'Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire': Disney Plus’s Insight to African Animation

Animation is another medium to allow others to tell their stories, such as one's culture. From works such as “Kubo and the Two Strings” and “Coco” that has inspirations from their respective cultures, Disney Plus’s “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” is an anthology of animated short films based on the cultures of the different studios that worked on this project. The different studios that worked on this series come from a vast array of locations: Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Not only does “Kizazi Moto” touch upon different cultures, but also utilizes different animation styles and unique settings for each story, such as “Hatima,” a hand-drawn underwater adventure.

Full episodes of “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” were shown at the Annecy Animated Film Festival in France. The series had positive reception from viewers in the festival that, according to one of the executive producers, Tendayi Nyeke, felt ecstatic. Nyeke said that “to have a predominantly European audience [at] our premiere, absolutely pumped when the films ended, and super engaged… I ululated in France, and people looked at me funny. We can just be who we are, anywhere in the world, [and] people can connect.”

Such is the beauty of animation: to allow others to tell their stories with their own style and culture.

Learn more about OkayAfrica’s article written by Ryan Gaur linked below:

https://www.okayafrica.com/kizazi-moto-disney-animation/