\n\tRemarkably, the film has also been a big hit in Indonesia, pulling in nearly 517,000 admissions, making it the fourth biggest film of the year overall behind three Indonesian horror titles (although as Indonesia\u2019s biggest box office period of the year kicks off today, it\u2019s likely to slide down the annual rankings). MD Entertainment handled the Indonesian release.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tPapa Zola wasn\u2019t even the only record-breaking local animation at the Malaysian box office last year \u2013 it took the all-time box office crown from WAU Animation and Komet Productions\u2019 Ejen Ali The Movie 2, which grossed $12m earlier in the year. Both Papa Zola and Ejen Ali are well-known properties \u2013 while Papa Zola is an original IP, the character is known from Monsta Studios\u2019 BoBoiBoy series, while Ejen Ali, about a young boy who transforms into superhero, is part of a franchise including a TV series and two films.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tMonsta Studios CEO Nizam Abd Razak, who directed the Papa Zola movie, explains the film\u2019s success by saying that both the story and the main character appeared to resonate deeply with local audiences. The story follows a former agent, now working as a delivery driver, who springs into action to save his daughter when aliens attack the earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIn the past, we produced sh\u014dnen-style [Japanese anime aimed at teenagers] shows like BoBoiBoy and Mechamato, where the heroes are usually kids or teenagers,\u201d says Nizam. \u201cWith Papa Zola, however, the protagonist is a father, an ordinary man trying to do his best for his family. That shift in perspective made a big difference.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMany viewers shared that it is rare to see a story centered on a father\u2019s sacrifice, especially in animated form. That emotional core; the struggles, the love, and the quiet resilience of a father, struck a chord across different age groups.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-deadline-2019\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tNizam Abd Razak, Monsta Studios CEO<\/p>\n
\n\tNizam says these themes also helped the film to travel to Indonesia, where audiences were already familiar with the BoBoiBoy franchise and could relate culturally to both the story and the character: \u201cDelivery riders or \u2018ojol\u2019 (ojek online drivers), are a significant part of daily urban life there\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tBut he believes these themes are also relevant across the region and the film has potential to travel even further. Monsta has already licensed the film to distributors in South Korea and some territories in the Middle East and is now looking for partners in the rest of Southeast Asia and beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAlthough Japanese anime remains the major force in animation across Asia, many other countries in the region are starting to produce blockbuster animated hits \u2013 China had $2BN hit Ne Zha 2 last year; Indonesia\u2019s Visinema produced Jumbo, which topped the local box office in 2025 and is currently playing in Korean theatres; Malaysia has now of course joined the party with Papa Zola and Ejen Ali; Hong Kong\u2019s highest-grossing local film last year was animation Another World; and Taiwan and the Philippines are also producing commercially and critically acclaimed animated films.<\/p>\n
\n\tNizam explains that Malaysia has long been a hub for servicing animation work from studios in the US, Europe and Japan: \u201cWe gained valuable technical skills and production discipline through those experiences. But for many of us, the long-term aspiration was always to tell our own stories, and now we have the capability to do so.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cTechnology has also become more accessible,\u201d he continues. \u201cHigh-quality animation tools are no longer limited to large studios. In addition, many universities and colleges now offer strong animation programs. These programs are not just technical training, but also creative development and storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHe adds that audiences across Asia are also changing, becoming \u201cincreasingly open to watching animated films and series from different cultures\u201d, while there\u2019s also growing acceptance that animation content\u00a0\u00a0is not just for kids. He says that there were two overlapping audience groups for Papa Zola in Malaysia: the first was families with young children, while the second group comprised young adults and adults who grew up watching animation and anime.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a clear shift: more adults are embracing animation as a legitimate storytelling medium, not just children\u2019s entertainment. Traditionally, animation was viewed purely as kids\u2019 content. Today, the audience range is much broader, roughly from ages 4 to 40. Papa Zola becoming one of the top three highest-grossing local films of all time in Malaysia demonstrates this shift. Such a milestone would not be possible if the audience were limited to children and families alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIn another interesting shift, while Japanese anime has undoubtedly been a creative influence across the region \u2013 many young people in Southeast and East Asia grow up reading manga and watching anime \u2013 several countries are now starting to develop their own aesthetics.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tPapa Zola The Movie<\/p>\n
\n\tNizam explains that Monsta\u2019s journey started with BoBoiBoy and Mechamato, which follow the structure of anime sh\u014dnen storytelling, but that Malaysian animation has a different look: \u201cIn that sense, anime has opened doors by establishing global acceptance of Asian storytelling styles. It has created an audience that is already comfortable with these narrative rhythms.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe main difference lies in the medium. Traditional anime is predominantly 2D, while Malaysian animation or what we refer to as \u201cAnimy\u201d (Animation Malaysia) is largely 3D, but infused with anime-inspired storytelling. Rather than competing directly, we are building on that foundation in our own way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMalaysia has yet to see widespread implemention of AI in animation production pipelines, although Nizam says that will likely change as live-action and CGI productions globally are integrating AI tools into various stages of production. But he cautions that: \u201cAnimation remains a craft that heavily depends on human creativity and artistic judgment\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAs the industry evolves, we must adapt to new technologies,\u201d Nizam says. \u201cHowever, it has to be done in a careful manner. AI should serve as a tool to assist artists, streamline workflows, and enhance efficiency, not replace the creative minds behind the work. The goal should be to empower the craft, not eliminate the crafters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMeanwhile, Monsta Studios\u2019 pipeline is already full \u2013 a third Boboiboy movie, Boboiboy 3: Ghost Of Gurlatan, will be released next year, while a series about Papa Zola\u2019s family, Papa Pipi, is being readied for the fourth quarter of this year. The Monsta universe also includes physical comics, merchandising and games. Hollywood and Japanese animation might need to get ready for a new wave of competition from Southeast Asia.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Malaysia\u2019s animation industry has been on a roll for the past year \u2013 landing big theatrical hits in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[93,159334,61,60,160292,270,160293],"class_list":["post-352411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-filmart","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-monsta-studios","tag-movies","tag-papa-zola-the-movie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}