What would happen if you showed animation to someone who had never seen a cartoon before?

To discover the answer to that question, the people who made this video traveled to Tanzania to show cartoons to the technologically-isolated Hadza tribe, one of the last hunter-gatherer tribes in the world. The nomadic Hadzabe live off the land, with no access to electricity or running water.

The video is actually a marketing piece for Powtoon, a London-based startup that wants to democratize animation with its online platform that allows anybody to quickly create animation projects.

“We proved that cartoons are a fundamental form of communication, instinctively understood by everyone across boundaries, borders, and cultures, regardless of whether you grew up watching Mickey Mouse or not,” said Ilya Spitalnik, founder and CEO of Powtoon. “But beyond that, we learned that no matter how far apart we might be from one another geographically, people are all connected, and the power of laughter and a little open-mindedness can bring us all together.”

The story of how the trip happened is rather interesting and can be read on the Powtoon web site.

Read More:  

Amid Amidi

Amid Amidi is Cartoon Brew's Publisher and Editor-at-large.

Latest News from Cartoon Brew