Upin & Ipin (Jawi: اوڤين دان ايڤين) is a Malaysian animated television series created by Burhanuddin Md Radzi and his wife, Ainon Ariff and is produced by Les' Copaque Production, based in Shah Alam, Selangor. The series made its premiere on TV9 for 11 seasons and on Astro Ceria, Astro Prima and TV2 from season 12 onwards. It also made its premiere in Indonesia on MNCTV (formerly TPI) from 2007 to 2023 and also available for online streaming on both Disney+ and Netflix.
The series follows Upin and Ipin, a five-year-old twin brothers who is characterised by their abundance of energy, imagination and curiosity about the world. Both twins, who lost their parents while they are still a baby, lived with their older sister, Ros and grandmother, whom they called Opah at the fictional Kampung Durian Runtuh. Overarching themes include the focus on family, growing up, and Malaysian culture.
Originally a side project for the blockbuster animated film Geng: The Adventure Begins, Upin & Ipin was introduced on TV9 on 14 September 2007 as a six episode Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr special, to teach children the significance of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and Shawwal. A second season, also centered on Ramadan, aired in 2008. As of 2024, Upin & Ipin is the longest-running Malaysian animated series, currently in its 17th year of production, and is currently in its 18th season.
Upin & Ipin has received consistently high viewership in Malaysia on both broadcast television and video-on-demand services. It has influenced the development of merchandise, film adaptations and a stage show featuring its characters. The program has been recognised by The Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR) thrice and has won numerous awards, including the 2007 Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival 2007 for Best Animation and the 26th Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian for Most Popular Local Animation Character. It has been praised by television critics for depicting a modern everyday family life.
Characters
Upin and Ipin, the titular characters,[2][3] is five-year-old twin brothers who is curious and energetic.[4] They lived with their 17-year-old older sister, Ros and their 68-year-old grandmother Uda, (whom they call Opah) in a village called Kampung Durian Runtuh. Their parents died during their infancy. Upin and Ipin studied in the village's kindergarten, Tadika Mesra with a group of classmates, including the adorable and right-thinking Mei Mei, the poetic joker Jarjit Singh, the clumsy and short-tempered Ehsan, the easygoing and sarcastic Fizi, and the entrepreneurial and meticulous Mail.
The headman of Kampung Durian Runtuh is 72-year-old Isnin bin Khamis, better known as Tok Dalang Ranggi, the Wayang Kulit champion. Tok Dalang owns a cluster of rambutan trees for commercial purposes. He had a grandson named Badrol who first appears in Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula, and a rooster named Rembo. Among the village's other notable residents are Muthu, owner of the village's only food stall who lives with his animal whisperer son Rajoo and family pet cattle Sapy; Salleh (Sally), a feminine-apparent who owns a mobile library, a radio annoucer, and also an online seller and Ah Tong, a strident-voiced vegetable farmer.
Additionally, new characters was introduced in later seasons: an Indonesian girl named Susanti who moved to Kampung Durian Runtuh with her family in season 3. There are also fainter Ijat, Dzul, Devi, and unmentioned and rarely apperaed girl student named Nurul. The titular characters are voiced by Nur Fatihah Diaz for the first three seasons,[5] and from season 4 onwards, both twins are voiced by Asyiela Putri,[6][7] while supporting and additional characters are voiced by the series' production staffs and are referred by their first names.
Geng: The Adventure Begins, an accompanying film to the Upin & Ipin series, was released on 12 February 2009 to popular success.[8] Following the release of Geng, Les' Copaque announced the subsequent Upin & Ipin films, named Upin & Ipin: Angkasa in mid-2009. But, the film was cancelled and replaced with Laksamana Upin & Ipin,[9] which later abandoned due to unexpected financial and schedule situation which occurred in 2011.
A spinoff series, bertajuk Upin & Ipin Iqra'[c] centered on reciting al-Quran. In the series, Upin and Ipin with their friends learning Quran with their religious teacher, Ustaz Sheikh Abdulkarim Omar al-Makki. It premiered on Astro Ceria in Malaysia and MNCTV in Indonesia starting 4 January 2019.
