Iwájú (2024 film) Complet Episodes Download, Cast, MP4, Mkv

Iwájú is a 2024 animated miniseries produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and the Pan-African British-based entertainment company Kugali Media for the streaming service Disney+. It was written by Olufikayo Adeola and Halima Hudson and directed by Adeola, and is the first “original long-form animated series” produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The title of the series, iwájú, roughly translates to “the future” in the Yoruba language (literally “front-facing”).

The series stars Simisola Gbadamosi, Dayo Okeniyi, Femi Branch, Siji Soetan, and Weruche Opia. Originally planning a series of shorts, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Kugali Media were developing the long-form series for Disney+ by December 2020. The story draws inspiration from (and is set in) the city of Lagos, Nigeria, due to Lagos being “the culture capital of Nigeria”, and due to both its mainland and island areas having “a unique, distinct feel” that the creative team felt provided “an interesting base for the story”. Cinesite was announced to co-produce the series in September 2021, with pre-production already underway at Cinesite Montreal. Production began in May 2022. Animation is provided by Cinesite’s Montreal and London facilities, with pre-production and storyboard supervision at Disney’s Burbank and Vancouver studios. The series includes original score composed by Ré Olunuga.

Iwájú is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ on February 28, 2024, and will consist of six episodes.

Synopsis

Set in a futuristic Lagos, Nigeria, the series will explore “deep themes of class, innocence, and challenging the status quo”, as it follows wealthy island inhabitant Tola and mainland inhabitant Kole as they discover the dangers in both lands.

Voice cast

• Simisola Gbadamosi as Tola Martins
• Dayo Okeniyi as Tunde Martins
• Femi Branch Bude DeSousa
• Siji Soetan as Kole Adesola
• Weruche Opia as Otin

Production

Development

Walt Disney Animation Studios chief creative officer Jennifer Lee read an article on BBC about Kugali Media, a British-based company founded by African artists, saying that they wanted to “kick Disney’s arse”. Intrigued by the company’s desire to create and tell African stories, she approached them to develop together an original long-form science fiction animated project for The Walt Disney Company’s streaming service, Disney+. The producers originally planned to create a series of shorts, but “each idea was an epic feature”, so they chose to create a series instead.

On December 10, 2020, Lee announced that Walt Disney Animation Studios and Kugali Media would be co-producing a new original animated series for Disney+, titled Iwájú. It is Walt Disney Animation Studios’ first original animated series, as most of Disney’s television projects—original or based on pre-existing IP—are produced by Disney Television Animation. She described the collaboration between both companies as a “first of its kind collaboration”. The show is directed by Olufikayo Adeola. The title of the series, iwájú, roughly translates to “the future” in the Yoruba language (literally “front-facing”).

In February 2021, the Kugali Media team said that the series is not like World of Wakanda, with Kugali Media CEO Ziki Nelson saying they “took a real African city” (Lagos, Nigeria) and found ways to adapt it using their imagination, with Hamid Ibrahim, the creative director, clarifying that Disney Animation let them “be ourselves and…be true to ourselves,” working with Disney with “a certain amount of autonomy and creative freedom”. SYFY said this could “open the doors for other post-pandemic collaborations around the world”. Toluwalakin “Tolu” Olowofoyeku, chief technology officer of Kugali, is a creative consultant and consulting producer on the show, and Nelson wrote the story. In June 2021, Nelson, as he was signed to a talent management company, added that “storytelling through art and animation” has been his dream.

At the 2021 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Olowofoyeko said that the story was inspired by the city of Lagos, Nigeria, due to Lagos being “the culture capital of Nigeria”, and due to both its mainland and island areas having “a unique, distinct feel” that the creative team felt provided “an interesting base for the story”. Nelson said that the series would be an “opportunity to give people a more holistic view of Nigeria” though it’s a “strange but wonderful city”. Producers worked with several nations for the series, with visual effects director Marlon West saying that members of the team were hired from several departments, while head of story Natalie Nourigat described having a “virtual story room” composed of both Kugali and Disney employees as “a great way to introduce new people”.

Lee and Byron Howard serve as executive producers, while Christina Chen produces. The series will consist of 6 episodes.

Writing

The series was written by Adeola and Halima Hudson. Adeola and the Kugali team first conceived the overrall story, character arcs, and episodes, with the team being given complete creative freedom by Disney, allowing them to incorporate darker subject matters into the story. Hudson, a writer for Disney Animation, was later brought to work on the script in order to add humor and keep focus on the story and arcs. Regarding the series’ potrayal of Lagos, the writers decided to make authentic to real life, albeit slightly exaggerated and adding futurustic elements to the city; production designer Hamid Ibrahim said they wanted to focus on Lagos’ day-to-day life.

Animation

Animation is being handled in Cinesite’s Montreal and London facilities, while pre-production and storyboarding took place at Disney Animation’s Burbank and Vancouver studios. Hamid Ibrahim, the creative director of Kugali, is the production designer for the show. Ibrahim said that the show’s animation style would differ from previous Disney productions, with Nelson saying that it would instead be inspired by African, Eastern, and Western animation styles, and visual effects director Marlon West adding that it would still have the same quality as other Disney projects. Ibrahim also said that the towers composing the mainland, which is the series’ main setting, are meant to represent overcrowding, while the island area contains a bigger “space and room for creative expression”. He added that technology is a crucial aspect of the setting, with the series featuring several advanced technologies, such as augmented reality glasses substituting smartphones and spherical flying cars.

Music

Ré Olunuga had recorded the score for the series by January 2024. The soundtrack, which includes authentic African-influenced music, will be released on March 1, 2024, two days after the series premiere.

Release

Iwájú was originally set to debut in 2022, exclusively on Disney’s streaming service, Disney+. The series was later delayed to 2023, before ultimately being delayed to February 28, 2024.

Marketing

Concept art for the series was shown at the 2021 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where the crew discussed the series. The series was described by Ibrahim as a “Kugali-Disney mash-up,” a collaboration between both companies, to which Jennifer Lee, the chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, agreed, while Olowofoyeku said the show had a “very unique set-up for storytelling already built into the DNA of the real-life Lagos”. Additionally, Nelson said the show’s creative team built “a futuristic world rooted in the contemporary setting”. In December 2021, at the Investors Day for Disney, details about the show’s characters and plot were revealed.

A behind-the-scenes documentary series is in development at ABC News Studios, a division of ABC News. The documentary, titled Iwájú: A Day Ahead, was directed by Megan Harding with Amy Astley and Beth Hoppe executive producing, and will release alongside the series on February 28, 2024. A mobile game, titled Disney Iwájú: Rising Chef and developed by Maliyo Games alongside Disney Games and Kugali, will also release on February 28, 2024, on Android and iOS.