Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pan-African visual storytelling company Kugali Media have collaborated to create “Iwájú,” an all-new original six-episode animated series debuting on Disney+ on February 28, 2024. Set in a futuristic Lagos, Nigeria, the coming-of-age story follows Tola, a young girl from a wealthy island, and her best friend Kole, a self-taught tech expert and loving son from the mainland, who discover the secrets and dangers hidden in their different worlds.
Kugali Media co-founders and “Iwájú” creators Olufikayo “Ziki” Adeola (Nigerian), Hamid Ibrahim (Ugandan) and Tolu Olowofoyeku (Nigerian) showcase a futuristic depiction of Lagos, Nigeria, in the world of “Iwájú”—one that is bursting with colour, unique visual elements and technological advancements inspired by the spirit of Lagos.
The Team
Adeola (Ziki) directs “Iwájú” while the other two Kugali Media founders, Ibrahim and Olowofoyeku, take on the key roles of production designer and cultural consultant, respectively. Christina Chen from Disney Animation was the producer of the series, with Jennifer Lee (chief creative officer for Walt Disney Animation Studios) executive producing along with veteran Disney director Byron Howard (“Encanto,” “Zootopia,” “Tangled”).
The screenplay is by Adeola and Halima Hudson from Disney Animation. Marlon West, Disney’s acclaimed effects supervisor/head of effects, makes his debut as a visual effects supervisor. Fabienne Rawley was the editor. The cast features the voice talents of Simisola Gbadamosi (as Tola), Dayo Okeniyi (as Tunde Martins), Femi Branch (as Bode Desousa), Siji Soetan (as Kole Adesola), Weruche Opia (as robotic lizard Otin).
The film’s authentic African-influenced music is by renowned Nigerian composer Ré Olunuga (whose credits include music for the 2022 Disney+ original movie, “Rise,” and the BBC film, “Girl”). The award-winning animation/visual effects company Cinesite produced the animation for the series in several locations around the world, including Montreal, Vancouver, and London.
Cinesite’s team was led by supervising producer Joel MacDonald, with Ellen Poon (VFX supervisor) and Jason Ryan (animation director) helming the crews with support from Adel Abada (associate VFX supervisor), Andrew Gartner and Stéphanie Roy (CG supervisors). Adeola observes, “Crafting the narrative of ‘Iwájú’ has been a journey of creative alchemy, blending the rich cultural tapestry of Lagos with imaginative leaps into the future. Collaborating with my Kugali co-founders and the visionary artists at Walt Disney Animation Studios has been nothing short of magical. The heartbeat of my hometown resonates through every scene, and I am thrilled for the world to experience this unique fusion of tradition and futurism.”
From Yoruba Roots to Afrofuturism
Kugali Media’s president/“Iwájú” cultural consultant Olowofoyeku explains the origin of the title in this way: “’ Iwájú’ is part of a phrase in the Yoruba language that is actually ‘Ojó iwájú,’ which literally means ‘the day ahead’ or basically the future. Many of our main characters in the series are Yoruba (one of the main ethnic groups in Nigeria).”
“We wanted to imagine the future of Lagos, set roughly 100 years from now, where the mainland is designed to house as many people as possible in huge towers, and the island where the richest people live is made to look beautiful like an art piece.”
Ibrahim, Kugali Media CEO and “Iwájú” production designer
Clark Spencer, president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, notes, “Disney Animation has never collaborated in this way with an outside company in its one hundred years of filmmaking. And so this was absolutely groundbreaking.
“Ziki, Tolu and Hamid had this great story that they wanted to tell, and Disney had the knowledge and best experts in the business who knew how to get it done,” adds Spencer. “It seemed like an ideal collaboration and an incredible opportunity. Authenticity was critical, and Kugali led the creative process in every way. They brought an authenticity and a reality to the world of ‘Iwájú,’ including the beauty of the people, the culture, the food, and the music. They also brought great imagination, artistry and their unique storytelling sensibilities.”
The Thoughtful vision for the series
Jennifer Lee observes, “As a writer and director, Ziki was very thoughtful and had a vision for the series. He knows character and emotion and has a storytelling talent that is very deep and original with a distinct point of view. Tolu is incredible because he is always curious and thinking about how everything we do as people relates to the world as a whole. I’ve learned so much working with him. Hamid has a beautiful sensibility and loves vibrancy, colour and life. He knows how to fill the frame, but at the same time where the focus should be.”
Kugali Media is an African-owned and operated storytelling collective spearheading Africa’s modern emergence into the media landscape. Tolu Olowofoyeku, Olufikayo Ziki Adeola and Hamid Ibrahim founded Kugali Media in 2017 with a dedication to taking African stories to the world. It has attracted recognition from top companies around the world, as well as paved the way for a generation of new African storytellers to find their voices in graphic novels.
