Hassan Abdul Muthalib is responsible for pioneering Malaysia’s animation industry and producing the earliest local animated films. A multi-talented and versatile artist who is mostly self-taught, his body of work spans films, documentaries, commercials and public service announcements, operating in multiple capacities as designer, photographer, animator, writer, director and even actor.

Starting out his career as an assistant artist and assistant window dresser at Robinsons inspired Hassan’s interest in visual arts, leading to a foray into the film industry as a graphic artist at Filem Negara. Later, he was tasked with animating festival trailers for television and fell in love with the fairly new art form. Through studying, and trial and error, he produced some well-received public-service advertisements, which were tinged with humour.

This was followed by animated commercials for cinema and television and subsequently, the first Malaysian animated film Hikayat Sang Kancil (The Legend of Mousedeer), which Hassan co-wrote and directed while also overseeing the visual effects. He later directed another animation, Silat Legenda, which won the Special Award for First Animated Feature Film in Malaysia at the 1998 Malaysia Film Festival.

Hassan has also written and directed films, and produced a documentary, which have also earned him awards. Owing to his experience in animation, he has been invited to lecture at universities as well as major animation studios. He’s published two books documenting 70 years of Malaysian animation and an analytical history of Malaysian cinema. In 2018, he was honoured with the Merdeka Award for his contribution to the country. He has also been acknowledged as an Animation Pioneer by Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.