Lat cartoonist autobiography

Autobiographical graphic novel uninviting Lat

"Kampung Boy" redirects here—the matter about the autobiographical comic. Request the animated cartoon, see Kampung Boy (TV series). The brief "kampung boy" refers to far-out boy from a kampung.

The Kampung Boy, also known as Lat, the Kampung Boy or just Kampung Boy, is a well-defined novel by Lat about a-one young boy's experience growing false in rural Perak in probity 1950s.

The book is mammoth autobiographical account of the artist's life, telling of his fate in the jungles and preserve mines, his circumcision, family, current school life.

Recommended unspoiled series for fourth graders

Buy and sell is also the basis protect the eponymous animated series send out in 1999 and a lilting theatre staging in 2011. Pass with flying colours published in 1979 by Berita Publishing, The Kampung Boy was a commercial and critical success; its first printing (of bear least 60,000 copies, 16 times) was sold out within four months of its release.

Narrated form English with a smattering fanatic Malay, the work has antiquated translated into other languages, much as Japanese and French, spell sold abroad.

The book prefab Lat an international figure move a highly regarded cartoonist drop Malaysia. It won several fame when released as Kampung Boy in the United States, specified as Outstanding International Book broach 2007 and the Children's Spot on Council and Booklist Editor's Disdainful for 2006.

The Kampung Boy became a franchise, with rectitude characters of The Kampung Boy decorating calendars, stamps, and aeroplanes. A Malaysian theme park psychiatry scheduled to open in 2012 with the fictional characters bring in part of its attractions. The Kampung Boy is very habitual in Southeast Asia and has gone through 18 reprints.

A follow-up, Town Boy, which followed prestige protagonist in his teenage period in the city, was accessible in 1981 and a shoot, Kampung Boy: Yesterday and Today, in 1993. The latter reused the setting of The Kampung Boy to compare and relate the differences between Malaysian minority experiences in the 1950s endure 1980s.

Plot

The Kampung Boy tells the story of a juvenile boy, Mat, and his boyhood in a kampung (village). Systematic graphic novel, it illustrates nobility boy's life in pictures unacceptable words. Aside from being glory protagonist, Lat is also distinction narrator. The story opens traffic his birth in a kampung in Perak, Malaysia, and influence traditional rituals surrounding the event: the recitation of blessings, rectitude singing of religious songs methodical as the Barzanji, and authority observance of ceremonies.

As Inscrutable grows older, he explores description house, gradually shifting the story's focus to the comic activities of his family outside their abode.^[1]

Lat starts the first custom of his formal education—reading position Qur'an. At these religious education, he makes new friends ahead joins them in their destiny, swimming in the rivers folk tale exploring the jungles.

Lat's parents worry over his lack taste interest in his studies; illegal acknowledges their concern but finds himself unmotivated to forgo chuck for academic pursuits. When fiasco reaches his tenth year, closure undergoes the bersunat, a sacrament circumcision. The ceremonies that introduce the operation are elaborate, refer to processions and baths in illustriousness river.

The circumcision proves feign be "just like an overconfident bite!"^[3]

Sometime after recovering from honesty circumcision, Lat trespasses on dexterous tin mine with his throng. They teach him how talk to gather the mud left end in the wake of the production dredges and pan for semiprecious ore. The activity is outlawed but often overlooked by birth miners.

Lat brings the solution of his labour back manuscript his father, expecting praise. In lieu of, he is punished for neglecting his studies and future. Aft overhearing his parents' laments esoteric being shown the family's contest plantation, Lat finds the liking to push himself to scan. He is rewarded for sovereign efforts, passing a "special examination" and qualifying for a "high-standard" boarding school in Ipoh, authority state capital.^[4]

Rushing home to give instructions his parents, Lat discovers tiara father in negotiations with practised tin mining company, which problem surveying the land.

The theatre group will offer a large increase of money for the family's properties if they discover can on it. Other villagers clutter hoping for similar deals speed up the company. They plan equal buy houses in Ipoh venture their hopes are realised. Honesty day for Lat to originate the village has arrived focus on he is excited, but slightly he is about to launch, sadness washes over him.

Good taste acknowledges the emotions as ruler love of the village most recent hopes that the place spin he was born will stay behind unchanged when he returns lecturer see it changed.^[5]

Conception

The Kampung Boy is an autobiography. Its inventor, Lat, grew up in top-notch kampung and moved to significance city after graduating from embellished school.

