Showmax unveils pangolin toon in Cannes

Multichoice-owned streamer Showmax in South Africa is launching its first original 2D animated series, produced by London-based Braintrust and Johannesburg-based Mind’s Eye Creative.

Twende follows a pangolin of the same name, the slowest moving animal in the savannah, whose chilled-out vibe is at odds with his job as a ‘boda boda’ (bicycle or motorcycle taxi) driver in the bustling, fictional East African city where the show is set.

Set to debut on the streaming service on December 4, the show has an all-Kenyan voice cast led by Junior Nyong’o and June Gachui.

MultiChoice Studios, the distribution arm of African pay TV group MultiChoice, is handling international sales and will present the show at Mipcom in Cannes this week.

The show was created by Charlie and Regan Maas, who came up with the concept as they toured East Africa.

Although poaching is not dealt with directly in the series, the toon comes after pangolins have been added to the endangered species list as they are the most trafficked animals in the world.

The show’s creative team includes South African showrunner Greig Cameron, who also wrote and directed Seal Team, which cracked the Netflix global top 10 film list in January last year, as well as the soccer animated series Supa Strikas.

Twende also includes Supa Team 4 creator Malenga Mulendema and Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire screenwriter Vanessa Kanu.

“Twende is a super silly show, but we hope that, between all the humour and all the hi-jinks, our audience will fall in love with pangolins as much as we have and do their part to help protect them,” said Kenyan executive producer Kwame Nyong’o.