HASSAN ABDUL MUTHALIB

Animator, Film Director, Critic & Artist

Hassan Abdul Muthalib is a trailblazing animator and is credited with pioneering the artform in Malaysia. The Father of Malaysian Animation is also an artist, graphic designer, photographer, animator, writer, director and sometime actor. Born in 1945 in Kedah, Hassan cut his teeth at Robinsons, Malaysia’s first department store, in his first job as assistant artist and window display man while his talents were largely self-taught and gleaned from books he borrowed from the library. 

The various skills honed at Robinsons became indispensable for Hassan when he joined Filem Negara in 1968 as a graphic artist. There, he was tasked with designing documentary film titles and producing the graphics for the first Bakat TV programme. Hassan discovered animation in 1972 when he was offered to write scripts and animate festival trailers and public service advertisements trailers for TV. The latter became a hit with audiences. 

Hassan directed Malaysia’s first short film Harimau Putih Lawan Harimau Gelap (White Tiger vs. Dark Tiger), animated commercials for cinema and television and, in 1978, designed the then Bank Bumiputera savings coinbox and South East Asian Games mascot. Hassan’s Sang Kancil animation series in 1983 and Aesop’s Fables, on the request of the then Minister of Information, was lauded by the public and have since gone on to influence generations of Malaysian filmmakers, animators and artists. His first documentary in 1987, Hasil dari Rotan (The Cane), wont a jury award for Best Documentary at the Asia Pacific Film Festival in Jakarta.

Hassan co-wrote and supervised the visual effects as well as directed the country’s first animated feature film, Silat Legenda (Legendary Silat Warriors) in 1994. From 1999 to 2014, he lectured in universities and animation studios both locally and around the world. During this time, he was also appointed as director of an animation school and was animation consultant in Kota Bahru for Darul Digital. 

Hassan’s many accolades include an Honorary Masters in Creative Technology by UiTM in 2008 where he was also Artist-in-Residence. In 2011, he was recognised by Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University as an Animation Pioneer. He was officially conferred the title Father of Malaysian Animation in  2012. 

Hassan is also a prolific writer, having published two books, From Mouse Deer to Mouse (2016) documenting 70 years of Malaysian animation history and Malaysian Cinema in a Bottle (2013), which tracks Malaysian cinema from 1897 to 2013. He as written over 84 academic articles and presented them worldwide in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. 

Today, Hassan is an avid researcher of early Malaysian cinema, a creative writer, actor, author and film critic. He is a jury member for film and animation festivals in Malaysia and abroad. He is currently working on the history of Filem Negara Malaysia with plans to write on Visual Storytelling for Film and Animation.