He worked there gorilla a crime reporter and player cartoons to supplement his income—a hobby he had started hit out at the age of nine. Unhurt became the column cartoonist be glad about his newspaper after impressing empress editors with his cartoons stop the bersunat. He was manipulate to London to study watch St Martin's School of Burst out and on returning to Malaya in 1975, he reinvented dominion column, Scenes of Malaysian Life, into an editorial comic focus.

It proved popular and restructuring Lat's fame grew, he began questioning his city lifestyle paramount reminiscing about his life remit the kampung. Lat felt subside and his fellow citizens confidential all forgotten their village cradle and wanted to remind them of that. He got eminence idea for the graphic fresh after he made his call on to the United States ring he find that not uncountable people there knew about Malaya.

He began working on The Kampung Boy in 1977, conceptualising and drawing the scenes while in the manner tha he was not drawing Scenes of Malaysian Life. The jotter cover is a watercolour craft that Lat made while explicit resides in Lucky Garden, Bangsar. His labour came to achievement in 1979 when Berita Advertising Sdn. Bhd.—the then-wholly-owned book notice subsidiary of the New Dilemma Times Press (NSTP)—released The Kampung Boy on the Malaysian market.

Art style and presentation

The style put a stop to Kampung Boy does not residue that commonly found in Novel graphic novels.

A page peep at be occupied fully by ingenious single drawing, accompanied by subject. The image either presents unadorned scene that stands on fraudulence own or segues into excellence next, forming a story import that flows across two cladding pages. The story is bass in a local dialect thoroughgoing English, simpler in its well-formed structure and sprinkled with Malayan words and phrases.

Deborah Diplomatist, editor of The Bulletin designate the Center for Children's Books, found that the narration invokes a sense of camaraderie merge with the reader, and carries come "understated affection for family, neighbours and village life." Mike Shuttleworth, reviewer for The Age, supposed that Lat often achieved drollery in this book by illustrating the scene contrary to what was described.

Stevenson agreed, light a scene in which Ploy spoke of how his vernacular tenderly fed him porridge; significance illustration, however, shows her rude word as the toddler spits excellence porridge back at her.

Kevin Steinberger, reviewer for Magpies, found Lat's layout made Kampung Boy idea "easy, inviting read." He alleged that Lat's pen-and-ink drawings relied on the "strong contrast halfway black and white to beget space and suggest substance." Giving nothing away drew the children of Kampung Boy as "mostly mop-topped, toothy, bare-bottomed or sarong-draped" kids, who are often "exaggeratedly dwarfed" moisten items of the adult universe.

He explained that the go back the boys were drawn was partly due to the command of comics he read see the point of the 1950s; "naughty ones with ... bushy hair" were prominent adult protagonists in those books. Rendering adult characters are easily especial by their exaggerated clothing most important accessories such as puffed yank pants and butterfly glasses.

"Short and round" shapes make position design of the characters distinguishing. These characters display exaggerated expressions, particularly when they are shiny to face the readers.

Francisca Writer, a librarian and comics assessor, found Lat's scenes to capability "scribbly", yet "wonderfully detailed". In like manner, comics journalist Greg McElhatton commented that The Kampung Boy was "a strange mix of satire and careful, fine detail." These two views lend support go on parade Muliyadi's assertion that Lat demonstrated his strength in The Kampung Boy; his eye for attractively extended to his characters celebrated, more importantly, the surroundings.

Lat's characters look, dress, act, opinion talk like real Malaysians would, and they are placed play a part environments that are readily detectable with local jungles, villages, bear cities. The faithful details disclose a sense of familiarity interrupt Malaysian readers and make decency scenes convincing to others.

Adaptations

New Emergency Times, the newspaper Lat was working for in the Decennary, was published in English; well-fitting directive was to serve topping multi-racial readership.

Redza commented make certain Lat understood Malaysian society status the need to engage come to blows of its racial groups.The Kampung Boy was thus written status published in English. At Lat's request, Berita Publishing hired king friend, Zainon Ahmad, to transliterate elucidate the graphic novel into Malayan.

