All language subtitles for Iwaju - A Day Ahead

What I loved about them
from the minute I saw the video,

I knew they were driven.

I knew they were artists.
I knew they were passionate.

They had this incredible, uh, goal.

And they were making it happen.

You just called out
the grandaddy of visual entertainment.

This is absolutely groundbreaking.

We had never done anything
like that before.

Iwájú is set in Lagos, Nigeria.

Lagos has a certain audacity as a place.

Look at you smiling. You know! You know
you're giving me a high price! [laughs]

[Ibrahim] There's a way it just
wills itself to be what it wants to be.

I want people to see the good, the bad,
the ugly. You know, all the quirks.

Puff puff!

We've tried to be authentic
in every layer.

You know,
I've been living in Lagos all my life.

The indigo fabric is special to Nigeria.

The voices you're going to hear
are homegrown.

She's pretty much me in animated form.

This is not us making up a world.

This is us doing our best
to portray a very real world.

Seeing the story come to life…

It was just really the three of us
who had a dream that we believed in

and worked very hard.

[Ibrahim] There is that weight
of responsibility.

What if I fail?

As an African mam,
drawing or doing art is nothing.

That's Nigerian mentality.

But I think it's important
to take a leap of faith.

We run the show here.

Oh, no. You don't wanna
work with me anymore, Ziki?

- Love me, come on!
- [Adeola laughs]

- I'm starting to see how big it will be.
- Are you ready for Africa?

- [audience cheers]
- Yeah!

[Adeola] Iwájú is actually inspired by
a story that happened to a friend of mine.

She was driving back home
from the airport one day

and suddenly armed men tried to block
her car and she did something crazy.

She jumped into the water and… [chuckles]
…she was actually able to swim to safety.

So I always knew that I wanted
to revisit that story at some point.

But "some point" came
a lot sooner than I thought it would

in a way that I never saw coming.

[Lee] I talk a lot
about Walt Disney's belief

that we should be evolving as storytellers
all the time. I think about it a lot.

I remember meeting with Bob Iger
when I accepted this role

and his permission to be fearless.

I set a goal right away,

which is that I want us to not just
tell the stories of the world,

but by the people of the world.

And I really was excited to connect
with artists from around the world,

and do kinds of collaborations
we'd never done before.

[Spencer] Jenn and I had a meeting
and we were talking about the studio

and, really, her vision for it.

And she started to go into an example
of where she had read this article

about this comic book company in Africa.

I was lying in bed one morning

and every morning,
I read the news on my phone,

and I go to the different newspapers,

and I was on the BBC
and they had this headline, um,

"Pan-African comic book company
wants to kick Disney's…" you-know.

So I was like, "Oh. This looks fun."

I think that there is a sort
of cultural revolution at the moment.

People are hungry for content
from other sources.

There's an opportunity for them…

[Lee] It was a video,

and so I got to see the guys,
I got to see their love of comics,

their love of recognizing
all the different artists across Africa

in the different countries,
and their different kinds of stories,

and wanting to make sure the world, um,
saw those stories.

Most of what you find
out there about Africa

is being told by non-Africans

and it was very important to us
that Africans tell their own stories.

This is incredible. This is exactly
what we do. It's all about storytelling.

Jenn Lee came bursting into
the Frozen II production pod,

and she was, like, "I was list--
I read this interview of this--

Have you heard of this company Kugali?"

and she was just talking,
talking, talking. I was like,

"Slow down. What are you saying?"

And she was like, "I read this interview
with this company, and this one guy said…"

We're gonna kick Disney's a** in Africa.

I know that's gonna happen.

He wasn't saying it as a joke.
He was saying it sincerely.

And it intrigued me so much.
And she said, "What do you think?"

And I said, "Well, I think
we pick up the phone."

[street noise]

[people clamoring]

- Used to be Kugali's…
- [Adeola] It started with Tolu and I,

who had known each other
since primary school.

[Olowofoyeku] We were those kids
who would always watch anime

play video games,
watch superhero content, read comics,

but we're from Nigeria. We're Nigerian.

Everything we watch
is American and Japanese.

Where's the Nigerian, um, content?

[Adeola] There was a comic con in Lagos,
here in Freedom Park,

and when I came here and I saw
a small group of creators creating comics

that were inspired by our own culture,
mythology and folklore,

it was a lightbulb moment.
I was like, "Okay!

This is new, this is original,
and here's an opportunity."

Welcome to Kugali Spotlight

where we look at your favorite creators
from across Africa and beyond.

[no audible dialogue]

[Olowofoyeku] We originally
just started out as a podcast,

so it was just Ziki and I.

We added a blog, a YouTube channel.

I live in Lagos, he doesn't anymore.
He spends way more time in the UK now.

Today I have Gbenle Maverick
and Hafeez Oluwa, the co-creators of Orò…

[Adeola] And then it became clear that

what was needed was a company
that could create a platform

for talented artists and storytellers
to showcase their stories.

So we decided we'd transition
to being a publisher

where we were bringing together
some of these people we had discovered

and putting their work together
with our own work.

You know,
the quality of the work was world-class.

It's good quality by anybody's standards
anywhere in the world.

I was not a big comic book person.

I read the popular comic books,
but I had very bold visions,

there were things I really wanted to do.

In terms of Tolu and Ziki as a team,

it worked really well for me because, one,
we're all very different personalities,

and we came from
very different backgrounds,

and then from there,

the rest is history.

When Hamid and I first met,
we were both living in London at the time.

He's from Uganda.

I was living with Ziki,
so it was a little co-founders' house.

So, like, right there.

[Ibrahim] It's that building,
but it's that window down over there.

I think we were sitting
just by the living room.

An executive from Disney Animation
reached out to us.

Just imagine you're sitting there,
young creative, right?

You just called out
the grandaddy of visual entertainment.

You just called them out
and say you're gonna kick their a****.

And then somebody reaches out
saying, "Hi,"

that they're from Disney, "Want to talk?"

First things first,
you don't believe it's them.

You're like, "Pfft, can't be them."

So I was super-skeptical about the--
like, whether or not it was valid.

Then after that we're like, "Let's talk
to them. Let's just see where it goes."

We said perhaps what we'll do
is an anthology of shorts

that are from some of the comics,
and we'll turn them into animation

and that was kind of our idea.

And, of course, they came in
and said, "How about this instead?"

