KIZAZI MOTO’s Moremi review – the herald of a new dawn in African animation

Kehinde Bankole is Moremi. Photograph courtesy: Disney+ and Shofela Coker.

Disney’s Pan-African animated anthology series, KIZAZI MOTO: Generation Fire has created quite the buzz in the global animation space. A herald of great things to come in the African animation space. The world is finally watching. But it is the intriguing Episode 3 ‘Moremi’, directed by Nigerian illustrator and filmmaker Shofela Coker, that has really caught the attention of animation enthusiasts around the world. It has been nominated for three Annie Awards: Best Direction, Best Character, and Best FX.

Moremi follows the story of a mother and scientist, who defies the gods by crossing dimensions into the spirit realm to rescue the spirit of her son. Ace Nollywood actress and the lead in Amazon Prime’s ‘Adire’ Kehinde Bankole, leads the cast as the unnamed mysterious mother, scientist and heroine hell-bent on reuniting with her son, Olu, in this magical tale set in an afro-futuristic Ile-Ife.

Swash-buckling stance from Moremi. Photograph courtesy: Disney+ and Elodie Dos Santos.

In ancient Ile-Ife, a woman had prayed to the gods for help to protect the land from soul-eating giant creatures from another realm. The gods granted her request and bestowed on her a divine energy. She built shields to protect Ile-Ife from further attacks… In her endeavour to close the doorway between worlds, she built a machine to this effect. After unsuccessful attempts to power the machine, the gods told her that they wanted a sacrifice before the machine could close the doorways: her son.

One of the outstanding features of Moremi, is the way the production design feels like a homage to Marvel’s ‘Into The Spiderverse’. This is not really surprising as Peter Ramsey, who was a co-director on Into The Spiderverse, is also the executive producer of Moremi. Another outstanding feature is the fight sequences which were swash-buckling, though more reliant on magical combat than fisticuffs.

The story unfolds in a cryptic manner which can be sensed via the poignance expressed on the heroine’s face and in her tone. She wears a constant look of motherly anxiety and regret as she fights her way through to get Olu to her hilltop laboratory. You can sense that she has so much secrets to spill, but doesn’t know how. You begin to wonder if she is the ancient woman of Ile-Ife or a reincarnation of her. Probably a reincarnation of the ancient queen Moremi.

Mother and spirit son. Photograph courtesy: Disney+ and Elodie Dos Santos.

The spirit avatar of her son Olu, trudges thoughout the story often energy-drained, and is seemingly oblivious of the happenings around him. But he is also brave enough to fight and try to protect his mother. His character draws so much empathy from the viewer. He is the heart of the story. The soul-eating giant creatures are ruthless and wanton in how they attack and destroy, and they bear on them emblems that bear the semblance artifacts of the Yoruba culture. A probable sign that they might be rouge deities.

The writers, Shofela Coker and Vanessa Kanu, clearly showed their respective expertise in illustration and storytelling of the supernatural, in this story. Vanessa wormed her way into the hearts of live-action Nollywood audience in 2018 with Trino Studios’ supernatural thriller ‘Sylvia’. Her influence is clearly be felt in this story. The direction by Shofela is solid, as the plot flows seamlessly throughout…despite the cryptic nature of the story. Kehinde Bankole’s voice booms large with a typical Nigerian mother’s reassuring tone.

Lucan Studio operating out of Cape Town, has clearly produced a fine work here; one that the Disney executives must be really proud of. One can only hope that Disney+ becomes available to the rest of sub-saharan Africa, so that they too can enjoy KIZAZI MOTO and Shofela Coker’s ‘Moremi’.

4 Pings out of 5 for Moremi!

👌💙Ping!!!!