Working on: “Iyanu: Child of Wonder”
I’m on Cartoon Network!
You know that one iconic cartoon of your childhood that probably helped subconsciously shape you into the person you are today? Mine were probably an even split between Avatar the Last Airbender, Justice League Unlimited, and Samurai Jack, and man, I would have given anything to live a day in those worlds and meet my heroes… and maybe a few crushes. Well life has a funny way of coming full circle, because I got to work on an unique and very special show combining fantasy, martial arts, and different cultures which will hopefully inspire a whole new generation of kids!
A consultant with a consultant
Initially, I was contacted by a representative of Lion Forge (the studio behind the Iyanu comic) about being brought on to design the action in their show. Funny enough, I had actually read an Iyanu comic before and was somewhat familiar with its fantasy setting; what I was not prepared for, however, was what they intended to do with the action in this show. The panels of the comic show some elements of Capoeira (Afro-Brazilian dance-like martial art), Dambe (Nigerian boxing), and Nguni (Zulu stick fighting), but in translating the story to cartoon format, they wanted to A) add in more fantastic elements, and B) better understand the mechanics of such an unique blend of styles. As I was finalizing my paperwork to come on as a stunt/action choreo consultant, I realized I was going to need my own consultant.
Luckily, my home-base Tricking gym, CA Tricking (now Loopkicks SoCal) hosted a Capoeira instructor with whom I’ve been friends since college: Contra-mestre Chun Wang. I asked him if he’d be willing to work with me so as not to dilute the essence of Capoeira too much while coming up with flashy moves, intricate choreo, and basic movements, and he was more than happy to help me out. After several meetings clarifying our goals, we landed on using Chun as a general choreo reference for the titular Iyanu, while I assumed the roles of the antagonists since the size difference matched up pretty well with Chun being much smaller than me (and also way better at Capoeira). Basically, he was just gonna kick my ass throughout this entire project.
Understanding the assignment
So the method of data collection was a little tricky with this project since it was all via remote correspondence. While I’ve done quite a bit of Mocap (once these NDAs are up I’ve got some STORIES), this end of the project was going to be handled with Rotoscoping, which is similar in theory, but almost completely dissimilar in practice. Rotoscope is “an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action” (Wikipedia, my G.O.A.T.), and what that meant for us was that we had to capture clean movements from multiple angles for reference. Again, very luckily for me, I had some experience with filming rotoscope references for games and shorts over the pandemic, so we managed to make it work petty well with my two camera setup and some tripods.
Chun demonstrating the Vingativa takedown on me from multiple angles
Pro-tips if you ever need to film reference clips: wear tight clothes, shoot one flat & two 45° angles, and keep movement at 70-80% speed if you can.
Scheduling was also a bit tricky for us, and since Chun has an adorable kid at home, I wanted to make sure that we could wrap up his part as efficiently as possible. Thankfully, the man is an expert and we were able to take care of his section in several late-night sessions at our gym, which typically empties out by 10-11pm. We kept at this for about a month of 2x sessions per week, and then another few sessions for me to get some of the special tricks and combos, but all in all, it took about 2 months on our end. Trimming and uploading all footage to our shared drive and then answering any questions was the last step for me, and then I was wrapped for my part!
The takeaway
As an independent studio adapting its own original work into thier first ever animation, I knew that my takeaway would be more intrinsic than anything, especially since I paid Chun from my own cut, but how many chances do you get to be a positive influence on the youth at this scale? We got to contribute our hard-earned skills to a beautiful, educational, and truly unique show that I would have loved when I was younger, and that’s what it’s all about.
You can check out Iyanu: Child of Wonder on Cartoon Network, HBO Max, and you can even see the first episode for free on YouTube→
Description from Lion Forge: “‘Iyanu’ is a superhero tale set in the magical kingdom of Yorubaland, which draws from Nigerian culture, music and mythology. The series follows Iyanu, an eclectic but seemingly normal teenage orphan who spends her days studying Yoruba history and ancient arts One day, responding to danger, she unknowingly triggers her divine powers, the likes of which have not been seen since the Age of Wonders. With newly discovered superpowers, Iyanu joins forces with two other teenagers as they embark on a remarkable journey to discover the truth about the evil lurking in her homeland, the truth about her past, and her ultimate destiny to save the world.”
If you’ve got young kids, I implore you to watch it with them, and who knows? You might love it just as much as they do. I personally have been watching this show by myself, but I like to think that my inner child is being nourished by the rich art and setting nonetheless.
