When I think of animation, and frankly why I love the art of animation, is that you can do literally anything with the medium. You can create your own worlds, your own types of characters, you have a blank slate in front of you to tell the most fantastical stories.
Disney Animation has teamed up with Kugali Media to bring us Iwájú, a story set in a futuristic, sci-fi version of Lagos, Nigeria. The world is bursting with technological advancements and unique visual elements inspired by the real-world setting. Here, we are told the story of Tola, the daughter of a tech inventor and executive, Tunde. They both live on the wealthy island. Tola’s best friend Kole, a self-taught tech expert (who works for her father) and loving son from the poor mainland, together discover the secrets and dangers hidden in their different worlds.
Insert Bode, a crime boss leading a kidnapping ring to gain ransoms, under a sort of Robin Hood-esque idea in his head, yet without giving back to the poor. He has his eyes set on the gains from a mystery man (Tunde) he discovers at the airport knowing that he is the motherlode for his (not-so) little scheme.
The multi-episode event series is culturally authentic (regardless of sci-fi aesthetic) and establishes where we are from the fabrics used and language spoken, to the architecture and portrayals of the people, spending most of its initial installment setting the aforementioned plot in motion. Each following episode kicks off with a bit of an origin or flashback for each character before jumping back into our main story, giving a bit of background and more appreciation for each character. As we aren’t necessarily attached to each character until this happens, the series has a “slow burn” effect. At times, with kidnapping and ransoms at the center of the plot, the series feels like more of a G-rated Law & Order: SVU than much else.
But let’s talk about that little lizard all over the marketing and merchandise from the show – Otin. Introduced at the very beginning of the series, Otin is an advanced AI bot developed by Tunde to protect kids while Lagos is being overrun by this ring of kidnappers. Needing to field test, he gives Otin to his daughter. We get small glimpses of Otin throughout the series until over halfway through, when Otin plays a bigger role. Coincidentally, it’s at this point when the series truly grasps what it has been missing this entire time. Now we’re having FUN.
After this, it’s a ride of different boss-level style battles, chase sequences, humor, and suspense. It’s a fantastic adventure that, tragically, viewers who don’t hit that “next episode” won’t see. I hope they do, they just have to get through those too numerous slower paced episodes first. I’ve long been a champion of telling more mature stories through the art of animation, and Iwájú is definitely that, taking on serious, real world issues. It just forgot to also have fun with the medium until too far into the series. 3 out of 5 stars.
Iwájú is now streaming on Disney+.
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