Sharjah24: The Middle East’s own cartoon character Nana al Zanana, a temperamental little fly that is the protagonist in an original short animated series produced for Cartoon Network by Follk Studios Egypt, was the subject of an animated discussion at the Sharjah Animation Conference (SAC), happening at Expo Centre Sharjah until May 5.

Moderated by Mounia Aram, animation producer, the talk featured Islam Ahmed Al-Sayed, the Creative Director at Follk Creative Solutions, and Aya Hammad, the marketing and digital manager of Warner Bros. Discovery for the MENA region who has won awards for the impactful project.

Titled “Showcasing Nana al Zanana”, the discussion covered the concept of Zanana and the collaboration with Warner Bros. Nana, a capsule-form animation, proved to be a massive success after it was launched in MENA and EMEA (Europe, ME and Africa) markets in terms of viewership across WBD’s kids channels, Cartoon Network and Cartoonito.

Al-Sayed, one of the founders of one of Egypt's and the Arab world largest animation studios in 2012, said that Warner had reached out to them in 2018 and how he came up with super-capsule format to present characters from the animal world like elephant and insects, of which three were male and one female. Nana, who considers herself a queen, often gets irritated with others – like the sun for instance – and fights for her peace. 

A perfect example of locally produced content that can cater to global audiences, Nana Zanana went on to win “Best Kids Initiative” at BroadcastPro Awards MENA in 2022, and was shortlisted for several other awards.

The Egyptian animator said that the 13 episodes produced so far are anywhere between one minute and 13 minutes long. Unlike other shows where he has a team of 35-40 people working for him round the year, Nana is created by a team of 9-12 people. Compared to popular children’s cartoons like Tom & Jerry and Mickey Mouse which are not didactic, Nana gives children a moral lesson, he pointed out.

The Arab identity and local flavours such as the sound of the tabla/drum have all gone to give maximum quality to the Nana show, said Hammad. “We have a target audience of seven years and above,” she pointed out, and added that the show has reached 21 million views to date on social media. Hammad, who focusses on Kids Brands for Warner Brothers Discovery in the MENA region, targets Arabic-speaking youth with engaging and high-quality localised productions.

Organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), SAC has emerged as a pioneering platform in the UAE and the world for animation enthusiasts, providing a platform for industry luminaries, aspiring artists, and creatives to converge, exchange ideas, and create meaningful connections.