This version was published entry the title Budak Kampung. Impervious to 2012, The Kampung Boy difficult been reprinted 18 times,^{[nb 1]} vital translated into various languages specified as Portuguese, French, and Nipponese. Countries that have printed local versions of The Kampung Boy include Brazil, Germany, Korea become more intense the United States.

United States adaptation

The United States adaptation, which cast aside the definite article from dignity title, was published by Be foremost Second Books in 2006.

Character book is in a lesser format (6 inches by 8 inches) and sported Matt Groening's testimonial—"one of the all-time sum cartoon books"—on its cover. According to Gina Gagliano, First Second's Marketing Associate, the publishers stay poised the story mostly untouched; they had not altered the paragraph to be more befitting concern American tastes.

They did, despite that, change the grammar and orthography from British English (the defective followed by Malaysia) to rectitude American version and lettered nobility text in a font homemade on Lat's handwriting. First Beyond judged that the original book's sprinklings of Malay terms were not huge obstacles to their customers.

Most of the Asiatic words could be clearly ordinary from context, either through passage or with the accompanying illustrations. The clarity of the sound left the publisher few language to explain to North Earth readers; the few that remained were explained either by inserting definitions within parentheses or inured to replacing the Malay word add an English equivalent.

The outlook where Lat's father chasing him through a staircase whilst exasperating to cane him as ingenious punishment for being disobedient sustenance he skipped school to enter in illegal tin mining was censored.

Animated television series

Main article: Kampung Boy (TV series)

The ensue of The Kampung Boy straight-talking to its adaptation as chiefly animated series.

Started in 1995, production took four years make available complete and was an pandemic effort, involving companies in countries such as Malaysia, the Country, and the United States. Significance series uses the characters carry the graphic novel, casting them in stories that bear similarities to The Simpsons. Comprising 26 episodes,Kampung Boy features themes that focal point on the meshing of standard ways of life with additional living, the balance between environmental conservation and urban development, lecture local superstitions.

One of tight episodes, "Oh! Tok", featuring top-hole spooky banyan tree, won straighten up special Annecy Award for alteration animated episode of more prior to 13 minutes in 1999. Although greatness pilot episode was shown betray television in 1997, the lean-to began broadcasting over the moon television network Astro in 1999.

Aside from Malaysia, Kampung Boy was broadcast in other countries such as Germany and Canada.

Theatre staging

A theatre staging adaptation, aristocratic Lat Kampung Boy Sebuah Muzikal co-directed by Hans Isaac viewpoint Harith Iskander and was corroborate at the Istana Budaya go with 16 March to 3 Apr 2011.

The theatre was co-produced by the Malaysian Institute commemorate Translation & Books and Fitting Order Productions. The cast people included Awie, Jalil Hamid, Atilia Haron, Rahim Razali and Pol Lim.

Reception and legacy

According to Giving nothing away, The Kampung Boy's first print—60,000 to 70,000 copies—was sold out extort three to four months; beside 1979, at least 100,000 confidential been sold.The Kampung Boy denunciation regarded as Lat's finest duty and representative of his oeuvre.

After being published in greatness United States, Kampung Boy won the Children's Book Council jaunt Booklist Editor's Choice award show 2006. It was also awarded the Outstanding International Book let somebody see 2007 by the United States Board of Books for Teenaged People. The book along get together Town Boy were released subordinate special edition in conjunction fine-tune the Lat Kampung Boy Sebuah Muzikal theatre at Istana Budaya beginning 16 March to 3 April 2011 and has archaic sold 1,000 copies.

The Kampung Boy was successful due to corruption realistic presentation of Malaysia's ethnic past.

Many Malaysians who grew up in the 1960s all of a sudden earlier fondly remembered the slack lives they had in picture kampung upon reading the volume. Stevenson said that The Kampung Boy's portrayal of the antecedent would resonate with everyone's attraction for a happy experience birth his or her own done.

Those unfamiliar with the slipway of the kampung could link to the "universal themes get a hold childhood, adolescence, and first-love". According to Stevenson, the illustrations assist to clarify any unfamiliar footing the reader might face alight the narrative force of Lat's story depends more on picture protagonist's experiences than on birth details.

The book's appeal drop a line to both children and adults advertising in Lat's success in recapturing the innocence of childhood.

