Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/110653
■ ■ ■ ■ CG Animation he lead character of Adventures in Zambezia is Kai, a falcon, brought up in isolation and taught to value selfsufficiency. Kai embarks on an action-packed journey that concludes with him realizing the value of community and teamwork. The same might be said about Triggerfish, the little animation studio located at the southern tip of Africa, as it embarked on an inaugural journey to produce a feature-length animated movie. "This tale of a plucky little falcon pursuing his passion in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles has been an epic journey for me, too," says first-time Director Wayne Thornley. "From a green, naïve director who had only done a few short projects, I have grown alongside the movie and the studio. With foolhardy ambition and meager means, we proudly brought to the screen a wonderful world influenced by the sights and sounds of Africa and shaped by the vibrant bird characters that inhabit the great city of Zambezia." At its core, Adventures in Zambezia is a coming-of-age film about a young falcon who ventures out into the world, against his father's wishes, to visit the famed bird city of Zambezia, nestled in the shell of an enormous baobab tree and perched overlooking the powerful and majestic Victoria Falls. Zambezia is a bustling city of birds famous for being the safest city in all of Africa, in part because it is defended by an elite squadron of birds, called the Hurricanes, tasked with the duty. The story was developed by first-time writing team Andrew Cook (writer) along with co-writers Anthony Silverston, Raffaella Delle Donne, and Wayne Thornley. The story of Triggerfish is also one of coming of age, as the studio embarked on producing its first feature. The facility was literally being built around the production team as it was in pre-production on the movie, and Thornley admits that, like Kai in the beginning of the film, he and his team "made so many rookie mistakes mainly because I think the stu- ©Zambezia 22 January/February 2013 CGW0113-Zambezi2pfin.indd 22 1/31/13 5:07 PM