Indigo | Jun 2025
We sat down with the producer and founder behind the show to talk about the creative vision, challenges of producing animation in Africa, and the joy of telling African stories for children.
What inspired your journey into animation, and what keeps you motivated?
My journey into animation was inspired by a desire to tell authentic African stories in a visual language that resonates globally. Coming from a background in law and illustration, I saw animation as a powerful fusion of storytelling, design, and education. What keeps me motivated is the joy of crafting narratives that children and young adults across the continent can see themselves in — stories that reflect their environments, languages, and aspirations. Animation gives us the ability to reimagine Africa not just as a backdrop, but as a central character in its own storytelling.
What inspired you to create Uli and Tata, and what do you hope it brings to children across Africa and the world at large?
Before creating Uli and Tata I had not given sufficient attention to children’s content – and then I became a father and my perspective shifted. I was suddenly and acutely motivated by a strong desire to answer a simple but profound questions: Why can’t our children sing more nursery rhymes than “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and “London’s Bridge”? What if African children could see characters who look, speak, and live like them navigating imaginative and moral adventures? What if we went beyond tropes of empty wildlife landscapes and actually told the story of the communities that conserved these ecologies?
I wanted to create something that was fun, smart, and rooted in everyday African life — but with the kind of emotional depth and visual delight that keeps kids coming back. Our hope is that Uli and Tata brings joy, curiosity, and a sense of belonging to children in Africa and globally, while also quietly affirming that their stories matter. Most importantly, we hope to expand the catalogue of children’s songs available to the next generation.
What has been the biggest challenge (or joy) in producing animation content in Africa, and how has that shaped your journey with Uli and Tata?
One of the biggest challenges has been infrastructure — both in terms of technical resources and virtually non-existent local institutional support. Animation is still a growing field in Africa, so everything from funding to pipelines has required patience, creativity, and community-building. But therein lies the joy: the process has brought together passionate collaborators who are driven by vision, not just profit. That spirit has shaped Uli and Tata — it’s a project born of ingenuity, resilience, and belief in the power of local storytelling.
What was the most surprising part of the production journey for Uli and Tata?
The most surprising part was just how universally the characters and stories are received. Despite being grounded in a Kenyan context, audiences — even outside Africa — found Uli and Tata relatable despite the misgivings of distributors outside the African continent. It affirmed something we’ve always believed: that stories told with specificity, honesty and cultural integrity often have the broadest appeal. That, and the delight of seeing professional animators breathe life into sketches that began in my notebook — that never gets old.
What does representation mean to you when it comes to African animation for kids, and how does Uli and Tata help shape how African children see themselves on screen?
Representation isn’t just about putting African faces on screen — it’s about authentically capturing our lived complexities, humor, environments, and values with care and creativity. For me, it means offering children mirrors, not just windows. Uli and Tata contributes to that by celebrating African songs, names, family dynamics, languages, and settings in animated content. It tells kids: “You are worthy of being the hero in your own story.”
How do you ensure that Uli and Tata is relatable and engaging for African kids specifically?
Research is Uli and Tata’s secret weapon. With the support of Creation Africa, National Geographic and seed funding from the Kenya film commission, we have been privileged to be able to invest in field research for every location that is represented in our series. Every song, dress and natural environment is drawn deliberately. This is the only way for us to move away from the stereotype of an Africa that is only ‘a Savannah with a giraffe and acacia tree.’ Our writing process often draws on real local idioms and input from communities. But beyond relatability, we also prioritize fun and clever twists that keep kids singing, laughing, and feeling seen.