This summer, Disney is bringing ten unique animated shorts called “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” to Disney+ around the world.  This collection of shorts has been created by creatives in many countries from Africa, including Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.   “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” promises to take viewers on an unforgettable ride into Africa’s future, presenting visions of the continent as never before seen, which includes old and brave new worlds of advanced technology, aliens, spirits, and monsters.

As with all short collections on Disney+, it’s always a bit of a mixed bag.  Some shorts will appeal to you, while you might be lukewarm on others.  The great thing is, with ten different shorts, there’s bound to be one here that’ll catch your attention.   If you recently enjoyed the second volume of “Star Wars: Visions”, I’d recommend looking at these shorts.

Each of the shorts has a different story that draws on the continent’s rich and diverse histories and cultures, but all with a sci-fi and fantasy theme/twist. While all of the shorts do have an overall theme, they all have a different art style and different stories, so there isn’t too much overlap in terms of theming.

Here’s a rundown of the shorts and my thoughts on them:

“Stardust” (Ahmed Teilab, Egypt) – 4.5 Out Of 5

Nawara, a stable girl and outcast from society, crashes an elite coming-of-age ceremony and demands her own destiny scroll from the all-knowing Oracle. Amused by her courage, the Oracle gives her a scroll, but later Nawara discovers the scroll is blank. Furious, she sets off on a perilous journey through the wilderness to confront the Oracle but discovers that she is not the only one hunting him down. Nawara must defeat sinister forces and her own dark past to find her destiny.  This is a fun adventure short, that I really enjoyed it, plus it has a great art style and a highlight from this collection.  It reminded me a little of “Raya And The Last Dragon”.

“Mkhuzi: The Spirit Racer” (Simangaliso “Panda” Sibaya and Malcolm Wopé, South Africa) 4 Out Of 5

Manzo is a half-human, half-alien teenager who dreams of becoming a superstar racer like his mother, the legendary masked racer Mkhuzi. Always struggling to reconcile his Zulu heritage with his alien blood, Manzo is outraged when aliens threaten to destroy his Soweto neighbourhood and his injured mother challenges her old nemesis Ogun, an alien overlord, to a re-match he knows she won’t survive. Manzo takes the mask for himself and joins the epic race with everything he loves at stake.   This is one of the more action-packed shorts and gives up some great anime vibes, that I really enjoyed, reminding me of cartoons when I was a kid in the 80s/90s.  The animation style is very different from the other shorts in the series, which is one of the things I like about the series in general since they are all so varied.

“Hatima” (Terence Maluleke and Isaac Mogajane, South Africa) – 3.5 Out Of 5

Two nations are locked in an endless war, as an underwater tribe battles a kingdom on land. Mati, a young water-tribe warrior, and Nhela, the princess of the land kingdom, are drawn into the conflict in pursuit of their deepest desires. Mati wants to join the fighting to avenge his father, while Nhela struggles to change the way her people see Hatima, the mysterious element that is the cause of all the bloodshed. Their stories collide and challenge the deepest beliefs of both their peoples.   While I wasn’t a huge fan of the art style in this short, I enjoyed the overall theme of the short, but it did feel a little too close to Namor’s story in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”.

“Enkai” (Ng’endo Mukii, Kenya). – 4 Out Of 5

Floating through the universe in her gourd-shaped home, young Enkai just wants to spend time with her single mother, Shiro, a cosmic deity who works all the time in the stressful and demanding job of saving the Earth from man-made destruction. With Shiro’s health fading, Enkai must uncover the secrets of creation, and use her own divine powers to bring an entirely new future into being.   There’s plenty of symbolism within this short, and I especially feel like this feels like a good take on Mother Nature trying to recover, while we destroy the planet.  It’s an interesting short and looks stunning.

“Moremi” (Shofela Coker, Nigeria) – 3.5 Out Of 5

Lonely spirit boy Luo is trapped in the realm of the gods and haunted by terrifying giants, until he is suddenly rescued by Moremi, a daring scientist from future Nigeria. With the giants in hot pursuit, they escape across the country and head for the sanctuary of Moremi’s lab. As Moremi helps Luo connect with his lost memories she reveals the truth of the terrible sacrifice that was once made to save their people.    This is a heartfelt short about a mother and her son, how she’ll do anything to protect him, and in this short, we learn how much she’s willing to do.  It’s an interesting story, and I’m sure parents are going to really connect with this mentality.