Another spinoff serkes, Upin & Ipin: The Helping Heroes, began premiered on Les' Copaque YouTube channel on 22 May 2020.[14][15] The series also premiered on Netflix starting 10 November 2023.[16]
Reception
Influence and legacy
UNICEF Malaysia Team with Upin & Ipin.
The Upin & Ipin franchise has wielded its influence in countries of the Malay archipelago, notably in Malaysia and Indonesia which share linguistic and cultural similarities. Its first season landed its first award, for Best Animation in KLIFF 2007.[17]
The Ultra Series crossover special was received positively on it airing in 2014. As a response, the crossover character in the special, Ultraman Ribut (ウルトラマンリブット, Urutoraman Ributto) was officially recognized as a canon character by Tsuburaya Productions,[19] later making its live-action debut in the web series Ultra Galaxy Fight in 2019.
In India it started to air in Hindi on hungama in May 2018.
Viewership
Upin & Ipin has received consistently high viewership on TV9 in Malaysia, becoming the most watched children's program across all channels on broadcast television in 2007 and 2008.[20]
While season two was on air on Ramadan 2008, it was reportedly watched by 1.5 million viewers on TV9,[21] making it the second most-watched animated series on all of Malaysian television, right behind Doraemon (1.6 mil), yet ahead of SpongeBob SquarePants (800,000).[22] The popularity of Upin & Ipin could have attributed to the commercial success of Malaysia's first CGI-animated feature film, Geng: The Adventure Begins (2009), which featured the twin characters Upin and Ipin, propelling it into the RM 6.31 million mark throughout its seven-week run in Malaysian cinemas as one of the highest-grossing Malay-language films in history.[22]
As the third season reaches its conclusion in late 2009, TV9 reports that Upin & Ipin was viewed by 1.6 million, making it the second most-viewed programme on the channel, just behind the free TV premiere of Geng which was watched by 2.45 million (scoring TVR 12.8).[23]
Indonesia has been the most obvious export market for Upin & Ipin. In 2009, MNCTV which airs the series in the country reported a TVR of 10.5.[24] Upin & Ipin has also been praised by the Indonesian press; for instance, Fadil Abidin for Analisa who remarked on the vastness of moral content and Islamic values, such as respect for those of different ethnic or religious backgrounds, in a communal setting consisting not only of Malays, Chinese and Indian Malaysians, but also Indonesians.[25]
In March 2010, as the Balinese Hindu community prepare for Nyepi, images of ogoh-ogoh (demonic effigies used for the famed ngrupuk ritual on the eve of Nyepi) which largely resemble Upin & Ipin were exposed on Indonesian media. The effigy reportedly cost 4 million rupiah.[26]
Awards and nominations
List of awards and nominations received by Upin & Ipin
A collection of merchandise, featuring the Upin & Ipin characters were sold,[41] including clothes and plush toys.
