Budi Irawanto – With more than 10 million viewers in just nine weeks, Ryan Adriandhy's Jumbo (2025) is Indonesia's most commercially successful animation ever – and not just in Indonesia but also across Southeast Asia.
Jumbo, which was released during the Idul Fitri holiday on 31 March 2025, quickly overtook records held by Indonesian movies in more popular genres (horror and drama) over the last five years, attracting as many as 10,076,973 viewers.
These numbers meant it broke the record for box-office hits previously held by the wildly popular KKN di Desa Penari (KKN: Curse of the Dancing Village, 2022), albeit only by a few thousand viewers. It also beat Si Juki the Movie: Panitia Hari Akhir (Si Juki: The End of World Committee, 2017), which had attracted only 642,312 viewers.
After its spectacular commercial success in Indonesia, Jumbo is now seeking to attract new audiences in Asia, Central Asia and Europe.
The Jumbo 'fever'
The story of Jumbo has touched the hearts of its many viewers.
It revolves around the titular character, Don, his friends, Nurman and Mae, and a little fairy (ghost) named Meri. Meri helps Don, who is an orphan, find a stolen story book written by his late parents and, in return, helps Meri find her lost parents.
Don, who struggles with bullying because of his jumbo-sized body shape, wants to adapt the story book into a musical performance at a talent show. Taking the audience on an adventure full of wonder, Jumbo offers a message about courage, friendship and family.
The production process for Jumbo took almost five years and involved 420 local creators before it successfully occupied cinema screens for more than two months.
Its success can be attributed to a combination of various key factors such as an effective marketing strategy, a perfectly timed release, memorable theme songs, touching storytelling, stunning visualisation and animation, and A-list celebrities as voice actors.
As a result, Jumbo 'fever' has now swept the country, with its theme songs frequently played on the radio, and its trailer and clips widely circulated on social media.
Indonesia's animation landscape before Jumbo
Jumbo is part of a long history of animation in Indonesia. In 1983, Si Huma, a pioneer Indonesian animated series, was produced by the state film company (PPFN) in cooperation with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and broadcast by state-sponsored television (TVRI).
In the 1990s, the country saw two more notable animation series: Satria Nusantara (Nusantara Hero) and Petualangan Sang Kancil (The Adventures of the Mouse Deer).
But only after 2000 did local animators get the recognition they had been looking for. In 2005, Janus Prajurit Terakhir (Janus, the Last Soldier) became the first animation to hit the big screen. In 2018, the 2-D animation movie Battle of Surabaya won an award for the best animation from the Hollywood International Motion Pictures Film Festival.
Over the last decade, Indonesian animation has grown significantly. According to the Indonesian Animation Industry (AINAKI), there are currently 120 animation studios in Indonesia, spread across 23 cities, mostly in Java. Over four years (2015-2019), the animation industry grew by 153 percent (26 percent per year), providing jobs for about 24,000 people. Nussa: The Movie (2021), Adit Sopo Jarwo: The Movie (2021) and Si Juki: Harta Pulau Monyet (Juki: Treasures of Monkey Island, 2024) are all feature-length animations that have been successful in cinemas.
The rise of digital platforms such as YouTube and Twitch have also played a critical role in the development of Indonesian animation industry. These platforms allow aspiring animators to hone their talents by making 2D and 3D animations such as VTuber (Virtual YouTuber) avatars.
But it remains to be seen if the success of Jumbo will mark a renaissance of Indonesia's animation industry.
Can Jumbo change Indonesia's animation industry?
The problem is that even with the success of Jumbo, Indonesia's animation industry is still facing major problems that could undermine its growth. Here are four of them.
First, although many animation studios exist in Indonesia and many people work in the animation industry, only a few investors are willing to put their money into animation film projects (particularly full-length animated movies).
The lengthy production process animation requires is the primary reason why they do not consider financing these films a good investment. Film producers in Indonesia generally expect instant results for their investment and are therefore inclined to copycat successful feature films.
Second, the animation industry is capital- and labour-intensive. It needs highly skilled talents such as animators, designers, illustrators, scriptwriters and many others. A shortage of highly skilled talents hinders the development of Indonesian animation industry.
Third, the distribution infrastructure for animation in Indonesia is not fully established. In fact, there is still no animation distributor. Film producers have been forced to promote and distribute their own films and deal directly with cinema owners. This has given the latter a big say in determining the types of movies that would attract moviegoers, and they usually don't support animations.
Fourth, the global and regional animation markets are highly competitive, with the United States having led the market for decades. In Asia, Japan and China now dominate the regional market and are a real challenge for Indonesia's animation industry. The taste and preference of Indonesian audiences have been shaped by global animations, raising the bar higher for local animation industry players seeking the attention of local viewers.
Nevertheless, Jumbo's commercial success has created a momentum for Indonesian animation industry to move forward in the future. We should not waste this opportunity.