What is the African Animation?
Saturday, April 4th, 2009How can we define African Animation? Is it animation produced in Africa by Africans? Or produced with African budgets? Or produced for African audiences?
These are important questions to answer before speaking about African animation.
To be more clear, does speaking about animation in Africa include films produced by foreigners and colonizers in Africa, such as animated works made by white people in South Africa? An example is “The Artist’s Dream” by the American Harold Shaw which was created in 1916 and considered as the first animated film made in Africa.
Other films include work by some non-African investors and producers like the Canadian Firdaus Kharas who directed “Magic Cellar”, 2006, the first animated series to be based on African culture, which was acquired for broadcast in the United States. Kharas has his own organization which can fund any of his co-production works with other countries, like this series which are co-produced with South Africa.
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| Moustapha Alessane |
On the other hand, perhaps “African Animation” should be considered as work of African people or produced with African funding.
For these reasons, historical research into African animation could be approached in different ways.
For example it could be considered that the first animated film produced by an African artist are animated shorts in 60s which were done by Moustapha Alassane from Niger.
Considering the nationality of the producers becomes complex; “Mish Mish Efendi” films were made by Belarusian Frenkel brothers but produced and
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| MISHMISH by Frenkel 1930s (Egypt) |
funded by the Egyptian government as propaganda films for mobilization of the Egyptian army during the World War II in late 1930s, these films of “Mish Mish”, 1935, could be counted as the first REAL African animated films.