[Adeola] Iwájú is a futuristic
sci-fi story set in Lagos, Nigeria,

about a young girl from the island,

which is the richer
and more affluent part of Lagos,

that befriends a young boy
from the mainland,

which is the poorer and less-developed
part of the city.

But things get complicated

when a crime boss who runs a kidnapping
ring decides to make her his next target.

Ziki really talked about
how he wanted each episode

to focus on a different character

at the very beginning.

Olabode, why did you take that money?

Why?

I just loved it.

It's me, Omotola Abike Martins.

[Adeola] Tola is this
aspirational young lady

who refuses to accept the world
for the way it is and, rather,

wants to see it for how it should be.

And she ultimately inspires
the people around her.

[beeping]

Let's see if that did it.

[Adeola] Tunde is Tola's father.

He is a wealthy tech executive.

Tunde's arc in the story is a journey
of remembering where he came from.

My people. Mmm. I am here for you, eh?

[Adeola] Bode grew up
in relatively poor circumstances

and so he developed a sort of
Robin Hood complex,

but it's somewhat false because,
you know, he just takes from the rich and

that's the end of the story.

Kole!

Madam.

[Adeola] Kole is Tola's best friend

and he's also born
in relatively poor circumstances

where you're earning such little money

that it actually ends up pushing you
further and further into poverty.

And so he's ultimately backed
into a corner.

[Lee] It really looked like
a powerful series.

Long-form series. It is 20--
you know, 20-minute episodes.

We had never done anything
like that before.

Disney Animation as a studio
has done features,

and has done short films,

but we haven't actually done series here.

It just felt like, for all of us,
it would give us something really new

to build together.

[Spencer] You know, Disney Animation has
never partnered with an outside company

in its 100 years of filmmaking,
and so this is absolutely groundbreaking.

Uh, Kugali, a full-on production
of this scale

was, quite frankly, something
that was a little bit out of our depth.

And is our creativity
going to be swallowed by this behemoth?

But I think it's important
to take a leap of faith.

Walt Disney himself believed
in taking risks, innovating all the time,

and so I don't think that for a second

we said we can't take this risk,
or shouldn't.

I have secretly dubbed this project,
"the virgin suicides".

'Cause that's what it is!
'Cause it's like everybody's first time.

Everyone is a first-time leader,

and everyone wants
to put their best foot forward.

Everyone's leaning on each other
to amplify.

You were hired for a reason,
I was hired for a reason.

We all know what we're doing individually

so how do we bring that collectively?

This is either gonna end really well

or it's gonna end really badly.
Let's start by saying that, right?

Let's see what happens!

He'll like all of this, right?

[chirping, beeping]

[Adeola] One of the things
I've always wanted to do,

particularly living here in the UK,

is to try to give people
a more accurate understanding

of what life is like back home.

Iwájú is a love letter to Lagos,
but there's a degree of imposter syndrome.

This is my first time as a screenwriter,
as a director.

What if, you know, I don't do a good job.
What if I fail?

My father was an entrepreneur.

You know, he started a bank
in Nigeria in the '90s.

And a lot of his achievements
have been met

with a lot of praise and critical acclaim.

You know, in many respects,
he's always been my hero.

He's always been the person
I've wanted to be most like.

Um, you know, it hasn't been all smooth.

There's definitely been
a lot of emotional conflict.

Do you like living in this house,

eating this food

and wearing nice clothes? Hmm?

Omotola Martins, I am speaking to you.

- Good.
- [metallic rattling]

Because mediocrity is not an option.

There are many elements of my dad
in Tunde in the sense of his philosophy

which is you need to be able
to stand on your own two feet

and provide for yourself.
That's the most important thing.

And the price for that is to work
extremely hard and to be very focused.

When that's drilled into you,
you know, constantly

and you're just a little child
trying to, sort of, play around

and it's like,
"No. Discipline. Fortitude."

There's almost a sort of, like,
militaristic component.

My father's constant attempts to instill
the value of discipline upon me

is what allowed me to thrive
doing martial arts.

It just really resonated with me
because that was already a philosophy

that had been baked into me
from a very young age.

But on a deeper level,

martial arts is just another
form of artistry and creative expression.

There's something about
being able to move and expel force

really helps me to face my creativity

with as much enthusiasm and passion
as I can muster.

Think what always helps in--
especially for the team all the time,

and we kind of say it's like,
"what's the true north?" Which is…

[Adeola] Working with Jenn Lee,

I have an opportunity to watch
a master in action.

I used to play a lot of video games
when I was younger

and in video games, in a lot of them, you
have a character that kind of levels up

and you gain what's called EXP points,

so working with Jenn Lee has been--
has given me a lot of EXP points

that I probably otherwise
wouldn't have gotten.

So, I mean, I think the most important
things, for me and the story thematically,

is, or are, exploring income inequality…

[Lee] As a writer and a director,
he has vision.

He knows character, he knows emotion.

He comes with storytelling talent
that's very deep but also very original

and that's another thing
that I think is critical.

That there's a point of view
that stands out.

That's incredible, so I mean, I literally…

[Adeola] So it's like if someone
with her credentials is saying it's good,

then maybe some of my self-doubt
is actually just me being

a little too self-indulgent.

[Lee] I feel like in my career,
um, folks took risks on me.

Bob Iger included,
when he gave me this position

and we've had multiple conversations
about that responsibility.

When you see talent, you have
a responsibility to nurture it.

You have a responsibility
to give folks opportunities

to push them into a place where
they get to grow and learn their craft.

[Ibrahim] My role in Iwájú is one of
the creators and the production designer.

I'm in charge of all the visuals coming
from the show, and the world-building.

When I say "world,"
I mean every single thing.

So I mean the plants
that are gonna be there,

what kind of building it is,
the architectural type,

what they use to build.

How the people dress, how the people look.
The different skin tones.

I don't live in Lagos, right?

Although Uganda and Lagos have a lot of
similarities in the way we look at things,

so that tends to help my vision
a little bit as well.

It's also making sure you present it
in a very interesting way

that will kind of stick to people's minds.

- Hello!
- Hello.

- [Ibrahim] Mom has been living in the UK.
- How are you?

- Fine, thank you. How are you?
- I'm all right, thank you.

How have you been?

I grew up with my grandma looking after
us. Grandma, big, big family home.

Whole bunch of aunties and uncles
looking after us.

I moved to the UK in 2011

because I was just about to turn 18
and the visa I got was a child visa.

So I got about two weeks' notice
that I'm gonna move from Uganda to London.

I remember the day his visa was through.

When I rang him and told him,
he was really happy.

