These Siblings Persevered for 5 Years to Get Their Animated Series 'Cubic Cats' on TV

Through the animated series, the amusing chronicles of four mischievous and adorable cats with their human friend Nana unfolds. Khafie is the creative brains and the artist behind the Cubic Cats while Karimah handles the management side.

But to get to where they are today, it took them five years to see the fruits of their labour. All the while, they held on to their dream; after all, Disney has shown how big a company can grow from the character of a single mouse. Read on to find out more about their journey!

Khafie and Karimah had always been intrigued by the inexplicable behaviours of these unique creatures like their curious love of boxes and blank stares, with three cats of their own. They were inspired to tell stories through a cat’s point of view and relate what is going on in their minds.

They started reading up on psychology journals and various research on cats as well as design pattern and colours.

The cat characters of Cubic Cats are oddly cubic shaped, and this is because based on their findings, children recognise square shapes easily. Each of the four cats also correspond to the meaning of the colours of their fur such as the heavy-browed Bubu, who is cool and easy going like the shade of blue.

Before starting with their project, they carried out extensive market research where they discovered that almost every household in the Selangor, Johor and KL area has cats. They saw this is as a huge opportunity for them to grow the brand and take it into a whole new level.

It was just the two of them pushing to grow the brand and all the while, Khafie had to juggle a full-time job in Qatar and search for investors from 2017-2019.

From time to time, they also had to carry out service jobs like motion graphics and branding to survive and to build Cubic Cats on social media. It was not easy to find investors to fund the brand.

Khafie left his job to push the project into full gear in 2019 and a year later they were finally ready to open their office. But then, disaster struck: the pandemic.

Karimah reflected, “It was really a tough ride. We didn’t have salary and some of our clients didn’t pay us on the service jobs. But despite all of that, we managed to stay strong and get through.”

They achieved their first milestone by winning the Intellectual Property Creator’s Challenge (IPCC) organised by the (Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).

They still struggled to seek funding and had to constantly push themselves to approach government sectors, personal investors, public figures, and influencers.

They had to participate in various events and approached broadcasters to gain feedback before deciding to launch their own social media platform, where they posted online comics and short animation clips. It didn’t blow up overnight, but through hard work, their social media presence slowly grew.

In 2021, they managed to secure a grant from MDEC and posted their very first episode on YouTube which garnered 700k views (it's up to 1 mil now).

With this success the team grew to total of 14 members. They also managed to collaborate with well-known local companies such as Royal Canin and Jaya Shopping Centre.

Most recently, they decided to approach Astro who loved their show and agreed to air it, with a total of seven episodes premiering for now, although the brand continues to grow.

Khadijah shared, “It has been five years building up Cubic Cats, and we always receive great feedback from the audience that they enjoy our story, that they fell in love with the characters and they love the design and the whole look.

"Receiving this type of feedback has elevated our strength and spirit to always push more because we know that there is a market for Cubic Cats. And we know deep down inside, that if we keep on hustling for every single day, our dream for Cubic Cats will come true!”

We can’t wait to watch this adorable animated series for ourselves!

Watch Cubic Cats the Series Season 1 on Astro Ceria at 3.00pm, 15 June 2022 or On Demand at AstroGo.