#african animation

[avocadotoast0]

God I’ll forever be mad that Disney never promoted Kizazi Moto. You could feel the love and thought put out into it by the crew who worked on it. We never really get to see African cultures and mythologies given this much attention, detail and budget. It was such an amazing opportunity for African animation since it has been paid dust until recently. The fact that Disney decided that this has to be the show they decided not to promote…

Despite the lack of promo, it was able to be the 12th most watched animated series on Disney+ thanks to Twitter making noise about it during its release. I’m still hopeful for a second season, but given how Disney treated it and how there’s literally no online fandom or even conversations about it :(

[perishingshards]

I have been very disappointed, to say the least, that this came out and I have seen NO promotions for it. None from Disney Plus or any any ads or other companies or anything. Only two cases of individuals mentioning it. So I've been spreading it as much as I can. Finally, I see that io9 has written an article of it. This is the first time I've seen any company say anything about it.

We need more content like this. So please watch, share, reblog and heck repost here and spread on different social media and with your friends and family if you like it enough.

[historyhermann]

No. 6 on my list of top animated series for 2023: "Supa Team 4"

I only heard about Malenga Mulendema's Supa Team 4 on a whim, on social media. I'm glad I did because Netflix continues to inadequate promote this series. Although I don't always like computer-generated animations, this superhero action-comedy series remains one of my favorites for 2023. This series, produced by Trigger Fish Animation Studios, shares some characteristics with other teenage superhero series and classic 2000s series from the 2000s. The story is wholy Zambian and centers on four girls with different (and sometimes clashing) personalities: Temwe Chiti, Komana Mwinga, Zikomo "Zee" Phiri, and Monde Wamunyima. They are brought together by a former secret agent named Mama K.

Similar to other entries on this list, Temwe, Komana, Zee, and Monde feel obligated to keep their real identities secret. They have one of the coolest superhero transformations, with upbeat music and a distinctive flair. It is only rivaled by Sailor Moon, series within the Pretty Cure franchise, and magical girl works. Themes like environmental protection, family, work-life balance, value of art, and obsession with popularity are key. They face off against a villain who tries to steal the city's electric power, while masquerading as a "Black empowerment" capitalist. The second season premieres on December 21 and will continue centering African stories.

excerpted from "Burkely's Top Ten Animated TV Shows of 2023"

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[harpagornis]

Biging Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire; Hatima is my fave due to its 2D animation + allusions to Dogon mythology. Its a shame this amazing afrofuturist anthology has Disney attached to it.

[bovineblogger]

trans person: im trans

society: ok

the magnificent african forest buffalo:

[yinfaowei]

ONEROUS

been going life drawing for a few months, and I've felt inspired to get more characters into my art

[melanatedmedia2]

Iyanu: Child of Wonder - A New Era for African Animation

Get ready to be swept off your feet as the world of African animation gears up for a revolutionary breakthrough with the highly anticipated release of Iyanu: Child of Wonder. Based on the viral graphic novel of the same name, Iyanu is set to carve its place in the global spotlight, promising a mesmerizing fusion of captivating storytelling, breathtaking visuals, and a profound embrace of African…

[squidmag]

The Ultimate Guide to Lagos Comic Con 2024: What You Need to Know

Experience the biggest Lagos Comic Con yet! Dive deep into animation, comics, gaming, and cosplay at Africa's premier pop culture event. Meet creators, attend insightful panels, network with fellow fans, and unleash your inner geek!

Lagos Comic Con 2024 is returning for its 12th edition, promising to be a landmark event that’s bigger, bolder, and more exciting than ever before. As a cornerstone of African pop culture, the convention draws creators, fans, and industry professionals from across Nigeria and beyond. This year’s event is designed to offer something for everyone, from die-hard comic book fans to aspiring creators,…

[heartnosekid]

african peach moth (egybolis vaillantina) | source

[solhaelan]

WATCH KIZAZI MOTO!

Idc if you have to pirate it, as long as you talk about it:

WATCH KIZAZI MOTO

WATCH KIZAZI MOTO

WATCH KIZAZI MOTO

WATCH KIZAZI MOTO

WATCH KIZAZI MOTO

WATCH KIZAZI MOTO

I'm serious I want more of this show I want more African animation I want more African influenced storytelling I want more African languages I want more of me on screen SUPPORT KIZAZI MOTO!!!!

(and to the gif makers, i can't wait til y'all make gifs for all of the eps I can't WAIT)

[aboudiamond]

TELEMI Les Contes Africains.

3D Short animation (clip).

Watch the full video on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@aboudiamond

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I promised you some lions! Let's talk about manes, males, and management.

This is Tandie, the current male lion at the Woodland Park Zoo.

Notice anything odd about him? He's got one of those hilarious awkward teenager manes. Except... this cat is nine years old.

