Tui and the Stars: Project Teaser and Interview

Kia Ora koutou, in this blog post, we will be introducing one of our latest projects and having an in depth interview with the creator of the series: Tui and the Stars.

The mini series Tui and the Stars, is an animated series based in early 2000s rural Aotearoa, where we follow the two young sisters, Marama (13), and Tui (6). One night, finding a baby alien named Star, and how after this little alien falls into these girls’ lives, their small world and relationship change for the better when mythical creatures from Māori mythology bombard their small town.

With this project hoping to gain funding very soon, we talk with the creator of the series, Ocean.

Who is ‘Ocean’?

“I’m a Māori-Pacifica artist, who has always loved character design and story telling.”

Why did you want to make this project?

“While in uni, I realised the lack of animated series that was about Māori. Don’t get me wrong, we do have some, but they are usually for early education, or stereotypical comedies. I wanted to create something that could be watched and enjoyed by everyone, being a slice of life, while also educational”

What were your main inspirations behind the story and characters?

“My main inspiration for the story and characters were Lilo and Stitch, as well as a few of Taika Waititi’s films Boy, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. All three of these films, based around the situation of a child who has been abandoned time and time again, and then something comes into their life that changes it forever”

What are you hoping to get out of this project’s release?

“I’m hoping to have Māori kids to finally see a cartoon and be like ‘hey, that kid looks and is like me!’. I want this project to be the start of a trend of more animated content that brown kids can relate to and see themselves in”

What part of production are you excited to work on most?

“Honestly the voice acting. I’m very excited and want to incorporate our characters speaking both English and Te Reo, to sort of represent what a lot of Māori households are like now, bilingual whanaus”

As an artist, who are your own personal inspirations for your art? “I have a lot of inspiration with my art, I love Steven Universe, Bee and Puppycat for their art styles and aesthetics. But I also still take a lot of inspiration from the fashion forward shows that I grew up with like Bratz and Monster High. I like my art to be bright and full of life and positivity, while also still looking really good.

We here at ChalkHouse, hope to keep you all up to date about this exciting new project at every step of the way.

Ngā mihi, ChalkHouse.