It was such a big relief for me
'cause I was really missing him.

As a mother, you do want, of course,
all your children to be with you.

Uh, he came in, we settled in well.

We were really happy and comfortable,
although we were a bit squeezed.

[Ibrahim] I didn't even think we're poor,
that's the funny thing.

But in my head, I was like,
"Oh, we're fine. We got food.

We're happy. We're laughing."

To me it felt like we were fine.

The first thing was look for a college
for him to go to.

So I told him, "Let's go
to a STEM college."

When we went there, he had all his
certificates and all his other drawings.

The teacher was asking,
"What would you like to study?"

So, I said, "Oh, I think he would like
to do some engineering or some, you know,"

but they said, "No, stop.
I'm asking Hamid.

It's him who should tell me
what he wants."

When Hamid was about six years old,
whenever I would be cleaning the house

I would find some small little books.

And there are some drawings in them.

I would throw them away.

"You always cutting your books and making
some drawings here. What are you drawing?"

Because in my head, as an African mam,

the drawing or doing art is nothing.

He should study how to become a doctor,
engineer, you know, those other things.

I was so surprised and he was really happy

because he chose
what he really wanted to do.

And that's what made him to be
where he is now.

I'm very proud of him.
I'm happy for him to be where he is.

On Iwájú, I'm a creator
and the cultural consultant.

There are certain things
that if we don't get right,

or if it's not 100% accurate to real life,

people are going to come for me
in particular,

because they're like,
"Tolu, you had one job."

I'd never had dreams of going
into animation or working with Disney.

I had dreams of making video games.

I love games.

I love The Legend of Zelda,
Super Smash Bros.

I love Metal Gear Solid.

I love playing these things.

I've ended up doing even more
than what I intended

because now I'm-- I've done comics,
I've done animation.

I'm still going to do games.

So my dad is a very traditional person
in certain areas

but he's also very individualistic.

He doesn't, you know, follow the crowd.

- [Olowofoyeku groans, laughs]
- Whoo!

Tolu.

What Tolu was like a boy, well,

he was very curious.
Uh, he studied everything.

Whatever he had a passion for,
I gave him some support there.

[Olowofoyeku] He's okay with me
doing certain things

that I know that many other
Yoruba parents would just not allow.

[Kole] It is a very Nigerian thing.
You had to have very good education.

This is the engineer, you know.
This is the doctor.

You know, this is the chartered
accountant. This is the professor.

You know, that's Nigerian mentality.

[Olowofoyeku] He wanted me
to be able to just, you know,

get an engineering job or something.

But he still supported me
when I was chasing my dream.

He didn't stop me.

[Kole] And I learned from my father

not to force children to do things.

I also thought it was a great idea.
I also thought he had the talent.

And so I said, "Let's see."

- Game.
- Yeah.

[both laughing]

Africa has some of the best stories,
some of the most diverse stories.

So many cultures with so many of us.

It's the birthplace of humanity.

There is just this expectation people have
of the media coming out of Nigeria,

coming out of Africa,

and right from when we started Kugali,
one of our goals was to break that.

You know, as Kugali, we are-- we're
inherently innovative in our approach.

That audacity to really approach
storytelling on our own terms

and in our own way,

I think is going to make
this project quite different.

[Olowofoyeku] There's this thing
they say in Nigeria,

"You tried, sha." Or, "They tried, sha."

"Sha" is kind of like, um,
"Well, it's not so bad. It's okay."

Nobody's going to look at my work
and say, "They tried, sha."

My role as a producer on the show
is very much like curling.

You're furiously, furiously sweeping
against the stone to carve a path

but you can't actually touch the stone.

So, similar to how
I can't write the dialogue,

I can't animate the characters
and I can't light the scenes.

But it's effectively doing as much as
you can around the actual creative entity

without being able to do
the actual creative work yourself.

The biggest thing right now
is just gonna be the choreography.

I've always been interested in films,
whether it be feature films, or television

and even any type of storytelling.

I lucked out
and started on the finance side

from Big Hero Six to Moana,
then to Frozen II.

And then this fantastic opportunity
came up

and there was no way I could turn it down,

- Take care. Talk to you later. Bye.
- Ciao.

We have artists in Africa,
we're working with people in Montreal

and in London and in Paris
and in Los Angeles.

It's definitely not normal.

[cars honking]

[Chen] Outside of the Zoom box
and everything!

I know, right?

- Oh, my goodness.
- How are you doing?

- So good to see you.
- Really good to see you too.

- Good.
- Yeah. It's crazy. It's crazy.

I can't even believe it.

[Chen] So we've been working
a little over six months together

on Zoom before we actually met in person.

- [Adeola] How are you doing?
- [Christina] Oh, my goodness.

Ziki in the flesh. Can we do a hug?

It's good to see you.
It's good to meet you.

Yeah, it's good to meet you too.

[Chen] I think for us,
the biggest struggle's always time.

It's the time zones,
it's everyone being separated.

Everyone's coming
from not only a different time zone,

but a different location
and different mind-set.

And we're still trying to maintain
that level of quality

at filmmaking and storytelling.

[Adeola] Of everyone in the team,
Tolu has the closest ties to Lagos.

He was born there, he's grown up there
and continues to live there today.

So he really provided insights

as to how to make the show
as culturally accurate as possible.

As the cultural consultant,
I am saying this thing is very Lagos.

This way of doing things.

This is so Lagos and I want it to be in
the story, like, it has to come through.

[Olowofoyeku] Let's get right into
whatever questions are ready…

[Adeola] One of the ways
that he's doing this

is by having a weekly segment
called Wetin Dey Happen?

"Wetin dey happen?" just means
"What's happening?" or "What's popping?"

"What's going on?"

It's pidgin. It's pidgin English,
which is spoken widely in Lagos.

Oh, Tolu's Wetin Dey Happen
meetings are incredible.

Anyone can ask any question.
He is our eyes into Lagos, Nigeria.

What is different about going to school,
specifically for, like, a ten-year-old

on the island versus the mainland?

It's one of the most fun sessions.
It's very unstructured.

It's more like, "What do you guys
want to know?"

And then I tell them wetin dey happen.

Are young people worried
about their outward appear…

Do you see kids, sort of, walking
in like a group to…

…any coming-of-age type traditions?

I was wondering if there is any…

They've asked way more questions
than most people ever bother to ask,

even about their own cultures.

And Tolu eventually started filming
everything that he saw outside of his car

while he was driving around the city.

