Jungle Beat is an animation success story. The cartoon, featuring a motley crew of African animals, has captured the attention of children from around the world. The series has been broadcast in over 180 countries, on numerous airlines and at a wide variety of film festivals.

Jungle Beat will be soon be screened in Nu Metro cinemas throughout the country before animated family features and will even have its own Woolworths range of products. A concept store is also in the works.

The show was produced by Sunrise Productions and was the brainchild of producer Phil Cunningham (Legend of the Sky Kingdom, The Lion of Judah).

Rita Mbanga from Sunrise says, “Jungle Beat started as a one-off five-minute short about a monkey who had a rather bizarre run-in with the weather. We used this short as a first step into the world of CG animation. It was received very well by audiences which led us to create another 12 shorts to complete a series of 13.”

The first season of Jungle Beat was largely animated in Korea, with a small team in Zimbabwe handling three of the episodes. The series is now back at home, and is produced in-house using custom-built PCs and Apple Macs.

Jungle Beat is raking in the awards from film festivals around the world, including a first place at the Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival and second place at the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival .

Rita says. “Being dialogue free, Jungle Beat is accessible to anyone from any nation. There is a fun and innocence about the series, which harkens back to the days of Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny, giving parents a wholesome alternative to a lot of programming available today.”

To watch a clip, click here.