Singapore’s first full-length animated historical film spans WW2, Peranakan culture and more

Upcoming animated film The Violinist is set to be a landmark Singapore production. Nine years in the making, the work is Singapore’s first full-length animated historical epic, with elaborate visuals, emotional crescendos and a sweeping original score.

Set in era spanning colonial Singapore, the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and the turbulent post-war decades, The Violinist follows the life of Fei, a young, musically talented Peranakan girl, as she grows and matures into an accomplished concert performer while constantly searching for her long-lost childhood friend, a fellow violinist who disappeared after joining the resistance during the war.

Co-written and co-directed by filmmaker Ervin Han (Downstairs, Heartland Hubby), founder and CEO of production company Robot Playground Media, the film expands on the silent short film The Violin that Han made in conjunction with SG50, which won Best 2D Animated Programme at the Asian Television Awards in 2017.

Alongside historical events that have shaped the national identity, The Violinist also explores and showcases Singapore’s cultural and architectural markers, including those fading or vanished, in a nostalgic ode to yesteryear. For example, viewers may recognise iconic buildings rendered in vivid strokes of colour. Much work was put in “to accurately capture Singapore’s transformations over time”, re-creating settings such as pre- and post-war urban landscapes, Han shared.

This painstaking effort put into researching Singapore’s history, culture and architecture is one reason the film has been nearly a decade in the making. For instance, several detailed studies were made of performance venues like Victoria Concert Hall and the Esplanade Concert Hall, thanks to the sharing of archives by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. And, the main character’s childhood home is based on the NUS Baba House, a restored Peranakan shophouse exemplifying the lives of well-to-do businessmen at the turn of the 20th century.

“For me, at least, it’s always got to be a story about who we are and where we come from,” said Han. At the same time, “This film is a tribute to a generation shaped by history and resilience. I wanted to tell a story that lives in the space between history and imagination – one that honours the people who endured and the quiet courage that history often overlooks.”

Co-directed by veteran ex-Disney animator Raul Garcia (Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas), executive produced by Leonard Lai (Ah Boys To Men) and featuring an original score by Golden Horse Award-winning composer Ricky Ho, The Violinist is officially a co-production with Singapore’s Robot Playground Media, Spain’s TV ON Producciones and Italy’s Altri Occhi, but also has teams from Japan, Canada, Colombia and Taiwan working on it.

The film was presented in June at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, with France TV Distribution officially launching global sales at the Cannes Film Market in May. Currently still in production, it is slated for completion in March 2026, with a theatrical release in Singapore targeted for August 2026.

Voicing the characters are Singapore heavyweight Tan Kheng Hua as the older Fei and rising star Fang Rong as the younger Fei, as well as actors Adrian Pang and Ayden Sng.

“When I read the script for the first time, I cried so many times,” Fang Rong shared. “It was a story I could relate to, even without having experienced the depth and intensity of many of the things that happened.”

Tan said she enjoyed the freeing experience of voice acting, something she is no stranger to. “I love being inside a booth with just a microphone. There’s no need to dress up – just wear your crummy T-shirt, no need to go get hair and makeup done,” she quipped.

At the same time, the nature of the film brought its own challenges. “It has great, deep, dramatic beats, and you need to hit those beats with just your voice,” she said. The effort is worth it for the right production. “The attention to detail, the vision and the effort are something that just moves me to tears.”