Ejen Ali

Ejen Ali
Genre	Action, Adventure, Comedy, Animation, Spy-fi
Developed by	WAU Animation
Screenplay by	Usamah Zaid Yasin Waleed Shareef
Story by	Usamah Zaid Yasin Ahmad Izham Omar Mohd Faiz Hanafiah Nazmi Yatim Fuad Md Din Shafiq Isa Andi Abdul Ghani Ghazali Omar Fikri Zainal
Directed by	Usamah Zaid Yasin
Creative director(s)	Nazmi Yatim Shafiq Isa
Voices of	Ida Rahayu Yusoff Shafiq Isa Azman Zulkiply Noorhayati Maslini Omar Nurul Radhiah Ibrahim Megat Zahrin Megat Hisham Roshilawati Razlan
Composer(s)	Azri Yunus
Country of origin	Malaysia
Original language(s)	Malay
Production
Editor(s)	Usamah Zaid Yasin Nazmi Yatim
Running time	21mins/episode (Season 1)
Production company(s)	WAU Animation
Distributor	Primeworks Studios (Media Prima)
Release
Original network	TV3
Picture format	1080i (HDTV)
Original release	8 April 2016
External links
Website	www.ejenali.my

Ejen Ali (literally translated as Agent Ali), is a Malaysian animated series produced by WAU Animation, focusing on a boy which accidentally became a MATA agent after using Infinity Retinal Intelligent System (IRIS), a device prototype created by MATA. IRIS is controlled by neuro-signals enabling the wearer to perform actions programmed by the computer. After the incident, Ali and his uncle Bakar cooperate in MATA missions.

The series is published in HDTV format and was first broadcast on TV3, on 8 April 2016. Ejen Ali is the first animation series as the intellect property of Media Prima Berhad (MPB).^[1]

Production

The idea of creating the animated series came for Usamah Zaid Yasin, the director and scriptwriter, after establishing WAU Animation in 2013. For the storyline, he and his team watched films, animated series and read novels about spy and intelligence. The making of Ejen Ali took two years before the production works started in July 2015. About the name chosen in the series, Usamah said that Ali is a simple name and frequently used in textbooks. They were confused in choosing a simple name and finally, Ali was chosen.^[2]

At first, Wau Animation planned to make Ejen Ali as a feature-film project, but because of difficulties securing investment and after discussing with many parties and some feedbacks, they felt that it is a loss if they only produce a single movie as the concept is so wide. They planned to develop this series at least until 5 seasons, then the films will follow.^[3]

Broadcast History

Season 1

The first episode was broadcast on 8 April 2016, with the second and third episodes shown on 15 April and 22 April respectively. It is shown every Friday, at 5.30 pm on TV3. Fourth, fifth and sixth episodes shown on 22 July, 29 July, and 5 August respectively. Seventh to ninth episodes are shown on 28 October 2016 for three consecutive weeks. Tenth to twelfth pisode are shown on 30 December 2016, 6 January and 13 January 2017. Thirteenth episode (last episode of Season 1) has been shown on 3 March.

Characters

Protagonist

• Ida Rahayu Yusoff as Ali
  • Ali is a boy which accidentally became a MATA (Meta Advance Tactical Agency) agent after using Infinity Retinal Intelligent System (IRIS), a device prototype created by MATA, which is controlled by neuro-signals enabling the wearer to perform actions programmed by the computer, but uses the energy of the user to work. IRIS has been synchronised for Ali, therefore only Ali is capable of using it. Then, he became a permanent agent and practised as an agent. He is a boy who didn't excel in class and always came late to the school. He has a best friend named Victor. Ali's weapon is a yo-yo that can shoot shockwave. Ali also has a pair of Aero boots which is connected to the IRIS to help Ali jump farther.
• Shafiq Isa as Bakar (Combat)
  • Bakar is Ali's uncle, a combat MATA agent, and a brother to Ali's late mother. He has a tough body and is excellent in fighting. He is always caring to Ali.
• Nor Meirysha Nurol Ashikin as Jenny (Techno)
  • MATA's special inventor. She creates weapons and suits for the MATA agents. Also revealed in episode 12 that she is also a team with Uno, Dos and Trez.
• Azman Zulkiply as General Rama (Nuero)
  • The fierce general of MATA.
• Azman Zulkiply as Rizwan (Inviso)
  • Rizwan is the greatest agent of MATA. He can disguise as someone else by putting on a hat that covers his eyes. His gloves are used to pass out enemies.
• Noorhayati Maslini Omar as Alicia (Neuro)
  • Daughter of General Rama and Ali's classmate. She hates working in MATA with Ali. Her weapon is a slingshot that is used to sling metal balls.
• Ida Rahayu Yusoff as Comot (Inviso)
  • Ali's pet cat. She used to work for Abang Bear to steal IRIS, but she betrayed him after being kept by Ali. She has a power of camouflage from her experience as a test subject three years ago. She is heterochromatic on her right eye.

Antagonist

• Uno (Djin)
• Dos
• Trez
• Dr Aaron
• Jenny
• Wak Musang
• Abang Bear
• Komeng

Game

Before the release of Ejen Ali, WAU Animation with the collaboration with Media Prima Digital released its own game which is Ejen Ali: MATA Training Academy for Android and iOS users on 4 March 2016. The game was downloaded for over 260,000 times.^[4] The second game, Ejen Ali: Emergency was released for iOS and Android in September 2016.

Both games have succeeded to win medals in Mob-Ex Awards 2017. Ejen Ali: MATA Training Academy won three golds which were Best App - Creativity, Best App - Media Owner and Best App - Tablets and one bronze which was Best App - Games & Entertainment, while Ejen Ali: Emergency won one gold for Best App - Games and Entertainment and one bronze for Best App - Tablets.^[5]

Awards

Festival Filem Malaysia 28^[6]

References