Series poster of Disney+ and Kugali Media’s new six-episode limited series “Iwájú” set to hit the streaming platform on February 28, 2024.
Take A Look At the Official Trailer for First Pan-African Disney+ Series, 'Iwájú'
Iwájú, the six-episode animated sci-fi series set in Lagos, Nigeria, will premiere on February 28 on Disney+.
For the first time ever, American streaming giant Disney+ is collaborating with a non-U.S. studio for a complete animated series. The science fiction coming-age-story will be produced by pan-African comic book entertainment company Kugali Media.
Disney+ today released the trailer for the six-episode limited series which follows two kids, Tola and Kole, who exist on different sides of the wealth spectrum, bobbing and weaving through a futuristic Lagos run by gang leader and tech pioneer Bode. The coming-of-age series is set to stream all over the world from February 28, with a mobile game titled “Disney: Iwájú Rising Chef” coming to both Android and iOS the same day.
The boundary-breaking “love letter to Lagos and Nigeria” is written and co-directed by Kugali Media co-founder Olufikayo “Ziki” Adeola, with production design credits to Hamid Ibrahim and Toluwalakin Olowofoyeku as cultural consultant. It explores themes relating to class, innocence, and having the audacity to challenge the status quo.
Iwájú’s cast is made up of masterful Nigerian vocal talents Simisola Gbadamosi as Tola, a young girl from the wealthy island, and Siji Soetan as her best friend Kole, a self-taught tech expert. The two explore the dangerous tapestry of a neo-futuristic Lagos filled with greed and corruption alongside voice actors Femi Branch, Dayo Okeniyi, and Weruche Opia.
The soundtrack, out March 1st, will feature African-influenced music by renowned Nigerian composer Ré Olunuga. “I rarely bring my own emotions into writing a score. In this case, it couldn’t be avoided,” Olunuga said in a press release. “In addition to Tola’s adventurous spirit, Kole’s ingenuity and the many other fun and beautiful emotional threads explored in Iwájú – the score is steeped in my own very deep love for Lagos and its multiplicitous layers.”
African-owned and operated, Kugali Media has been taking African stories to the world since it was founded in 2017 by Adeola, Ibrahim, and Olowofoyeku.
Watch the trailer for Disney+ and Kugali’s Iwájú here:
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