"Upin & Ipin" gets another theme park proposal

2 Dec – Following the opening of the 2019 "Upin & Ipin" Carnival at the Melaka International Trade Centre last weekend, the Malacca State Government has revealed its plans to further boost tourism in the state using the Malaysian cartoon as a tourism product.

""Upin & Ipin" is not only a local brand but internationally renowned while Malacca is a popular tourist destination among locals and foreign tourists, receiving a large number of visitors each year," Chief Minister Adly Zahari said, as quoted by The Edge Markets.

He added that the state is confident that Les' Copaque Production Sdn Bhd, the company behind the popular cartoon series and movies starring the cheeky titular twins, will be able to evaluate their proposal and the two parties will be able to work together to promote "Upin & Ipin" as a tourist attraction.

Part of Malacca's plan is to build an "Upin & Ipin" theme park, though Les' Copaque Production Sdn Bhd managing director, Burhanuddin Md Radzi, revealed that Malacca isn't the only state that has proposed the theme park idea to the company.

"It needs to be carefully considered as the investment is not small, around RM700 million, and it involves building a closed theme park," said Burhanuddin.

This isn't the first time talks for an "Upin & Ipin" theme park have come up, among the proposed local and international locations that have been previously reported were Serdang and China.

Aside from the theme park, Malacca is also planning to organise the "Upin & Ipin" carnival as a yearly event in the state. Currently, the only other annual carnival based on "Upin & Ipin" is held in Serdang, Selangor, attracting a large number of visitors with every edition.

The popularity of "Upin & Ipin" wouldn't be diminishing anytime soon, as it's made history when early last month, it was revealed that "Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal" has become the first Malaysian animated film to be competing for a nomination in the Best Animated Feature category at the 2020 Oscars.

However, that is not the sole category that the animated film is longlisted in, as it is also in the running to be shortlisted for Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

According to The Borneo Post, Sarawak-born composer Andrew Bong, who is a member of the United States' The Society of Composers & Lyricists, will be up against strong competitors that include "Frozen" composer Christophe Beck, "The Lord of The Rings" composer Howard Shore, and "Wolf Warrior II" composer Joseph Trapanese.

Bong's chances for his work to be nominated for the 2020 Oscars might be boosted by the fact that he is also in the running for the Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film award at The Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards (SCL Awards), which is set to be held in Los Angeles on 7 January 2020.

The 2020 Oscars, or more formally known as the 92nd Academy Awards, will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood next year on 20 February.