Growing up in Nairobi, Kenya, Michael Muthiga
loved watching cartoons and was curious about how
his favourite shows were made. Without access to
the internet, he had limited information about
animation and it was only once he was in high
school that his art teacher introduced him to
illustration and 3D animations.
“It is something that has been in my blood
throughout. I tried to venture into engineering but
the animation just wouldn’t go. [Eventually] I
stopped fighting. It has always been an easy thing
for me to do,” says Muthiga.
After high school Muthiga could not afford to attend
the few colleges that offered animation courses, but
“I wasn’t going to let that stop me”, says the self
taught animator.
Muthiga began taking free online tutorials and later
joined the production team of Tinga Tinga Tales , a
children’s cartoon series based on African folk tales,
where he honed his skills.
“That is where I learnt how to handle workload; I
worked late into the night,” says Muthiga. When the
production of Tinga Tinga Tales came to an end three
years ago, Muthiga decided to start his own
business, which he named FatBoy Animations.
“I noticed there was a gap in the advertising
industry. I wanted to change the way advertisements
and commercials are made,” says the 26-year-old.
He uploaded one of his works to YouTube which
caught the attention of corporate brands and
advertising agencies.
A Kenyan telecommunications company was
impressed by his work and asked him to produce an
animated advertisement.
“I did not have to pitch and convince anyone. I
worked really hard on my first animation… it got a
lot of viewership and went viral. Then clients started
calling.”
Since then, Muthiga says, work has been flowing in
and the company has managed to enter into long-
term contracts with clients. FatBoy Animations has
since produced animated commercials for brands
such as Safaricom, Telkom Orange, Barclays Bank and
Jamii Telecommunications (JTL).
Muthiga’s best known work to date is the JTL
advertisement, known locally as Faiba, which
promoted the firm’s terrestrial fibre optic offering.
The success of this advertisement prompted JTL to
commission a series of the popular adverts.
Muthiga’s animated productions have proved quite
popular among Kenyan television audiences and
social media users.
FatBoy Animations handles between four and six
projects a month and Muthiga charges a minimum of
KSh 2m (US$22,800) for a 30 second production.
According to Muthiga, his productions have been
successful because of the creativity and unique
stories behind the animations.
Muthiga does not expect the concept to become
boring as more corporate brands shift to animated
commercials.
“It will become boring when life stops. It is not just
about the animation, it is more about the story.
There will always be new stories, things that happen
around us. There will always be something new,” he
says.
FatBoy Animations employs three people in Nairobi
and outsources specific services such as rendering,
modelling and character creation to agencies in India
and the US. According to Muthiga, finding local
talent is difficult.
“The labour is not available locally. There are a lot of
guys who can do animation, but there are standards
which we have to maintain.”
Constant power blackouts also pose a challenge to
his business.
Animation in Africa
According to Muthiga, the animation industry in
Africa is nascent and holds numerous opportunities.
“Corporate are just realising that animation can work
for them. There are still many areas such as the
medical field, education sector and architecture and
construction. All these guys are realising that
animation can work for them.
There is so much to be
done.
“The market has really opened up. Clients that are
calling now are not just from Kenya but from across
East Africa and as far as the US, Canada, India and
even China. It is the stories that captivate clients.
This is an industry worth watching.”
Muthiga encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to invest
in the “right field which they have a passion for”.
“Everyone has a talent and a gift which they are
really good at. That is the thing that should fuel
their entrepreneurial drive,” he says. “If you work to
solve a problem and not to make money then you
will succeed and the money will follow.”
Muthiga, who started his business at the age of 23,
advises young people to embrace the skills,
knowledge and experience that come with
employment.
“The passion needs to be developed. That eight to
five job is very necessary,” he says.
Muthiga says that while working on Tinga Tinga Tales
he arrived at the office at 6am and left at 9pm, for a
whole year, even though he was only required to
work eight hours a day. Working long hours taught
him how to handle huge workloads and deliver on
time.
“I wasn’t the highest paid person in the company
but I was learning something and I really loved it.”
Moving forward, Muthiga would like to break into the
animated series and feature films market.“I don’t
want to only compete in Africa with Nigerian movies.
I want to compete with US, Indian and UK animated
series and feature films. I want to go worldwide.”
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