“Surf Sangoma” (Nthato Mokgata and Catherine Green, South Africa) –  4 Out Of 5

In 2050, with raging sea levels, the coastal city of Durban is protected by a huge wall and all ocean activities are banned. Njabulo and Mqobi, two best friends with a passion for surfing, are desperate to get back to the real ocean, even if it means joining a notorious criminal gang who use radioactive octopi to help them survive the colossal and deadly waves. Njabulo must confront his traumatic past and the treachery of the gang to save his friend’s life and rediscover his surfing destiny.  For any surfing fans, this short is going to pique your interest, as its set in a world where surfing is not just a way of life, but a necessity to survive, as the world has been flooded and it’s the only way to get around, but something is lurking underneath.  Throw in some rivalry with other survivors, and you have an intriguing adventure.

“Mukudzei” (Pious Nyenyewa and Tafadzwa Hove, Zimbabwe) – 4 Out Of 5

After defacing and destroying a sacred monument, rebellious teenage influencer Mukudzei emerges from the ruins into an alternate future where Zimbabwe was never colonized and developed into a technologically advanced utopian society. Lost and confused, Mukudzei meets a mysterious scavenger named Rumbie and begs her for help, but quickly discovers he’s being hunted by the Hungwe, a huge robotic eagle enforcing the most sophisticated justice system in the multiverse.     The futurist art style of this short is fantastic, and the concept of an influencer, who’s too self-obsessed to see what’s around him, isn’t new, but the use of the multiverse, instantly makes this short extremely different from everything else in this collection.  I also liked how it showcased what might have been had the past been different.

“First Totem Problems” (Tshepo Moche, South Africa), 3 Out Of 5

Teenager Sheba is excited to finally receive her digital totem, a mark of adulthood that connects every citizen with their ancestors and gives full access to the privileges of society. Thanks to her bickering family, Sheba’s totem ceremony goes horribly wrong, accidentally sending her to the ancestral plane. Sheba discovers an infernal bureaucracy and a festering feud between two sides of her family which must be resolved before Sheba can find her own voice and return to the land of the living.  The 2D art style for this short is like a mix between “Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur” and “The Proud Family: Louder & Prouder”.  It’s very bright and colourful, but was probably my least favourite of the collection.

“Herderboy” (Raymond Malinga, Uganda)  4.5 Out Of 5

On the wild frontier of the Chewzi Kingdom in the highlands of future Uganda, an elite trio of herders protect precious cyborg cattle from deadly spirits. Hidden amongst the herd is teenage stowaway Ndahura, who is desperate to prove himself as a warrior and become a legend like his three heroes. When the herders are attacked, Ndahura makes a reckless choice to take on a vengeful hyena monster that he must fight alone.  This is one of my favourite shorts from this collection, as it tells the story of a young group of herders, tending to their cows, but it has a modern twist, as they have to protect them from being attacked by weird-looking wolf/lion creatures.   It kind of reminded me of the video game, “Horizon Zero Dawn”, with huge animals with robotic creatures.   I really enjoyed this one a lot and its probably my favourite out of all the shorts in this series.

“You Give Me Heart” (Lesego Vorster, South Africa) – 3.5 Out Of 5

In an opulent world where the gods get their powers from social media adoration, struggling artist Sundiata joins the talent competition “Who Wants To Be A God?” in a desperate attempt to be seen and impress the most popular deity of all: Maadi, the Goddess of Plenty. Sundiata wins by a fluke, shocking the world by becoming the new God of Creativity. Ascending to the realm of the gods, he will discover what it means to be worshipped by the masses, and who Maadi really is behind her facade.  The art style of this short is very bright and colourful.  I also thought it was rather interesting to incorporate the futurist look at gods in the future as major influencers, trying to get more followers, which was very much a representation of today’s generation looking more towards vanity numbers than anything else, but also showcasing the issues that come with becoming famous.

Overall: “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” is a fantastic collection of shorts, offering something unique and different, that showcases the power of animation, but also how Disney+ can open up the world to more stories.  Not every short hits perfectly, but there is plenty of variety within this collection of shorts, that I’m sure you’ll find some you love.   I’d certainly recommend checking them out, though I would maybe suggest spreading them out over a few days or so, rather than binging all ten at once, since, while they have different stories, they might blend into one another, if watched in bulk.

Overall: 4 Out Of 5

All ten shorts arrive on Disney+ on Wednesday, 5th July 2023.

Are you looking forward to watching “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire”?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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