Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the life of Malaysia’s Keluang Man animator Kamn Ismail

As is tradition, Google puts out a Doodle on its search page to celebrate holidays, cultural events and people who have made significant achievements and contributions to society. Today it’s the latter, as the American tech giant has decided to commemorate the life of one of Malaysia’s animation greats.

That person is the late Kamarudin Ismail, better known as Kamn Ismail, who would’ve celebrated his 67th birthday today. A prolific animator in the 1990s, he was most well-known for producing Keluang Man—which tells the story of a Tampoi mental patient turned superhero—in 1997.

He was also responsible for Malaysia’s first animated series, Usop Sontorian, a hit on TV1 (now RTM1) during its run from 1991 to 1997. Inspired by Walt Disney, Kamn was a pioneer in computer animation and digital tools during this period—Keluang Man was the first local animation to combine 2D animation with a 3D background.

After the financial crisis, he set up his own company, Quest Animations in 2001; among its noteworthy creations were Che Nat (which won third place at the 1st International Festival of Television Productions of Islamic Countries that year), Kumang (which won Best Animation at the 16th Malaysian Film Festival in 2003), Kumang Lagenda Sarawak and Lagenda Kinabalu (both of which won Best Local TV Animation Series award at the Anugerah Seri Angkasa in 2005 and 2006 respectively).

Kamn retired in 2016 due to health concerns, but not before producing the patriotically-themed Mat Kilau, which won several awards and has been spun off into comics, a video game and even an augmented reality programme. The Malaysia Cartoon and Comic House nominated him as a Malaysian Animation Icon during the Cartoonist Day awards night in 2018. 

Kamn also gave back to the animation industry, founding the Animation Society of Malaysia (Animas) alongside fellow animators Hassan Abd Muthalib and Hisham Harun Hashim in 2001. The organisation was aimed at promoting animation standards, supporting and encouraging animation education and creating public awareness of the craft. He was also a lecturer at the Faculty of Creative Writing of the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (ASWARA), where he remained until he passed away in 2019.

This project is a good platform to give tribute to Malaysian achievers who have given so much contribution to the country until the end. This project is inspirational and to include Kamn Ismail is very big and special. On behalf of my family, I would like to say thank you to Google Malaysia for this recognition of Kamn Ismail and the opportunity to be part of this project. I am honored.

Dalila Kamarudin, daughter of Kamn Ismail

Aside from the Doodle, Google Malaysia has also published Shorts of Kamn’s family and friends sharing their memories with him on its YouTube channel.