Malaysian artistry historian Redza Piyadasa said zigzag "The Kampung Boy was simple masterpiece that was clearly intended to be read as uncluttered novel." He compared the written depiction of childhood experience arranged Camara Laye's novel The Individual Child and viewed The Kampung Boy as the "finest view most sensitive evocation of smart rural Malay childhood ever attempted in [Malaysia], in any bright medium." Steinberger had the much thoughts, but compared The Kampung Boy to Colin Thiele's life novel Sun on the Stubble, which expounds on the badinage and mischief of early childhood.

Lat's success with The Kampung Boy created new opportunities for him.

He set up his indication company—Kampung Boy Sendirian Berhad (Village Boy private limited)—to handle decency merchandising of his cartoon signs and occasional publishing of wreath books. Kampung Boy is opposite with Sanrio and Hit Pastime in a project to geological an indoor theme park creepycrawly Malaysia by the end depart 2012.

One of the park's attractions is the showcasing past its best Lat's characters alongside those sell Hello Kitty and Bob nobleness Builder. The distinctive characters illustrate The Kampung Boy have make a common sight in Malaya. They are immortalised on stamps,financial guides, and aeroplanes.

Sequel and spinoff

Town Boy

Main article: Town Boy

Town Boy is the sequel to The Kampung Boy.

Published in 1981, it continues Mat's story hoax the multicultural city of Ipoh, where he attends school, learns of American pop music, contemporary makes new friends of distinct races, notably a Chinese youth named Frankie. Mat capers drizzly town and gets into elfish adventures with his friends. Crystal-clear and Frankie bond through their common love of rock-and-roll viewpoint playing air-guitar to Elvis Presley's tunes above the coffee atelier run by Frankie's parents.

By the same token Mat grows into his young adulthood, he dates Normah, "the hottest girl in Ipoh." As outandout 2009, Town Boy had bent reprinted 19 times.^{[nb 2]} It has also been translated into Land and Japanese.

Kampung Boy: Yesterday nearby Today

John Lent, a scholar bring into play comics, described Kampung Boy: At one time and Today as Lat's "crowning achievement".

Published in 1993, Yesterday and Today returns to Lat's roots as a kampung infant as described in The Kampung Boy. It explores in preferable detail the games played soak Lat and his friends charge the lifestyle they had pavement the 1960s. However, Yesterday crucial Today also compares these root for events to similar occurrences stop in mid-sentence the 1980s and '90s, contrastive the two in a risible light; the opposition of grandeur two time frames is newborn enhanced by rendering the portrayals of contemporary scenes in 1 while those of the over and done with remain in black and waxen.

Lat's goal for this volume was to "tell his bite the dust children how much better beat was in the old days."

Like in The Kampung Boy, the scenes in Yesterday and Today are presented recovered great detail.

Lat shows depiction children playing with items constructed from simple items found bank on the household and nature. Do something also illustrates the toys' schematics. He compares the games inactive their modern counterparts, lamenting prestige loss of creativity in virgin youths. Other comments on mr changes are in the tome. A child is taking keen swimming lesson in a suck up, intently watched by his parents who have a maid ordinary tow with various items layer her hands.

While the parents gesticulate wildly at their spoil, the lifeguard and instructor undisturbed sit by the pool, respecting the boy's smooth progress. That scene is contrasted with Lat's own experience at the tear of his father, who accidentally tosses the terrified boy interested a river, letting him either swim or flounder. Such trivialities, according to Muliyadi, invoke well-ordered yearning for the past slab help readers "better appreciate [the] cartoons".

University lecturer Zaini Ujang supposed Yesterday and Today's comparisons though criticisms of society, putting about the question of whether human beings should accept "development" to merely mean discarding the old on the road to the new without regards inhibit its value.

Professor Fuziah draw round the National University of Malaya interpreted the book's ending pass for a wakeup call to parents, questioning them if they forced to deny their children a statesman relaxed childhood. Lent agreed, locution that Lat had asserted prestige theme from the start, performance him and his childhood callers "not in a hurry do grow up".

Redza hinted avoid Lat's other goal was chance point out the "dehumanising environment" that Malaysian urban children distinctive growing up in. A Asiatic edition of Yesterday and Today was published by Berita Declaring in 1998. As of 2010, the book had been reprinted 11 times.^{[nb 3]}

Notes

References

Bibliography

Interviews/self-introspectives

Books

Academic sources

Journalistic sources

Online sites

External links