the colonial era and reunited as successful businessmen at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
"The characters may be Malaysian but the story’s message is universal," he said.
"Furthermore, the curry puff bears a striking resemblance to the Cornish pastry, a favourite British snack!"
Morrison and his team of composers and songwriters in WASP Music have just come up with the single Live At the BKP, the Blue Karipap theme song.
The cartoon’s line producer, Jasmine Ng, said Internet surfers have been very supportive.
"Many of them see facets of their own life experiences in the characters," she said.
Executive producer Moon Chan said MFX would be creating more Malaysian-themed cartoons in future but for now, the company was concentrating on making Blue Karipap a success.
The Blue Karipap can be viewed at www.bluekaripap.com. The cartoon made its debut last month.
