Beginning in April, Disney's Lagos-based sci-fi series, Iwájú will head to the Disney channel on DSTV, the general manager for The Walt Disney Company Africa, Christine Service, confirmed to Pulse Nigeria in an interview.
This will happen a month after the series has already started streaming on Disney Plus its streaming service which, although available in South Africa, is not yet in Nigeria.
“We are very excited that Iwájú will be on Disney Plus across the globe from the 28th of February, which is fantastic,” she said. “But we are also super excited that here on this continent and absolutely in Nigeria we will also be distributing Iwájú on the Disney channel starting in April and May.”
The series was made with Nigerian-led Kugali Media, the first time Walt Disney Animation Studios has partnered with an external entity. The six-part series will run from April 22 to 26, then have a special marathon on April 27, a repeat broadcast from April 29 to May 4, another marathon on May 5, and finally, on Africa Day, May 25.
On why Disney has only just made its first project based on Nigeria, Service said, “This is one of the projects we’ve had over the years. It’s a matter of the timing of discovering the stories that the Kugali team wanted to tell and realising the philosophy of the team at Kugali, which is about great storytelling, quality, and innovation, is the same philosophy that we at Disney have and there was a real meeting of minds there on how to produce this series.”
While she didn't confirm Disney’s next African project, she said the company is excited to work with more Africans in the future.
“The more we work here and the more we work with the creative team on this continent, the more we understand about the excellence in storytelling and filmmaking that exists here,” she said.
Iwájú starts streaming for the global audience on Disney Plus on February 28.