[Olowofoyeku] What you're seeing now
is, like, blocks of flats,

plazas and schools…

This is what kekes really look like,
this is what puff puff looks like.

This is what people in the markets
sound like.

[Olowofoyeku] Of course somebody's going
in the wrong direction.

Of course. I mean, why not.

- [car honks]
- Are we not in Lagos.

Here's what a gatesman's house looks like.

[Olowofoyeku] This is the gatesman's
house. Always right next to the gate.

He's like, literally, like,
boots on the ground.

This is not us making up a world.

This is us doing our best
to portray a very real world

and we wanna get
every single detail right.

[Olowofoyeku] You know,
the little things like

the biggest mall in the world is in
Nigeria. It's in the streets of Lagos.

It's the traffic in Lagos.

[Ibrahim] Phone charger!

Come here, yes.

'Ey!

[Olowofoyeku] People
sell things in traffic.

Look at you smiling, you know! You know
you're giving me a high price! [laughs]

Pay? For a lizard?

Those type of little details, those are
the things I'm trying to put out there.

I want people to see the good, the bad,
the ugly, you know. All the quirks.

[Patrick] The particular scene
I'm working on now,

Tola and Kole visit the market place
for the first time.

As a story artist, trying to bring that
authenticity to a project about Nigeria,

somewhere I've never been,
Tolu has been really helpful with that.

Tolu's input is absolutely vital.

I think you remove that,
Iwájú would not be Iwájú.

And there's more art
that's gonna be coming for it as well

that we'll be sure to pass along
to the story team.

[Rawley] With animation, you are part of a
humongous creative collaboration team.

And that is fantastic.

At some point,

these contributions
that the animators are making,

the layout artists are making,
they all end up in the cutting room.

I am the lead editor on Iwájú,

helping the director create the story
in the cutting room.

- Hi.
- Hi, Ziki.

- How's it going?
- Good.

- [Christina] Hello.
- Hey, hi.

Working with her, I've learned a lot.

I find it really easy
to relate with her as well.

Yeah, if we went basically from "uh-oh"

and lost all this
table-flying-around business.

[Adeola] Mm-hmm.

And then this would all work.
Then he could fling him across the room.

Yeah. I think if we just
get rid of the table

and, you know, all the other tantrums,
this might work.

So Ziki is rather stoic character.

He will absorb everything
and he thinks about it.

Maybe when he's on the phone,
he's like scanning the room

and then he has his eyes on Sunday.

And then it's a much more narrow focus.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
I think that's a good idea.

[Rawley] It's the safest place,
I think, on the show.

We can try anything, do anything.

[Rawley] This just-- It's such a…

[Rawley] Laugh, joke, whatever.
And I try and cultivate that

as much as possible.

What's up, Ziki. How are you?

- Yeah, I'm good. How are you doing?
- I'm all right. I've…

[Adeola] Working with Halima
has been interesting.

I've never really worked
with anyone as a co-writer.

As far as, like, a structure,
I think it makes sense.

She's been essential
because it's a lot of responsibility,

carrying both the directorial
and writing responsibilities,

so I think she's taking
a huge load off of my shoulders.

[Adeola] What I did is I put
some options of what Dami said…

[Hudson] He's been really great
about making himself available

to answer any questions

and give really thoughtful notes on pages

explaining why from a cultural lens,
it would need to be a certain way.

[Adeola] All right, all right, I've got
your back. We'll get through it.

Thank you.

I have known Halima's writing
for a long time

and she's a phenomenal writer,
especially with character.

- [Lee] This is my Shakespeare pen…
- Your Shakespeare pen?

Jenn and I began at the studio
at the same time, and on the same project.

She was writing for Wreck-It Ralph.

I was the production secretary
for Wreck-It Ralph.

So I told her I was a writer and,

you know, we just kinda started
a relationship like that.

Okay. I love what you're going for.
Here's the thing. I love…

You know, I always
was checking in with her, like,

"I'm writing this,
can you read it? What do you think?"

And she would give notes on scripts
that I was writing, give advice.

I have a couple suggestions…

[sighs]

…just of some stuff. Don't sigh.

[both laugh]

Oh, you heard that?
I thought that was an internal…

On Zoom, the sighs are more subtle,
but not in person.

This is all happening in real time
and so it's just like,

"Okay, we're gonna try this and
if it doesn't work, we're gonna pivot."

You know what I mean, and I think
it's just been learning as we go.

And that's been stressful.
And fun. But stressful.

And fun.

[Olowofoyeku] Nigeria has
over 300 languages

but the major language is Yoruba.
Igbo. Hausa.

Lagos just happens to be a Yoruba state.

When we wanted to name the show, just like
when we wanted to name our company,

we wanted a name
that would be easy to pronounce.

Ziki wanted the title
to reflect the future.

"Future" in Yoruba would be Ojo Iwájú

which translates to, "The day in front"
or, "The day ahead."

We just took out the Ojo
and called it Iwájú.

This story allows us
to envision a future for Lagos.

To envision a way forward.

Wow!

The average person in Lagos
speaks English,

probably a bit of Yoruba
and then pidgin English.

I no fit go where I dey stay,
and with my oga. Lie lie.

Pidgin English is the one language
that unites the whole of West Africa.

Not just Nigeria.

My madam don turn ten. How I go forget?

Almost all of us can speak pidgin English.

There is no way,

no way I am going to let us do a story
in Lagos and they don't speak pidgin.

I get plenty work to do.

I no fit play today.

The language in Iwájú is very intentional

because we want to make sure
that everyone has a Yoruba dialect

and have it be really true to the people.

So that when Nigerians are watching it
they can feel a level of kinship there.

Even if we get voice actors
who are Nigerian, per se,

if they've spent too much time in the US
or UK, they will not sound Nigerian.

I mean, even Ziki doesn't sound Nigerian.
He sounds British.

The casting process is really fun.

We're working with a freelance
casting director in Lagos,

Lala Akindoju.

The beautiful thing about Iwájú
is that it's very relatable to Nigeria.

So to find a project
that tells a story that is us,

that is authentic to us,
it's such a big deal.

For Nigeria. And for the Nigerian movie
industry, popularly called "Nollywood".

Uh, most of our cast,
I would say, over 90 percent,

is actually based in Lagos, Nigeria.

[Akindoju] They are homegrown talents,

grew up here, trained here,
have been working here,

and it feels like it's a time
to announce them.

Now, our lead is a young-- young child.