Stage show
A live stage show based on the series, titled Upin & Ipin the Musical was took place from 14 April to 6 May 2012 at the Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur. The stage show was starring two pairs of different child actors.[42][43][44][45]
A second stage show, Upin & Ipin – Pin Pin Pom! was first staged at the Plenary Hall, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on 3 and 4 September 2022.[46] It also toured at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 18 and 19 December 2022 and co-organised by Les' Copaque and Biz Trends Media.[47][48][49]
Theme parks
In March 2011, Les' Copaque planned to built a theme park based on Upin & Ipin series with the cost of RM200 million in Perak.[50][51] The company also planned to opened the Upin & Ipin theme parks in China.[52][53][54] In 2023, the company announced that the construction of Upin & Ipin theme park likely to start by the late 2023 with a RM700 million budget and expected to opened either by 2026 and 2027.[55]
Eateries
A restaurant chain, utilising the series' concept, known as Kedai Makan Upin & Ipin is established with its first branch opened at Section 7, Shah Alam in July 2012 and specializing on Malaysian cuisine. The restaurant is also operated in certain parts of Peninsular Malaysia.[56][57]
In September 2023, Les' Copaque in collaboration with TMG Ventures to launched a family restaurant chain featuring Upin & Ipin characters.[58][59] Also in September 2023, Les' Copaque also collaborated with ZING Eat to launch the virtual food stall, known as the Upin & Ipin Virtual Dining Experience.[60]
Comics
Since December 2009, Upin & Ipin have been adapted into a monthly comic magazine series, titled Majalah Komik Upin & Ipin to be circulated all over Malaysia, published by Nyla Sdn Bhd.[61] Targeted at young readers, the magazine features screenshot comics of the Upin & Ipin TV series and the Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula film, voice actor and production crew profiles, and learning and activity sections. An English version of the comic was launched on 1 May 2011 for international markets.[62][63]
Video games
A video game based on the series was developed by LC Game Development Inc. (LCGDI), an online game development division of Les' Copaque Production. LCGDI have developed two online games iOS users, namely Pocket Ipin (2010), Pocket Upin (2012), Upin & Ipin Dash (2012) and Upin & Ipin: Pintar Berdoa (2015) for the Android users.[64][65]
LCGDI in collaboration with Indonesian video game developer, The WALi Games to co-developed Upin & Ipin KipiBlocks.[66][67] Modelled after Candy Crush Saga, the Upin & Ipin KipiBlocks allows users need to arrange three of the same animated characters by moving only one block, and complete as many as possible in the set time.[68]
A paid console game based on Upin & Ipin is in development and expected to launched in September 2024.[69][70][71]
Other
The series' fan club, known as Kelab Upin & Ipin (Upin & Ipin Club) began active since 2009 and launched at the Hari Kelab Upin & Ipin at Zoo Negara on 12 June 2010.[72] A children's show, also titled Kelab Upin & Ipin premiered on 4 June 2011 on TV9.[73]
A three-day outdoor event, featuring its characters, Karnival Upin & Ipin was held since 2010 to promote the series,[74][75][76] with the recent carnival was held at the Melaka International Trade Centre from 15 to 17 December 2023.[77]
On 26 November 2016, a specialty channel called Upin & Ipin Bersama Kawan-Kawan began broadcasting on Astro First throughout December 2016 in partnership between Astro and Les' Copaque.[78][79] The channel airs a compilation of Upin & Ipin episodes and other Les' Copaque shows like Pada Zaman Dahulu, DaDuDiDo and Kembara Warisan Detektif Upin & Ipin.[80][81]
A limited edition gold coin featuring designs of Upin & Ipin were released by Malaysian jewellery company, Habib Jewels in collaboration with Les' Copaque in August 2020. The 0.2 gram gold coin was launched in conjunction with the Habib's Merdeka Exhibition that held on 27 August to 6 September 2020.[82][83][84]
Notes
^Usamah Zaid was credited as assistant director for seasons 1–3.
^TV9 holds the broascasting rights to the series for 11 seasons until 2017, when it moved to Indonesian TV channel, MNCTV for the next seasons.
^Rating Upin & Ipin di Indonesia, LCP Blog!, 2 September 2009. Accessed 16 March 2010. LCP once mistook the figure as 10.5 million viewers.
^Fadil Abidin. "Upin dan Ipin vs Acara Anak di Televisi Kita". Analisa. Retrieved 16 March 2010. sangat baik ditonton karena sarat edukasi dengan nuansa yang Islami, menghormati teman-teman lain yang berbeda suku dan agama sehingga tokoh-tokoh di dalamnya ada orang Melayu, China dan Tamil bahkan orang Indonesia.
^Budiey (3 April 2023). "Betul, Betul, Betul! Upin & Ipin Membawa Lebih Banyak Kekacauan di Netflix" (in Malay). Sensasi Selebriti. Retrieved 6 November 2023. Upin dan Ipin memasuki MBR sekali lagi pada 2020 apabila ia menjadi halaman YouTube Malaysia pertama yang mencapai 10 juta pelanggan dan menerima Butang Main Berlian YouTube.
