A Creative Boy and His Mechabot!
Malaysian studio MONSTA has ambitious plans for its popular Mechamato franchise.
Malaysian studio Monsta is best known for its popular animated series BoBoiBoy which was first introduced in 2011 and ran for three seasons and also inspired two movies. This year, the studio is back with an exciting second season of its show Mechamato and a feature as well. Mechamato follows the adventures of Amato, a creative boy and his fantastic robot MechaBot, which has the power to turn any object into a high-tech device. “After the success of our first IP BoBoiBoy, we wanted to create a new animated series centering on the friendship between a boy and his robot,” says Anas Abdul Aziz, the studio’s Chief Content Officer. “In 2014, we developed and pitched Mechamato to multiple broadcasters and partners from different regions and platforms, and garnered a lot of interest.”
According to Anas, the studio had originally planned to release Mechamato as a feature back in 2020, but due to the challenges of the Covid pandemic, they quickly switched plans and decided to focus on the series instead. The Perfect Pair So, what makes this show so popular with the fans? “With Amato as the brains, and MechaBot as the brawns, the duo has a unique chemistry that also makes them the perfect match-up,” says Anas. “Together they have to find and capture other bad robots that are hiding in the city. Every episode features new creative mechanizations and cool new robots for Amato and MechaBot to capture. Our young hero has a lot of crazy and far-fetched ideas for inventions, which he is able to realize with the help of MechaBot’s abilities. This allows the show to explore elements of imagination and creativity, which we hope will inspire and motivate kids today to become more creative and better at problem-solving.”
One of the big selling points of the show is how it is inspired by various elements of Malaysian culture and how the creative team integrates them within the storylines and the show’s high-tech animation. As Anas explains, “The town of Kota Hilir is inspired by the city of Malacca, which is a melting pot of different cultures and races. Mechamato also showcases some iconic Southeast Asia mainstays as the martial art known as “Silat” and traditional dish called “Karipap”, the food that MechaBot loves to eat.”
According to Anas, Mechamato is produced at the studio’s facilities in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. The production uses Autodesk Maya to produce the CG animation. Since its debut on Cartoon Network in December 2021, Mechamato is now one step closer to global arrival after being acquired by Netflix and multiple European broadcasters including TV JOJ, SIC K and Minika Çocuk. Mechamato is well received in more than 30 countries across Asia Pacific, Middle East and Europe. In addition, Mechamato Movie is in the final stage of production, scheduled for year-end release and looking for international distributors to come onboard with this popular project.
Monsta, which celebrates its lucky 13th anniversary this September, has big plans for the future. In addition to BoBoiBoy and Mechamato, the studio also produces the hit animated shows Papa Pipi and Fly with Yaya. “We hope to become the voice of South East Asia,” says Anas. “We would like to expose the world to the stories, cultures, values and artists of Southeast Asia. Thus, all of our upcoming shows will revolve around universally appealing concepts with a good mix of local elements. We strongly believe this will bring the next generations closer to each other despite coming from different places around the world.”