Urbo: The Adventures of Pax Afrika
BoingBoing, everyone’s favourite website of wonderful things, features an article on South African kid’s cartoon URBO – according to wikipedia, “URBO: The Adventures of Pax Afrika is an ongoing science fiction animated television series created by Octagon CSI. It started airing in October 2006. It chronicles the adventures of a gang of teenagers who live in an a futuristic Cape Town, re-named iKapa City, the last known city on the planet, as they fight the evil industrialist overlord Maximilian Malice.
Pax Afrika, the son of the missing explorer Zingela Afrika, discovers that he has ancestral powers that allow him to see flashes of the future. Together with his friends, emo mechanic T-Man, hacker girl Keitu, and Una, Malice’s rebellious daughter, Pax plans to find his father and save the city from Malice Industries. But his fate is also tied to the mysterious, hidden city of URBO- an environmental El Dorado located somewhere in the ruins of Africa.
SABC3 began airing the first 52 part series on 28th October 2006.”
Lauren, the lady that alerted Boingboing to the series, has this to say about URBO:
“UPDATE: More info on the show for anyone interested. It’s a sci-fi comedy series (which makes it as much a Star Wars rip-off as South Park, LittleVoice with a smidge of Harry Potter and Futurama in there too). It’s weird and silly and irreverent but we do try to take on big issues relevant to kids. Not, unfortunately youth apathy in politics, which is true of most countries, not just SA, because our target market of 7-11 is a ways away from that. But we have taken on AIDS and why it’s important to take medication as well as eating fruit and veg in an episode when the kids tackle an evil virus monster with a multi-pronged attack. We’ve also done disability, dodgy cell phone videos, acne, celebrity, junk food, the war on terror (really), racism, environmentalism, and now DRM through lunatic plots involving mutant sock monsters, burping apedroids, viciously cute fighting toys, a guy-in-a-bear-suit-in-a-shrimp-suit and the staple prerequisite of any kids’ show: lots of giant robots.”
Watch Urbo here:
Part 1 of 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4BopbZ—c
Part 2 of 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nriFS6mHCH4
Part 3 of 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W5oA-iyOHc