Tola. Ten years old. Has two friends.
Short. Has big hair.

Goes to a private school.
That's such an important detail.

So I had to reach out
to many schools' drama clubs.

You never know when
you're going to stumble on magic.

And I was very, I don't know, lucky
to have found Simi.

[Gbadamosi] Hello,
my name is Simisola Gbadamosi

and I'm reading the character of Tola.

I was like, "Okay, girl.
Okay, okay, okay!"

I was smiling the entire time.

Tola, you just had to go.

If you had just waited
until Daddy took you…

I'm like, "This is her. This is Tola."

"Yes! I won!"

She's pretty much me in animated form.

She's got sass.

Cute, if this was yesterday.

She's also kind of bossy sometimes.

No games. All work.

And it's my birthday, so no arguments.

[Adeola] Simi, it was really fun
working with her.

All right. Let's record.

She takes directions extremely well.

I have never done voice acting before.

When I was three, I played a sheep
in my Christmas play.

All right, Simi.

For the last two reads, just add
a little bit of emphasis on "any".

So, "any."

I don't know why I'm here or what
you need. But I will not be any trouble.

It took us a long time to find Tola
and everybody else,

but it took us extra time to find Kole.

Casting boys, I find, is more difficult,

especially in Nigeria.

There's just a handful and you don't have
a wide range. I find there are more women.

When you wan give person
big, big things, but life say you no fit?

When Siji came my way, he has a
laid-back kind of voice but it just works,

and then when we place his voice
next to Simi's.

It was perfect.

[chuckles] You should be a lawyer
when you grow up, oh.

Daddy would actually love that.

I see different elements of myself
in all of the characters.

Kole, who has a bit of a
social awkwardness to him,

I can definitely relate to that.

Kole is a complex person.

He is a, kind of, shy individual. But when
he is given the opportunity to shine,

or, kind of, relax with Tola,
he becomes a new person.

Not bad.

But you need to loosen your shoulder.

I definitely see
that part of myself within Kole.

This project, it's a big deal for
the Nigerian industry, for Nollywood.

I'm very proud.

The voices you're going to hear
are homegrown.

I say I'm so honored
to be a part of Nollywood

and I say the world should
look out for Nollywood.

We're coming.

[Chen] So, for us and the story,

we're always trying to balance
the creative piece

in terms of what's driving
the characters forward,

as well as a cultural authenticity.

And this came up consistently

because as Halima's rewriting,
as she's taking her approach to it,

and then Tolu, our cultural consultant,
will then look at the script

and there are moments
when he does look at scenes

and he, off the bat, will go,
"That doesn't feel Nigerian enough."

I want every part of it to feel Nigerian,
feel like it was created by Nigerians,

and not feel like it's Americans
doing the story

and then just consulting Nigerians
here and there.

To create a story that is a good story,

that people, no matter where they are,
will resonate with and love,

but is so culturally specific,
and so you wanna keep it accurate,

is not an easy dance.

It is a dance where I am doing the tango,
and you are over here cha-cha sliding.

We're not doing it together.

And so it becomes just like,
what's the battle

and what's the most important thing
that we're trying to say in this moment.

Three, two, one. Record.

[Hudson] Starting at line one.
So you'll be, "Kole abi, Tunde."

"She must be following broda Sunday
to Bode's hideout."

"Have you been there?"

Halima would translate
certain things directly,

the way it would work in America,

and I'll be like,
"This just does not work."

There was a line where I have

Kole gets into the car with Tunde,
and he says,

No, Oga.

Oga means "boss," right.

And so we have Kole calling him that
throughout the whole series.

And Tunde looks at him,

and this is after he's found out
he's been a part of the kidnapping,

and he says, "Don't call me that anymore."

As to say, "I am not your boss anymore."

And Kole looks down
and he says, "Sorry Sa."

As in, "Sorry, sir."

"Sorry. Sa."

Perfect.

And I'm like,
"That's gonna be a great moment,"

because then later in the wrap-up,
and we're all happy again

and everybody's friends, I had
written it that Kole says, "Thank you Sa,"

and Tunde says, "Don't you mean Oga?"

I thought it was great and then… [sighs]

…enter Tolu.

The feeling Halima
wanted to pass across there is,

"No. Don't call me that. Not now."

Because Tunde's angry at Kole for being
partly responsible for Tola's kidnapping.

So Halima wanted to portray that.
"No. Don't call me that. Not now."

But I told her, that doesn't track

because Tunde will expect Kole
to call him Oga no matter the situation.

It's not going to be like, "Oh,
I'm not happy with you now,

so don't call me Oga."

So I have to push back and tell her that,

"The emotion you're trying to portray
here, it won't work in Nigeria."

Let me tell you one thing
I want you to be doing.

If you think,
"Na. The houseboy wouldn't say that.

This is the way he would say it,"

you can say it how it is in the script

and then tell them, "I want to make
a suggestion. I want to do an alt."

Because you know, at the end of the day,
they are Americans.

They don't know how we say certain things
or how we interpret certain things.

You do. You understand it.

Feel free to make
suggestions or corrections.

[Hudson] There has been a few lines
that I've really fought for

but then ultimately it had to be, like,
it doesn't serve the story.

So I have to let it go.

Sometimes authenticity trumps stories.

I have had to learn

for it to not impact it
in such a way that the story suffers.

Great. Perfect. Line seven.

- So you want to see the real Lagos?
- Yes.

No wahala.
But you have to do what I say, oh.

Deal.

[indistinct chattering]

[vendor 1 speaks indistinctly]

- [Kole] Ah.
- Ehen. You want my fine cap?

[Adeola] Ajegunle is one
of the major locations in the story.

It's where Tunde is from, it's where
Kole is from, it's where Bode is from

and it is actually a real place
on the mainland in Lagos.

It's got the Boundary Market
which is beautiful in many, many ways.

And it's got the real
authentic Nigerian feel as well.

And it's got the chaos as well,

so it was a great place for Tola
to go on a journey of discovery.

I knew that I wanted the scenes
to take place in a market

and then you just said, "Given
the geography of-- of, what makes sense,

Ajegunle would be a good location
to have everything

and then I was like, "Sure. Why not."

- Really? I did?
- Yeah, you did.

- Oh, I see--
- See, I give credit where credit is due.

- I don't even know--
- [Ibrahim] I was gonna say.

The majority of kidnappings
don't really happen on the island

because the security is a lot more robust.

It had to be a place
that was relatively dangerous

and had a, you know, dangerous reputation.

