Iwájú: Review

Disney's latest animated series feels like one of the best things they've ever done, thanks to pacy, zippy episodes that bristle with heart and excitement.

Walt Disney Animation Studios has teamed up with Pan-African comic book entertainment company, Kugali, for an original animated series set in a futuristic Lagos, Nigeria that follows the story of Tola, a young girl from Lagos' more wealthy settings.

Essentially a coming-of-age tale that deals with child kidnappings, the growing advent of Afro-futurism in Lagos and a cultural divide, Iwájú's six episodes (that run between 17 and 23 minutes every other episode) prove to be engaging from the get-go.

Blessed with vibrant animation and colours as well as Nigerian voices and African cityscapes that evoke the dichotomy of its society, Iwájú's world-building and story happens at a pace that some may deem breakneck. But somehow it all feels natural, and engrossing.

It's also extremely family-friendly, thanks to a techno gizmo in the form of a lizard gifted to Tola to keep an eye on from her father. Opening moments set out Iwájú's stall as the world comes vividly to life - and while the six episodes will be compared continually to Marvel's Black Panther in terms of integration and technology, the way Iwájú covers the chasm between the classes and the perils facing future worlds is subtle and smartly delivered.

The six episode event series is worth investing - it's spread across roughly the time of a Disney movie, but never one does it feel its length, or sag.

Iwájú is streaming now on Disney+