Following its globally celebrated London and Nairobi premieres, the African-inspired 3D children’s animation series Kunda & Friends premiered in Lagos recently.
The music-led YouTube series created by children’s media publishing/creative studio company Kunda Kids, according to Oladele Olafuyi, Co-founder/CEO of Kunda Kids, will redefine preschool learning and entertainment for African children around the world.
“The soundtrack music takes inspiration from African culture, with influences from genres like Afrobeats and Amapiano. In making Kunda & Friends, we decided we do not just want children to be in front of their television and sit like Zombies.
“At Kunda Kids, everything we do is fun first. We look at curriculums, but beyond curriculum, we also look at what children find entertaining. Things that will help them also learn to become global citizens,” the UK-based Nigerian told Vanguard.
Shedding more light on the series, Olafuyi said: “Set in an African landscape, Kunda, a four-year-old boy of mixed African heritage, takes viewers on his adventures. He explores the world around him with his friends: Sana, a girl of mixed African and Indian heritage; Fela, a boy from Nigeria; and Leo, the lion; and Ella, the elephant.”
Speaking on the inspiration behind Kunda Kids and the creation of Kunda & Friends, Olafuyi said the unavailability of high-quality children’s programmes on television created a vacuum in his 4-year-old son’s life, which needed to be filled.
“This is a pan-African project. Kunda & Friends is produced in Uganda. We have a whole team working in Nigeria, and we are lucky to have found excellent investors who bought into the vision.
Also speaking, Louisa Olafuyi, Co-founder of Kunda Kids, added that the aim was to inspire children with characters selected from across Africa.
