Pulling inspiration from Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots and fellow Disney+ series Star Wars: Visions, Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire does something incredible. The new animated short film anthology series tells inspiringly beautiful African stories that do not touch on slavery at all, instead focusing on fun and engaging narratives filled with lore that will leave you wanting more. Kizazi Moto takes an Afro-futurist approach to storytelling, and this is an endeavor which give its creators time to explore their creativity and shine brightly for audiences.
These creators all span across Africa, giving us different perspectives of culture, history, and lore. We have creators from Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Uganda. We have to thank Disney for going out of their comfort zone once again, and with such success we can only hope they continue to do so even more.
Each of these fifteen to sixteen minutes episodes are connected to different mythology and stories across Africa. What I love most about Kizazi Moto is that it is primarily animated by one studio, Triggerfish based in of Cape Town, South Africa, but each episode has its one unique art and animation style much like how each story being told is unique.
Surf Sangoma is an absolute favorite installment, which is directed by Nthato Mokgata and Catherine Green and written by the pair and Phumlani Pikoli. The story is set in Durban 2050 where two best friends risk everything to illegally surf colossal, deadly waves. Many of the episodes in this series leans more lighthearted, which is not bad a thing at all, which makes it all the more impactful when something takes a dark turn.
Another standout episode was Mukudzei, directed by Pious Nyenyewa and Tafadzwa Hove, the latter of which also serves as the writer of this installment. Mukudzei focuses on a social media influencer who is flung into a Utopian future Zimbabwe. Animation wise this might be the most visually impressive. The art and animation is presented in a style that transfixes you from beginning to end.
Peter Ramsey, co-director of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and Executive Producer of Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire, talked a little about the new anthology series with Animation Magazine which deserves to be highlighted:
“I think the inspiration [for Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire] was really an awareness of the creative energy that’s been exploding in animation in Africa for the past few years,”
“I was just blown away by the enthusiasm, energy and just the talent in that creative community.”
While watching the anthology, you can feel what Ramsey stated in his interview is true. All of the artists working on Kizazi Moto have undoubtedly poured their entire soul into it. They only real criticism that one might have is that it should have been longer. There is rich lore in all episodes that leaves you wanting more, and the possibilities to explore each world a bit more feels nearly endless. They could have stuck with the ten episodes format, but it perhaps should have been developed to support 30 minute episodes. Yes, it would have been a lot more money, but this is Disney for christ’s sake – they can afford it.
On a serious note, Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire has given me hope that we can continue to tell Black stories that do not have to be about slavery all the time. We can get crazy fun stories that are just as dazzling as Marvel, DC, or Star Wars – Kizazi Moto proves this in spades. While the more traditional slavery-driven narratives can be an important bridge of remembrance to our past, there is so much more complexity to the Black experience which does not get supported regularly on screen. Now it is up to Hollywood to believe in these artist and nurture them with projects where they can continue to develop their talents and create the next big cultural phenomenon. If this series is any indication, we know they are more than capable.
Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire is currently available to stream on Disney+.
Kizazi Moto takes an Afro-futurist approach to storytelling, and this is an endeavor which give its creators time to explore their creativity and shine brightly for audiences.
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GVN Rating 9
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6.9