Among their notable achievements are record-breaking crowdfunding campaigns, award-winning graphic novels and podcasts. The teams at ABC News Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios created a companion documentary titled “Iwájú: A Day Ahead” that showcases the making of the series. The documentary, which was directed by Megan Harding and executive produced by Amy Astley and Beth Hoppe, was filmed across three continents. You can watch it on Disney+. It proves that when talent meets opportunity, anything is possible.
How “Iwájú” Came To Be
In 2019, Jennifer Lee became aware of Kugali, a young and innovative Pan-African collective with a determination to take African stories to the world and draw on their rich and unique culture of storytelling in order to “kick Disney’s arse in Africa”. Childhood friends Adeola and Olowofoyeku, both from Lagos, Nigeria, joined forces with Ibrahim (who comes from Uganda) in 2017 to form Kugali as a way of featuring African characters in high-concept fantasy and science fiction stories rooted in African mythology. They famously crowd-sourced money to launch a comic book anthology and went on to great success in the world of comics, podcasts, etc.
“I was lying in bed one morning and reading the news on my phone when I saw this headline on the BBC about a Pan-African comic book company wanting to kick Disney’s you-know-what. So I thought, ‘This looks fun!’ I watched the video and got to see the guys and see not only their love of comics, but their love of recognizing all the different artists across Africa.
I could see they were driven; they were artists, and they were passionate. I was blown away by their storytelling and felt that their vision dovetailed with our own philosophy about filmmaking.” Ibrahim remembers, “Just imagine you’re sitting there, young, creative and ambitious, and you’ve just called out the granddaddy of visual entrainment, and then somebody reaches out saying that they’re from Disney and they want to talk to you. At first, you don’t believe them.”
Jennifer Lee
Disney
Adeola was sceptical at first when Disney came calling. Previous discussions with other potential partners/collaborators failed to produce any tangible results. He adds, “Things with Disney seemed to be different, and so I eventually allowed myself to embrace the possibility that my dream of becoming a storyteller was about to take a huge leap forward, and my faith was ultimately rewarded when I was given the opportunity to come and work on ‘Iwájú.’”
“From the moment Ziki, Tolu and Hamid pitched us the idea for ‘Iwájú,’ we knew it was something unlike anything we as a Studio had ever done before,” adds Lee. “We had done lots of short films and many features, but we hadn’t actually done a series before. Working with Kugali just felt it would give us something new to build together.”
Bringing Kugali’s Creative Vision To Life
The Kugali creative leadership trio chose “Iwájú” from three story ideas and approved it to move forward as a series for Disney+. For this venture into animation, a team of top Disney Animation artistic and technical talents was assembled to work alongside the filmmakers as they achieved their goals. Christina Chen, a fourteen-year Disney Animation veteran with experience in the area of production finance, came on board as producer.
“This collaboration was unprecedented in many ways,” observes Chen. ”It’s been an incredible experience from start to finish. First of all, the show had a very international element to it, with Ziki and Hamid working from London and Tolu based in Lagos. Disney has had a long history of making films, while Kugali is a young animation company currently beginning its journey in the industry. There was so much to learn on both sides, and we were all forced to think outside the box.
Perspective on Filmmaking
Culturally, their perspective on filmmaking was different than ours, and it was really illuminating and made us all stronger and more efficient across the board. Working in a virtual way across several time zones also challenged us to work in a different and more productive way.”
Marlon West, who has supervised effects for many of Disney Animation’s most popular films (“Frozen,” “Moana,” etc.) Over the course of his more than 30-year career at the Studio, he stepped into a new role as Visual Effects Supervisor. He was working on the Academy Award®-winning film “Encanto” when he became aware of the “Iwájú” project.
“I was so intrigued by the idea of a science fiction project set in Africa that was also kind of a crime story that I knew I had to work on this film from the moment I watched their pitch reel,” recalls West. “As a black man working in the industry and at Disney, I really wanted to help these fellows make the film they wanted to make and to develop as storytellers. It was probably one of the smartest moves I’ve ever made. I would have regretted watching this on Disney+ and seeing that someone else had done it.
Visual Effects and Storytelling
“As a visual effects supervisor, you’re in charge of everything visually in the production,” he adds. “It was my responsibility to keep the aesthetic of the Studio while at the same time supporting Kugali’s storytelling and creative vision. It was a wonderful collaboration and I’m proud that we were able to help present their vision and their story in a way that lived up to the Disney standard.
“I loved that this story was set in the future and featured flying cars that had a custom-made quality to them, robots, and other futuristic elements with a uniquely African design to them,” observes West. “There’s a stylization to the characters that’s different than what we do. Some of them have harder edges. They look like Disney quality, but they have their own unique look. There’s a brushstroke, painterly quality to the background, which is what they were trying to achieve.”
