Line #33 WesternAnimation/Zafari


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zafari.jpg]]
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3	In the natural world, some animals are just born different from the rest of their species. Take Zoomba for example, an African elephant inexplicably born with zebra stripes. Shunned by his herd as a possible ill omen, poor Zoomba was forced to leave his family for something he couldn't help being. But at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, Zoomba discovers a marvelous place unlike anywhere else in the world -- Zafari, a valley populated by animals that, just like him, were born with unusual physical traits that made them unique not just among their species but in the entire animal kingdom. With the help of the other one-of-a-kind animals of this very special place, Zoomba learns that his differences do not make him a freak of nature but an individual to be appreciated and admired for what makes him so different from everyone else. And thus is the premise of ''Zafari''.
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5	A Canadian AllCGICartoon created by David Dozoretz and produced by Montreal's Creator/DigitalDimension, ''Zafari'' is a show that teaches kids that our differences should not just be tolerated, but celebrated, encouraging young viewers to be comfortable with who they are and accepting of others who might be different. Brought to life through Creator/EpicGames's Unreal Engine 4, ''Zafari'' is a milestone in TV history for being the first ever animated series to be entirely created using [[MediaNotes/GameEngine a real-time video game engine]].
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7	''Zafari'' made its world premiere in July 2018 on the French channel [=FranceTV=], and has since popped up on [=NatGeoKids=] in Latin America, [=TinyPOP=] in the UK, Creator/{{Spacetoon}} in the Middle East, Creator/{{CBC}} in Canada, Rai [=YoYo=] in Italy, Creator/AmazonPrime Video, and Creator/NBCUniversal's streaming network Creator/{{Peacock}}. The series is distributed by [=NBCUniversal=] and Creator/DreamWorksAnimation Television. A second season has since debuted.
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9	Check out the official website [[https://www.zafari.com/home here]]!
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11	!! Tropes of the series:
12	* AffectionateNickname: Zoomba sometimes refers to Quincy as "Q" for short.
13	* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Zoomba's backstory is that he was cast out of his herd for being born different from the other elephants.
14	* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: Most of the inhabitants of Zafari are colored very unusually for their species, like Lulu, a horse with bright blue fur, or Frick and Frack, who are a striped kangaroo and a spotted koala respectively.
15	* AmbiguouslyGay: While his sexuality is never explicit, Pokey's feminine appearance, classy sense of taste, and sassy attitude can certainly give off a homosexual vibe to viewers. As his bio puts it, he "loves himself and embraces everything that is unique."
16	* BigGuyLittleGuy: Zoomba, as an elephant, is the Big Guy to Quincy's Little Guy (being a tarsier). Nonetheless, the two are the best of friends.
17	* GenialGiraffe: Pokey is a giraffe with peacock feathers, who although a bit judgmental at times, possesses a heart of gold and a sense of adventure.
18	* GoodOlBoy: Spike is characterized as behaving like one of these, with his prickly appearance belying his courteous mannerisms.
19	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Zafari has several of these, including Zoomba and Quincy, Frick and Frack, and Xiang and Fan.
20	* HonorableElephant: Zoomba, while only a calf, is an elephant with an innocent, adventurous, and optimistic soul that makes him eager to help others and always ready to try his best.
21	* LatinLover: Ernesto is characterized as this, a charming and debonair armadillo with a Spanish accent always trying to impress the female inhabitants of Zafari.
22	* MeaningfulName: Xiang and Fan are pandas with inverted coloration whose name means "opposite" in Chinese. This is also reflective of how they rarely seem to agree on anything.
23	* MentorArchetype: Babatua acts as a mentor figure for the other inhabitants of Zafari, although his wisdom is occasionally a bit too obscure for them to understand.
24	* MisplacedWildlife: While Zafari is said to be located in Africa, several of its inhabitants are animals from other continents. Quincy is a tarsier from Southeast Asia, Xiang and Fan are two pandas from China, Frick and Frack are a kangaroo and a koala from Australia, and Spike is a rattlesnake from North America,
25	* MixAndMatchCritters: Many of the inhabitants of Zafari have traits found in other animals. Zoomba is an elephant with zebra stripes, Antonio is a lion with flamingo feathers, Pokey is a giraffe with a peacock's tail, Spike is a rattlesnake with porcupine quills, Ernesto is an armadillo with a ladybug shell, etc.
26	* PantheraAwesome: With Antonio the lion, the clash between his species' fearsome and majestic reputation and the fact that he has bright pink fur and flamingo feathers in place of a mane makes him rather grumpy as he feels it makes it impossible for others to take him seriously as the KingOfBeasts.
27	* PluckyComicRelief: Quincy is a cheeky, fun-loving joker and a silly prankster who "is 'different' not because of how he looks, but because of the way he acts".
28	* RealMenWearPink: Antonio is a lion with pink fur and flamingo feathers replacing his mane. However, he's not entirely fond of his coloration as he feels it makes it hard for others to take him seriously as the King of the Jungle.
29	* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Averted. While only 2 of the show's 16 characters are reptiles (Spike being a rattlesnake and Oscar being a crocodile), both of them are every bit as approachable and good-natured as the mammalian inhabitants of Zafari.
30	* RhinoRampage: Subverted with Renalda. While she is strict, bossy, inflexible, and stubborn due to her place as the the enforcer of the Zafari community's rules, she often displays HiddenDepths that can make her a surprising individual in some ways.
31	* ShrinkingViolet: Lulu is extremely shy. As a result, she tends to avoid joining in on the activities of the other Zafarians, with butterfliesbeing the only company she prefers.
32	* SmellySkunk: Bubba is technically just a hippopotamus with skunk fur, but the latter characteristics means he's got a bit of a smell problem.
33	* SupremeChef: Oscar is both a food lover and a food expert, and often creates dishes for the other Zafarians. To quote his bio, "He knows what he likes and likes what he knows, and what he knows is food."

Context WesternAnimation / Zafari