03.11.1945–?
Hassan Muthalib
Hassan Abdul Muthalib was born in 1945 in Alor Setar and became one of the first Malaysian animators: in the late 1970s he made short public-information films, and in the 1980s he directed a series of films about the cunning mouse deer Sang Kancil. In 2018 he received the Merdeka Award; for founding Malaysian animation he is called its “father”.
Biography
The list of his films opens in 1977 with “Hapuskan Nyamuk Aedes: Gunakan Ubat Jentik-Jentik”, that is, a call to destroy the larvae of the Aedes mosquito. It is a short piece of applied animation. Malaysian cartoons began with works like this.
Hassan Abdul Muthalib was born on 3 November 1945 in Alor Setar, Malaysia. Nothing is known about his childhood or schooling, and I will not guess at it. Later he worked as an animator, director, critic and artist, wrote about film, and appeared as an actor in cinema and on television.
What follows is a chain of short films, and it shows how his range of subjects changed. In the late 1970s and in the 1980s he made films on public themes: the safe use of cooking gas, the cleanliness of lavatories; in 1979 came a Christmas card, “Selamat Hari Natal”. At the same time a line of fables appears. “Hikayat Sang Kancil” (1983) is based on Malay folklore about the clever mouse deer Sang Kancil. It was followed by “Hikayat Sang Kancil dan Monyet” (1984) and “Hikayat Sang Kancil dan Buaya” (1987). In the middle of the decade came “Gagak Yang Bijak” (1985), “Singa Yang Haloba” (1986) and “Arnab Yang Sombong” (1986): the wise crow, the greedy lion, the arrogant hare. “Mekanik” (1983) stands apart.
In 1990 “Mat Gelap” was released. In 1998 Muthalib made the animated film “Silat Lagenda”, and later he made live-action and documentary works: “At the End of Daybreak” (2009), “Return to Nostalgia” (2015), “The Unsung HERO – Mat Sentol” (2016) and “Thottam: The Garden” (2017). For the comedy “Hantu Kak Limah Balik Rumah” he made the episode “Zombiku Zombimu Jua” (2010).
Awards came from the 1980s on: the Anugerah Seri Angkasa in 1983, the jury prize for best documentary in 1989, and an award for best special effects in 1990. He was also recognised as a mentor to the industry: in 2010 he received the title Ikon Animasi Kolej Komuniti (Animation Icon of the community colleges), and later the titles Perintis Animasi Asia (“Pioneer of Asian Animation”) and Bapa Animasi Malaysia (“Father of Malaysian Animation”, 2012). His name is included in the school art textbook for the first year of secondary school (Form 1).
On 3 September 2018, together with the historian Khoo Kay Kim, he received the Merdeka Award, presented by the Sultan of Perak, Nazrin Shah.
Profile notes