Go!

So here, you know,
it's a lot easier to get lost

and then to be found by the kidnappers,

so it just made a lot of sense
to stage it in this particular area.

And also, everyone's--
Even though there's people,

everyone's so busy that no one's really
paying attention to what's going on.

Kidnapping is a real issue in Nigeria.

In Falomo Bridge
there are a series of murals

which are dedicated to the Chibok girls,

who are a group of young girls
that were kidnapped

several years ago by a group
known as Boko Haram.

I picked kidnapping because
I thought it would shine a lens

at the whole host of problems
that we don't like.

On the political side of things,

kidnappings are just often used
as a way for rebels or insurgents

or people who call themselves
freedom fighters

to combat what they believe is injustice
on the part of the government.

- [headset beeping, chirping]
- Omotola Martins,

your daddy has done well for himself.

In Iwájú, the villain Bode believes

that the wealthy have been hoarding
the wealth amongst themselves.

And so he really thinks
that he's owed this money

and it is meant to mirror

what I imagine
a lot of Lagosian criminals are thinking.

It is kind of a dark subject
and, actually,

Disney Animation in particular
are quite good at more mature themes.

[Lee] Throughout history
in Disney fairy tales,

they put us in great jeopardy
all the time.

And fairy tales are there

for us to learn to cope with situations
in life in a safe space

and so Iwájú, for me, has always
been just like our other films

and for the children in the audience,
we want to make sure they can feel safe

to understand the focus of this story.

So, especially with Tola's character,
in terms of every shot that she's in,

when we're working with the kidnapping,
what kind of energy are we creating?

[Adeola] I think we found ways
of presenting that kind of subject matter

in a manner that isn't too traumatic.

It's part of what we do,

and we can create a discourse together

to talk about these scary things
in life at times.

♪ I've got gizmos and gadgets a-plenty ♪

♪ I've got whozits and whatzits galore ♪

The Little Mermaid, I can sing
many of the songs word for word right now.

♪ Wish I could be part of that world ♪

When I watch Disney's movies,

I mean, many of them you see, Hercules,
Greek legends, Mulan, China.

They explore so many different cultures
and, to be honest,

as a kid I think my introduction
to many of those cultures

were from Disney movies.

But, I mean, The Lion King
is Disney's big African story, right?

And most of the actors and the writers,
they're mostly not African.

But with our story the people
coming up with the ideas are African.

We're Nigerian. Coming up
with the idea of a Nigerian story.

And other songs are so much fun.

[Ibrahim] The reason I got into animation,
which is funny,

was Lion King.

And that's what inspired me
to fall in love with animation, right?

Both the story it tells,
i.e. becoming who you're meant to be.

That was one of
a pivotal thing in my life.

And funny enough, Marlon West,
who is our VFX supervisor in Iwájú,

worked on the original Lion King.

I remember the first Zoom meeting I had
with him and I come on the screen

and he looks at my square
and then he looks to his other monitor,

and I could see him, like, IMDb me
[imitates typing sound]

and he looks back, goes "Mmm."

And so I was like, "Okay,
I cut mustard with this fellow."

- [Ibrahim] Hey.
- What's going on, man?

- It's good to see you.
- Good to see you.

[Ibrahim] You meet him and he's
just a normal person. Really cool guy.

Like just another person,
just another human being, right?

I still don't believe it.

You know, when you're seeing people
and you're like, "Is it really them?"

- Actually don't believe it.
- It is.

[West] I've always wanted to make movies.

I got a movie camera, like,
for my 12th birthday.

And also really into monster movies,
so I started doing stop motion animation.

I mean, I've been at Disney for
a long time. Upwards of 30 years.

I started here in the hand-drawn era

and have been
head of effects since Atlantis

all the way up through Encanto.

Marlon's been
a part of our studio for decades.

On a personal level, I had worked very
closely with him on Frozen and Frozen II

as our head of effects.

He's a very important leader
in our studio.

- [Kole] What was that? Ooh.
- Turn around. Turn around.

- I don't know what's in the outside, oh.
- [laughs]

[gasping]

[West] So I first heard about Iwájú

from a studio update we had
with Clark and Jenn.

And it just kinda started checking a lot
of boxes for me as a creative person.

It was science fiction.
It was set in Africa.

It was a crime story of sorts.

He is someone, as a leader and a mentor,
who wants to help you get your vision out.

He's the perfect person
to be there for Ziki,

to help him and Hamid and Tolu,

and help them understand our process.
He knew everything about it.

[West] As visual effects supervisor,

I'm creatively and artistically,
technically working with our filmmakers

to figure out exactly how to make our film

in the most efficient
and most beautiful way possible.

So, if they are closer to the house,

you know, we could either assume
that they've walked into that position

from some other place or we can
actually show them, kind of, approach.

To kinda take this in.

[Ibrahim] I know I'm gonna learn
a lot from him.

And it really--
it kind of reflects Lion King,

i.e. the circle of life.

That's it. Everybody get that?

- Yep.
- Yes, thanks.

[Ibrahim] When we started working
on Iwájú, I'd never been to Lagos.

[vendors chattering]

The best way I can describe it is, Lagos
has a certain audacity as a place.

An example I'll give is you see
a really tall, beautiful building.

Right next to it is, like, a goat farm.

And the energy's always high.

But Lagos is so different in the way
there is that pushing yourself forward.

There's a way it just wills itself to be
what it wants to be.

It was really nice working with artists
who lived in Lagos,

because it helped me have a starting point

which is from people
who knew what Lagos was

versus what people think Lagos is.

We have a whole bunch of Africans
working on the project.

Bill Masuku in Zimbabwe and Jason Lamy.

Joy Alunga from Kenya.

But then we have people
like Godwin, Bimpe.

We have Victor, John Zino, Segun.
Those are all Lagosians.

You know, I've been living in Lagos
all my life

so definitely there is always traffic

and people hawking bottled water
or maybe snacks.

As I give them direction on what to draw,
they give me something.

They give me the reason.
We have that back and forth.

[Chen] I think Hamid being from Uganda,

I think it allows him

to actually approach being
a production designer for this series

with the idea of what's really gettable

and digestible for an audience standpoint

and while also being
very culturally relevant.

You know, I think I really like it,
because one, as you know,

like, we're trying to make this to be
like a love letter to Lagos, right?

I like to think of it as I'm kind of,
like, leading an orchestra

of amazing artists.

Lagos is a melting pot. Everyone from
all over Nigeria is in Lagos.

