Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pan-African Comic Book Entertainment Company Kugali has released its first trailer for Iwaju.
It also hinted at a February 28 release date for six episodes of the limited series.
Iwájú, which is set in a futuristic Lagos, Nigeria tells a coming-of-age story that follows “Tola, a young girl from the wealthy island, and her best friend, Kole, a self-taught tech expert, as they discover the secrets and dangers hidden in their different worlds.”
The trailer shows a world filled with incredible tech “inspired by the spirit of Lagos” and one adorable lizard named Otin. This special lizard, who is at least partially robotic in origin, is seen in the trailer with some pretty powerful abilities.
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The series is produced by Disney Animation’s Christina Chen with a screenplay by Adeola and Halima Hudson. The voice cast includes Simisola Gbadamosi (Tola), Dayo Okeniyi, Femi Branch, Siji Soetan (Kole), and Weruche Opia.
Iwájú’s soundtrack, which will be available on March 1, features authentic African-influenced music which is brought to us by Nigerian composer Ré Olunuga.
“I rarely bring my own emotions into writing a score,” Olunuga said. “I tend to inhabit the emotions of the characters or subjects and then translate them into music. In this case, it couldn’t be avoided. 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.
“It also includes many treats and winks for anyone familiar with or curious about the film music lexicon of Nollywood. Being invited by Ziki and the amazing teams at Disney and Kugali to help tell this beautiful coming-of-age story that explores themes of family, friendship and ingenuity has been an amazing adventure in itself.”