With regard to crafting the story and writing the scripts for “Iwájú,” the process began with Adeola providing a complete framework for the series, along with rough drafts for each episode and initial character development. Halima Hudson from Disney Animation got the plum assignment of collaborating with him to add comedy and levity where needed, track the character arcs, and plus the story wherever possible. Hudson recalls, “The story wasn’t like anything we had ever done before at Disney, and I knew from the start that I wanted to work on it and support Ziki’s vision.
A Character’s Journey and Creative Collaboration
I became enamoured with Tola and her character. She wanted others to see and love her in a specific way, and I really identified with her. I loved this little girl and thought she was a great, great character. I have a lot of friends from Lagos, and I began tapping into their perspective and learning as much as I could from them, youtube videos, the Kugali comics and other sources. Ziki and I had a lot of fun conversations about Tola and how she was the anchor of the story. We worked together to grow the characters and expand the story.
“Working with Ziki on the scripts was a great experience. Whenever it was time to do revisions, we would talk about what made sense for the story. There was a lot of back and forth, and he always gave me the freedom to explore my instincts for the characters. This was a first for so many of us on the film – me as a screenwriter for Disney, Ziki as a director, Christina as a producer, Marlon as a visual effects supervisor, and Hamid as a production designer – and we all bonded over the experience. We were all in this together, and we wanted to make it great. Jennifer Lee has been my mentor for many years, and she was an incredible inspiration and support throughout the whole process. She was always there to give notes about dialogue, cheer me on and serve as a resource for anything I needed.”
Halima Hudson from Disney Animation
“I’m so proud to have worked on this series, and to have collaborated with Ziki and his partners at Kugali in bringing his vision to life,” adds Hudson. “Even though the story is culturally specific, I think people are going to relate to it because it is such a universal story.
Meet The Cast Of “Iwájú”
Tola Martins (voiced by Simisola Gbadamosi) is an aspirational 10-year-old girl who refuses to accept the world for the way it is and prefers to see it for how it should be. She ultimately inspires the people around her. Her empathy and perceptiveness allow her to understand and connect with others.
Tunde Martins (voiced by Dayo Okeniyi) is Tola’s father, who has little time for his daughter because of his dedication to work and pressure from his hard-driving boss. A wealthy tech executive is creating robotic guardians to help protect children from a wave of kidnappings. Although he comes from the mainland, his success and fortune has caused him to forget his humble beginnings.
Bode Desousa (voiced by Femi Branch) is a seven-foot giant of a man who grew up in relatively poor circumstances and runs an underground criminal network. He sees himself as a sort of Robin Hood figure, but he basically keeps the riches he collects.
Bode
Bode refuses to take responsibility for his circumstances and feels that everything he does is the fault of the wealthy. He believes money equals power and freedom.
Kole Adesola (voiced by Siji Soetan) is Tola’s best friend. He works at the home of Tunde and Tola, doing gardening and other work, when he becomes ensnared in Bode’s kidnapping scheme despite being born into relative poverty. With an ailing mother and few prospects to improve his lot, he finds himself backed into a corner that tests his true character. He is scared to hope and wish for more in life.
Otin (voiced by Weruche Opia) is an agama lizard robotic pet that Tunde gifts to an unsuspecting Tola. Designed for child security, throughout the course of the series, Otin develops greater self-awareness and a more nuanced understanding as she struggles to reconcile her straightforward coding with the complex reality of the world.
Capturing Authentic Locations And The Flavors Of Lagos
For the Kugali filmmakers, it was extremely important to bring authentic aspects of Lagos to viewers in the form of real places, delicious foods, and other quintessential African attitudes and experiences. To this end, the series features locations that exist in real-life Lagos and a variety of Nigerian delicacies that are unique to that country. One of the major locations in the story is Ajegunle Market. According to Adeola, “Agegunle is where Kole and Bode are from. We chose it to be a focal point because one of the most interesting aspects of the mainland to me are the markets and the chaos. Because Tola has this fascination with the mainland, we needed somewhere that would warrant that fascination. It was a great place for Tola to go on a journey of discovery.”
Other actual places depicted in the series include Ikoyi, an affluent neighbourhood in Lagos, and Murtala Muhammed International Airport. With regard to foods, the series features such authentic Nigerian dishes as pepper soup (spicy and often served with goat meat), puff-puff (deep fried dough; like an African beignet), Agege bread (which is soft, fluffy and sweet), among others.
“When Tola goes to a mama put, a restaurant at the market, she eats such typical Nigerian food as swallow, the closest western analogue would be mashed potatoes,” says Adeola. “It’s a sort of tuber that is mashed up, cooked and eaten alongside a type of soup. You mix the soup with some fried meat, vegetables, and spices and eat them all together.
“Tola is fascinated by the local authentic food,” he continues. “It is incredibly delicious, full of flavour and visually striking all at the same time.”
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To learn more about Kugali Media please visit : www.kugali.com
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