Disney is finishing up their first day at D23 and there have been many fun announcements so far. One of the more intriguing projects highlighted at their Studio Showcase on the Disney+ side of things was the upcoming animated series Iwájú. Disney will be collaborating with African animation studio Kugali on the project. This would be the first collaboration with an outside studio in Disney’s 100-year history.

The series will be this futuristic coming of age story taking place in Lagos, Nigeria following an heiress and a poor boy, Tola and Kole. That is all we know plot wise, but Disney also released a new official image on their various social media pages that sees Tola and Kole running through the streets of Lagos with robot drones following them from behind. Kole seems reluctant to join Tola on the unknown journey ahead of them, but that classic Disney whim is beaming from every inch of this first look.

From this image alone, Iwájú appears to be very reminiscent of classic animated films like Aladdin, a rags-to-riches story full of wonder, danger, and romance. However, that’s not even the best part as Tola owns a robotic pet lizard named Otin. This iconic studio is known for their cute animal characters and Otin, in just one image, has already stolen every Disney fan’s heart across the globe. Collider also attended the panel where they showed more looks at Tola, Kole, and Otin along with two more characters Bode and Tunde. The former is a crime lord while the latter is Tola’s dad.

iwaju
Image via Disney

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Disney also revealed that Olufikayo Ziki Adeola would be the writer/director, Hamid Ibrahim would be the production designer, and Tulu Olowofoyeku would be the cultural consultant on the series. It is going to be very exciting to see what these creative minds and Disney can bring to the table working together. Disney+ has mostly seen extensions to pre-existing properties like Cars, Up, and Zootopia so far which only makes the potential of Iwájú that much more enticing. From the small glimpses we have gotten from the series, this looks to be another hit for the streamer. A love letter to culture and adventure that just so happens to have the cutest robotic lizard in the world. How could you lose with that delightful combination?

Iwájú will be premiering on Disney+ sometime in 2023. Until then, Disney fans have a lot of fun animated projects to look forward to on the streamer like Zootopia+ in November.

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