[Ibrahim] One of the ways a lot of people
identify themselves as African

is from what they wear,
which would be like traditional wear.

A lot of them would wear the Ankara design

which is patterns with
a lot of color in them.

[Adebambo] The show
had to depict our culture,

our way of life or, like,
our way of clothing.

[Ibrahim] If you look at
all the costumes of the characters,

wanted to make them
not just visually interesting.

For them to make sense for people who
are from Lagos as well was very important.

I wanted it to have that identity
embedded inside it.

So I added that expertise from Bimpe

because she has a deep knowledge
in the fashion world.

[speaking Yoruban]

And we wanted to portray people
from different tribes of the country.

[speaking Yoruban]

Because we're talking about
different kinds of textiles.

Some are woven, some are spun,
so they come with different textures.

Tola. We're here.

When I read the scripts
and there was this part

that Tola had to go to Ajegunle,

I thought it wasn't a scene for a dress.

And she also still has to be cute,

you know, so I thought
what would be nice would be a jumpsuit.

The indigo fabric that I suggested
for her outfit is special to Nigeria.

The particular designs that I chose,

a cowrie shell is significant
in so many ways.

It's from the sea.

Lagos is called the place
of aquatic splendor, center of excellence,

but the cowrie was also
a former legal tender in Nigeria.

And, hey, she's the daughter
of a billionaire.

Oya, who wan chop?

[cheering]

Hamid wanted Bode in agbada.

Agbada is basically a
three-piece suit. Quite stately, it's big.

You wouldn't, on a normal day,
just be wearing that on the street.

You would be wearing it
maybe for a function.

Everything about him had to be big.
Jumbo coral beads. Who wears that,

you know, like, on a normal day. You have
to be a chief or a king or something.

So many rings.

I mean, his watch can buy you--

maybe he even orders
from Rolex ahead of time.

You know, just to show that,
"Well, we run the show here."

[Ibrahim] Ziki, as he was writing
the story about class and division,

in Lagos itself we have the mainland
and the island,

and there's an actual water body
separating the two bodies, right.

And one side of Lagos is full
of the most wealthy people

where the other side is not as wealthy
as the other one.

There's something a little bit dystopian
about the fact

that you have a body of water separating
the wealthy from those who are not.

That was something you could really sink
your teeth in as visual storytelling

that we could build this world
on one side of the water

versus this other world
and have this very clear difference

between haves and have-nots.

[Ibrahim] I was trying to show
the wealthy side of Africa.

And I was trying to think of where
to show that that's, one, unique

and, two, would speak
to the culture of Lagos.

For example, if you come
to the main town part of the island,

which is a more affluent area,

they have the sculpture buildings
which are buildings made out of sculptures

where the rich people of Lagos
would live inside,

and it's almost like they're living
in an art piece that represents Lagos.

Whereas when you come to the mainland,
we go all the way to the extreme

where we have houses made out of what
would be containers,

maybe travel containers. And they
were kind of modified to be houses.

So if you look at the design here,
there is just so much density.

I tried as much as possible
to integrate everything

that would make life accessible
to these people.

So we have Lagos today and then Iwájú
is just an amplification of that.

In a futuristic sense.

Happy birthday.

Mmm? This is Otin.

[Adeola] At some point,

I realized that we needed
an animal character in the show.

And I didn't wanna do just any animal.

I just had this eureka moment
of an agama lizard.

Something that every Nigerian watching
would be like, "Wow."

That's the lizard in my backyard.

They're very common in West Africa.

Ugh!

The whole idea
is Tola dislikes agama lizards,

and Tunde has this idea or sense
that children love lizards.

[Tunde] You once asked for a pet,

and research shows
that children love lizards.

So I thought what better way to show
how little he knows

about the tastes of children
or even about lizards.

It's great. E se baba.

In Nigeria, children would not
have agama lizards as pets.

Yo, we know that sound.
Puff puff! Puff puff!

In the story there are a few
key moments with respect to food.

We have puff puff, for example.

- Let us, like, ten pieces.
- Ten pieces, yeah?

Think of it as a Nigerian doughnut.

The main difference is the mix of spices
that are used to give it its flavor.

Thank you.

Ooh!

Mmm!

Tola's a lot more fascinated
by the local authentic food.

Mmm!

It is actually incredibly delicious,
you know, it's full of flavor.

It's visually striking.

If Tola was so interested
in eating mainland food,

Kole would definitely want
to take Tola to a mama puts.

[speaking Yoruban]

Yes.

They call these places "mama puts"

because usually the person serving
would be a lady.

It's usually run by women
and they're like, "Mama puts three eba."

"Puts one fish", "puts one ponmo".
[chuckles]

Yeah, so Ziki, have you ever actually
eaten at a mama puts before?

Yeah. Last time was maybe when I was,
like, ten or 11 years old.

What! That is forever ago.

I really like the energy of the place

in terms of just, like,
I like the feeling of it.

This type of food is affordable
to the mass populous you find here.

And that's why I felt like in the story
we needed to have the mainland characters

eat at mama puts
because it's natural to them.

And they're not going to go to,
like, a fancy restaurant

and order non-Nigerian food.

I'm eating with my hands.

My hands, Kole.

Primarily we have
the characters eating swallow

which is, the closest western analogy
I can think of is, mashed potato

but it's a little bit different.

Swallow is some sort of tuber
that is mashed up and cooked,

eaten alongside what we would call soup,

but it's not like the typical soup
you eat with a spoon.

It has a little bit more texture to it

and you mix the soup with some
fried meat, vegetables, spices,

and then you eat that all together

and that is one of the most authentically
Nigerian dining experiences.

I just tasted the soup and I was like,
"Okay, I'm not--

That's not my level of pepper."

West African food in general
is very different from East African food.

But the biggest difference would be
the amount of spices.

When I was a kid, they…

When they were cooking, I could…

I would already be sweating.
Like, I'm not even eating it.

And then the-- the aromas emanating
from the kitchen were pretty difficult.

I would say they don't really care
about the taste of their food.

They just wanna burn your tongue.
That's my perspective.

Humble opinion. Right?

So someone who's not used to that is,
you know…

I would recommend they stay safe.

[both laughing]

Bring on the pepper!

This party has to be perfect.

- [chirping]
- [camera shutter clicks]

This music is gonna be
a big part of the show

because it's very big part of the culture.

[music playing]

Ré Olunuga is a musical composer.

[Olunuga] More than anything,
I consider myself a storyteller.

