"I saw my first shadow play & he watched his first DVD of 'Star Wars.'"

July 4, 2014 7:29 AM

Star Wars as a shadow play (article + video) Character creator Tintoy Chuo collaborates with tok dalang (master puppeteer) Pak Dain to bring Star Wars: A New Hope to the literal screen of the wayang kulit (shadow play). Follow the journey of young Perantau Langit (One Who Walks the Sky) as he meets Puteri Leia (Princess Leia) and faces off Sangkala Vedeh (Powerful General Vedeh) in this Peperangan Bintang (War of the Stars). A preview video. Tintoy Chuo at TedxKL. It was a match made in Facebook, so quite rightly, here is their FB page.
posted by cendawanita (9 comments total)

ah, I forgot to add that this is the Malaysian wayang kulit tradition, not Indonesian. Very similar of course, but there are still variances. In Malaysia, it's known to be a West Coast Peninsula tradition, and here's a good introduction to the wayang kulit in Kelantan.
posted by cendawanita at 7:32 AM on July 4, 2014

This is a really interesting idea. We talked about Mayan-language telenovelas last year, too. I wonder how many other traditions could be saved by blending the old with the new?
posted by KGMoney at 8:10 AM on July 4, 2014

I cannot even describe the grin on my face, seeing the Malaysian Star Destroyer, and Malaysian Darth Vader.

I want a full version of this to happen so badly.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:33 AM on July 4, 2014

You have not truly experienced Star Wars until you've heard it in its original Malaysian.
posted by mazola at 8:35 AM on July 4, 2014 [2 favorites]

I was wondering how Ah Tu was going negotiate those stairs to the escape pod....
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 9:42 AM on July 4, 2014

I'm sort of dating a puppeteer now.

MUST. SHOW. HIM. THIS.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:54 AM on July 4, 2014

And I cannot begin to tell you how much it tickles me that the music incorporated a bit of the Imperial March.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:55 AM on July 4, 2014

The anthropologist part of me is nodding and going "Hmm. Yes. Interesting example of cultural assimilation and adaptation", while the Star Wars fan in me is going "SQUEEEEEEE! WANT MORE! WHY CAN"T I GIVE THEM ALL MY MONEYS!"

I so hope to see the whole thing someday.
posted by happyroach at 2:43 PM on July 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

You have not truly experienced Star Wars until you've heard it in its original Malaysian.
posted by mazola at 11:35 PM on July 4 [2 favorites +] [!]

You laugh, but I live twenty minutes from Kota Padawan, Malaysia. I've been meaning to enquire about sending my kids for after-school lessons.
posted by BinGregory at 7:30 AM on July 5, 2014