I was, of course, immediately curious.

Manes serve a lot of purposes for male lions, including being an indicator of health and fitness - it's actually a sexually selected trait and a social signal. Mane texture / hair quality / length is dependent on nutrition and the body having energy to grow (and carry around!) that much hair! The color is also a signal: males with darker manes have been found to have higher testosterone levels.

In one research report, wild males were much more likely to avoid a lion decoy when it had a longer or darker mane - but the girls really loved a dark mane. It's thought this is because a long, dark mane is an indicator of mate quality. Males with longer, darker manes have higher testosterone and were pretty healthy: meaning they had more energy for fighting, had a better chance of recovering if they got injured, and generally had a higher rate of offspring survival. Manes matter!

So, back to Tandie. He was actually born at the Woodland Park Zoo in 2014 alongside two brothers, to dad Xerxes and mother Adia.

This was Xerxes (rip).

Obviously, a very large, dark, lush mane on Xerxes here. So where did these blond muttonchops come from on his son?

I asked the zoo docents and got an answer that didn't make a lot of sense. They told me that after the three cubs grew into adolescents, they were moved to the Oakland Zoo together. But living together suppressed his testosterone, and he never grew a mane.

Hmmmm.

Here's a photo from 2016, when the brothers debuted at Oakland. They're a year and a half old in this photo.

(Photo Credit: Oakland Zoo)

And here's from an announcement for their third birthday.

(Photo credit: Oakland Zoo)

Okay, so these dudes obviously all were growing manes as of 2017. I think Tandie is the one on the left in the first photo, and laying down in the middle on the second. What happened?

I was just in the Bay Area for a zoo road trip, of course I went to Oakland and tracked down a docent to ask some questions.

It turns out that shortly after the brothers turned three, they started acting like adult male lions: they started scuffling regularly. It's a normal social thing for male lions to live in groups, called coalitions, but according to my lion experts there's generally a baseline level of some social jostling within them. It wasn't quite clear from what the docent said if they couldn't manage the boys together, or if they just wanted to avoid the scratches and small wounds that result from normal lion behavior. Regardless, they put all three of the boys on testosterone blockers in order to be able to keep them together as a social group.

Now, I don't know a lot about the use of hormone alteration as a form of captive animal management, except in the case of birth control. I don't think it's something that's unethical - there was just a webinar on it that I saw go by - but I don't think it's commonly done with big cats. Lions have kind of complicated reproductive cycles, and for instance, we've been learning that female lions can take much longer to come into estrus again than expected after coming off hormonal birth control.

In males, testosterone blockers (or being neutered) means they lose their manes. This is why a lot of rescues will do a vasectomy on their males instead of a neuter - it allows them to keep their mane and the social signals that accompany it.

Tandie returned home to Woodland Park Zoo after Xerxes passed in early 2022, and the docent told me all of the lions had been off their blockers "for while." I'd guess those things happened around the same time, since bringing the trio down to a duo at Oakland would reduce some of the social tensions.

Hormones are such interesting things, though. One of Tandie's brothers has a full mane again, and the other is still totally mane-less.

As for Tandie, his mane is growing back in, and it looks like he might rival his dad for length and coloration.

He started here, in February:

Yesterday:

What a difference four months (and maybe proximity to a girl) makes!

[onenicebugperday]

Southern African slug moth, Coenobasis amoena, Limacodidae

Photo 1 by thijsvalkenburg, 2 by nikiescott, 3 by fubr, 4 by Bernard Dupont, 5 by qgrobler, 6-7 (cocoon before and after moth emerged) by nikiescott, 8-9 by wolfachim, and 10 by suncana

[historyhermann]

No. 10 on my list of top animated series for 2023: "Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire"

This series, also known as Kizazi Moto, is laudable. Its the second animated series produced by a South African animation studio, Triggerfish, and an Africanfuturist animated film anthology series. It does not shy away from death, suicide, blood, and related themes. However, it is a bit hard to describe. Unlike other animated series, apart from Star Wars: Visions, it comprises ten short films, each from a different African perspective. They focus on different themes, such as ancestry, family, culture, gentrification, value of one's life, confronting one's fears, togetherness, godlessness, and acceptance. The sinew holding the series together is not strong.

Even so, each episode/film can stand on its own. Many provide a launching pad for future animated series. Some episodes/films reminded me of Steven Universe, Birdie Wing, Star Wars Resistance, Yasuke, Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, Tron: Uprising, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Elena of Avalor. However, each film/episode is unique and involved animators and creators I'd never heard of before. Hopefully this series provides opportunities for those creatives to share their talents beyond the African continent and connect to creatives in the U.S. and elsewhere.

excerpted from "Burkely's Top Ten Animated TV Shows of 2023"

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[bovineblogger]

[moomeecore]

african wild dogs