The medium I use most often is music,
but the compulsion is to tell stories.

The passion for the work
really just shows. It's very infectious.

Yeah. I think overall it's-- it's solid.
I mean, it's completely different sound.

[Olunuga] Working with Ziki
has been great.

Just what he reaches for
in his storytelling,

um, similar things to what I reach for.

More than anything we share an excitement
to tell this type of story.

[Adeola] He's from Nigeria,

so he has a very clear
and direct understanding of the culture.

So most of the music is orchestral.

But Lagos is a unique city.
It's a city like no other city.

So it's probably not gonna evolve
in the ways that people expect.

[playing music]

We have harp duets,
and we have this fusion of

African instruments
and African performers.

From Afrobeats to highlife
that feels recognizable and familiar,

but also feels representative of
an imagined future.

Um, I'm super excited for today because
we're doing some special cues today.

- Um, I hope that you all have fun.
- [chattering]

It's gonna be awesome.

So, thank you again.
I'm looking forward to it.

Thank you.

The first time we were
on that scoring stage

and the conductor gives them the cue…

[orchestra playing]

…and they start…

is one of the most special moments
a person, a human can experience

because it's your dreams coming to life.

[music continues]

The process of recording an orchestra,
especially for a Disney project,

is unlike any other thing

because you're working with
some of the best musicians in the world.

Crescendo for two bars,
to mezzo-piano beginning of 18.

And then you crescendo for one bar
at the-- all of 19. And that's a forte.

[orchestra playing]

[Kole] She dey tear out the pages
and throw them like ninja stars.

Like… [imitates whooshing sound]

Eh, eh, eh! Stop this.

[Kole] Sorry, sa.

[sighs] Okay.

…not enough.

I should hold on to everything they say.

We're an army
to just help tell the story of Iwájú

[chattering]

[Adeola] You know,
this has been our heartbeat

for the best part of about three years.

And so to think that, you know, all of it
is coming to an end soon, it's crazy.

[Olowofoyeku] It's
one of those things where

the impact and effect,
I'm starting to see how big it will be.

[Ibrahim] There is that
weight of responsibility.

It has to live up to the legacy
of what it is.

Because it's such a huge--
it's a very strong, big move

in African visual storytelling.

The D23 Expo is this incredible gathering
of, you know, the greatest Disney fans.

[chattering]

Hi!

[Lee] And for us, it means a lot.

We actually keep a lot of things secret
just to launch here.

It's an opportunity for us

as filmmakers to share
what are we working on,

to give a little glimpse into
behind the scenes of what's happening

at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

And the story of Iwájú
starts to become part of the world.

[Adeola] It feels very cathartic
because I'm here with Tolu and Hamid,

and I remember when we were
just starting Kugali,

it was just really the three of us
who had a dream that we believed in

and worked very hard.

[Olowofoyeku] We have not been
able to talk about our projects much.

We've been working on it
for almost four years.

It's the first chance
that we'll actually get

to share what we've been working on
for so long with the world.

When you're working on something,
you think you know what it is

but you don't know
how the world is gonna receive it,

so I'm looking forward
to the world seeing this.

[Adeola] It's gonna be great
to actually finally share it

and let everyone see the beauty
and amazement of Iwájú.

[Olowofoyeku] For a guy,
you look pretty. [laughs]

- I know.
- Oh, boy.

[Adeola] I'm really just
trying to stay present.

You know, there is obviously a little part
of me that is a little bit nervous

because this is the largest
crowd of people

I will have ever addressed in my life.

[Ibrahim] It's been absolutely crazy
and I cannot wait to get on stage.

It's like 7,000 people,
first time doing this.

[Lee] Please welcome to the stage
the Kugali founders.

[audience cheering]

[Ibrahim] Disney!

- [Adeola] Hey, D23!
- [Lee laughs]

How you guys doing?

- [Olowofoyeku] Hello, D23.
- Are you ready for Africa?

- [audience cheers]
- Yeah!

[Spencer] To be here, and to have Ziki
and Hamid and Tolu all here,

in front of 7,000 people,

talking about a project that
just a couple years ago did not exist,

because of a phone call,
is an incredible moment in time.

We are really excited
to be working alongside Disney Animation

to bring you a special story.

A story from Africa.

And to see them…

[sighs] Sorry. Um, you know.

To see them up there was really special.

[Lee] My hopes for Iwájú
is it's just a beginning.

Getting stories from around the world

and being exposed
to different kinds of storytelling.

We're gonna always evolve as storytellers.

We are going to keep pushing ourselves.

[Hudson] I hope that people just see
true and authentic relationship

between this girl and her father,
this girl and her friend,

through this very, very,
very, very, very Nigerian lens.

You know what I mean? And it's just
like, that they get all of the culture.

Just the richness of that,
but that they relate to it.

[West] I think when people see Tola
in her mansion in Lagos

that gets up and jumps on her hoverboard
and makes puff puffs,

I think people will go, like, "I had
no idea how much I needed to see that."

[Chen] Whether it's some kid in Lagos
who sees themselves in the character,

or someone who's never been to Lagos

or maybe have never even heard of Lagos,

and they see a bit of themselves
in the characters,

because I think
that if something resonates,

it means it's universal enough
to illicit a feeling.

And I think that's all
we're really ever trying to do

whenever we tell these stories at Disney.

I've seen a story come to life,

I've seen a beautiful story
just emerge out of artistic ambition

and… but I'm really, really
excited for the audience.

I'm hoping that
they find it as special as we do.

What this is doing,
it's saying there are possibilities.

You can tell all kinds of stories

and the world will see it
and celebrate it.

They say people from Africa, you have
a lot of spice and pepper to their food.

I think we're the spice and pepper
to Disney that they needed.

I hope Iwájú launches
the next generation of artists.

I hope it's a point of inspiration
for artists all over the continent.

All over the world as well.

Just to dare to tell stories differently.
To dare to do things in a different way.

I feel like life is going to change
permanently for myself, Hamid and Tolu.

And it's somewhat surreal
and, honestly, a little bit daunting.

There is nothing in the 100-year
portfolio of Disney Animation

that feels like our show.

It feels very different.

[Olowofoyeku] You don't think,
"I'm going to make a video game

or a movie with Disney."

Most people from Africa and Nigeria
in particular do not dream that way

because it just
doesn't seem realistic to them.

I've never been realistic
and I think it's worked out very well,

but I hope that now I can
help other people to realize

their dreams don't turn to dust.