Remember how excited we’d get whenever we got to read the black and white comic sketches about the adventures of a young boy growing up in a rural Malaysia in the 1950s? If you don’t know who Lat is, we’re totally judging you, jk. How dare you call yourself Malaysian if you’ve never heard of our legendary Malaysian cartoonist?
Guess what? It looks like we’ll get to see Mat and his village come to life on the big screen soon! Lat’s iconic ‘Kampung Boy’ has been confirmed to be made into film, The Malay Mail Online reported. It’s real guys!
Source: Sinar Harian
Datuk Mohammad Nor Khalid (or more popularly known as Lat), revealed that he is currently in talks with a French director to turn the graphic novel into a real-life movie.
The announcement was made on February 28 at Muzium Negara where Lat was appointed as a member of the panel at a forum held in conjunction with the museum’s “Cartoon and Us” exhibition, Utusan Online reported.
Source: Warta Online
Along with him were the moderator of the forum, cartoonist Ahmad Hilmy Abdullah, as well as two members of the panel, Lecturer of the Faculty of Art and Design of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Professor Dr Muliyadi Mahamood and animated filmmaker Hassan Abd. Muthalib.
The 67-year-old renowned cartoonist did not expect to have the chance to work with the unnamed director who previously made a film about the life of children in Vietnam back in the ’50s.
Source: Ilham Gallery
“I had lots of friends in the film industry that expressed their interest to adapt my works into film. I said ‘enough, I am tired of discussing Kampung Boy’. However, when I received an offer by a director from Europe to film it, I felt the need to discuss it,” he said.
“If he wants to highlight the kampung culture, Malay life in the village and Malaysia, what’s wrong with that? Besides, I have watched the television series during the 1990s in London, United Kingdom,” he added.
Source: Twitter
He disclosed that a second meeting with the director took place yesterday evening (February 28), where discussions included filming location and lead role potentials. We wonder who will make the cast!
“I think the shooting will be done in France, just like how the previous Vietnam film was shot there as well,” Lat said.
‘Kampung Boy’, an autobiographical retelling of Lat’s childhood experiences in rural Perak in the 1950s, was first published in 1979 as a comic book. Considered one of the most successful works in Southeast Asia, ‘Kampung Boy‘ has been translated into 12 languages including Tamil, French, German and Korean.
Source: VERNONCHAN.COM
In 2011, ‘Lat Kampung Boy The Musical’ was presented in Istana Budaya. Not only that, ‘Yesterday and Today’ and ‘Town Boy’ were adapted as an animation in Hollywood during the 1990s.
Source: Tumblr
We are absolutely hyped for its release! Do you feel that hit of nostalgia yet?
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