By Sulaimon Jamiu
Multibillion dollar American animation company, Disney, set to release its first Nigerian animation series titled, Iwájú, in 2023.
The animation series set in a futuristic Lagos city with dominating skyscrapers akin to the Eko Atlantic master plan, is written and directed by Kugali co-founder, Ziki Nelson.
Iwaju, a new animated series coming to Disney+ next year, will be the first co-production between Disney Animation and an outside studio.
The founders of that studio, African animation company Kugali, were on hand at the D23 Expo in Anaheim to show what’s in store for the viewers.
The story centres around two kids, Tola and Kole, who grow up on opposite sides of a city sharply divided by the haves and have-nots.
Their friendship is tested by Bode, a tech pioneer whose futuristic advances hide a criminal underworld he runs with an iron fist.
A sneak preview of the series shows an Afrofuturist tale that Nelson says will have plenty of color and action, and like so many Disney tales, there’s an animal companion along for the ride in the form of a robotic salamander named Otin.
However, the series also tackles social theme facing Lagos in real-life, most notably the widening inequality facing its residents.
The series will be released on Disney+, in 2023.
