Cartoon Network Africa has greenlit Garbage Boy and Trash Can, its first-ever domestic superhero series.
Created by Nigerian animator Ridwan Moshood, the 10 x 2.5-minute comedy-driven toon is about a boy with imaginary superpowers who fights for justice with his trusty sidekick. Moshood was inspired to create the series by his experience being bullied in school.
Set to premiere in 2022, Garbage Boy and Trash Can is in production at South African studio Pure Garbage, which Moshood co-founded last summer with Mike de Seve (head of New York-based Baboon Animation) and Nick Wilson (founder of the African Animation Network in Johannesburg). Pure Garbage also provides critical training and jobs for emerging African talent.
“I’ve seen a lot of talented African creators with amazing projects that should be on TV right now,” says Moshood. “Our production and company will be a big boost for the industry.”
John Fountain—director of The Fairly OddParents—is serving as supervising director on Garbage Boy and Trash Can, with Moshood co-directing and de Seve executive producing for Pure Garbage.
Moshood’s concept for the series won Cartoon Network Africa’s inaugural Creative Lab competition in 2018, and was then made into a short pilot that premiered on CN and its digital platforms last year. Creative Lab was set up to address a skills gap in the region’s animation industry by providing new opportunities for African creators, writers, graphic artists and animation students.
Moshood says he taught himself how to animate because there weren’t many affordable animation schools in Nigeria he could apply to.
“I learned by watching Cartoon Network classics on TV and doing tutorials on YouTube,” says Moshood. “I didn’t even have a laptop to practice with; I had to use cyber-cafés in Lagos.”
Though Garbage Boy and Trash Can is Pure Garbage’s main focus right now, Moshood has a number of other superhero concepts for kids in development, as well as a girl-led series called Alice from Above.
Africa has been a hotbed for animated content lately as broadcasters, streamers and production companies all work to meet a growing global demand for more inclusive kids and family content. Netflix is currently co-producing its first African animated original series, Mama K’s Team 4, with South Africa’s Triggerfish Animation. And Disney+ has also partnered with Triggerfish on Kiya, its preschool co-pro with eOne.
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Disney+ Picks Up Triggerfish/eOne Co-Pro
Disney+, Disney Junior and France Télévisions have picked up a new CG-animated preschool series co-produced by South Africa’s Triggerfish Animation (pictured) and Hasbro’s eOne.
Kiya is a 52 x 11-minute series about a group of seven-year-old African girls whose magical headbands turn them into superheroes. The original idea from Triggerfish (Mama K’s Team 4) was developed for television by eOne and France’s Frog Box.
Triggerfish, eOne and Frogbox are producing the series in partnership with Disney Junior and France Télévisions, with French studio TeamTO providing animation services. eOne previously worked with Frog Box and TeamTO on its preschool series PJ Masks, which was recently added to Disney+ in the UK.
Kiya is expected to bow in 2023 on Disney Junior and Disney+ globally, as well as on France Télévisions. Plans are also in place to create YouTube content, music, apps, audio, toys and other consumer products based on the IP.
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Netflix Collabs On Its First African Animated Original
Netflix has signed a deal to collaborate with South Africa’s Triggerfish Animation Studios and UK distributor CAKE on animated action-comedy series Mama K’s Team 4 (pictured).
Set in Zambia and aimed at six- to 11-year-olds, Mama K’s Team 4 reinforces the notion that anyone can be a superhero, with its story line centering on a group of teenage girls who are recruited by a former secret agent to help save the world. It’s created by Zambian writer Malenga Mulendema and designed by Cameroonian artist Malcolm Wope, who took inspiration from ’90s R&B and hip hop girl groups.
The series, which is Netflix’s first African animated global original, has been in development as a 25 x 22-minute 2D-animated project since September 2017. Its launch date has yet to be announced.
From a creative perspective, Netflix is partnering with Triggerfish (Adventures in Zambezia) and CAKE on a continent-wide search to hire black female writers for the show. Their mandate is to find candidates who have had their work produced for either TV or film, and who are English-speaking African citizens or permanent residents.
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