SAJARA: Hello everyone, Sajara here, the long-suffering mascot of Rainbow Wolf Productions. I host the videos on this channel and generally get tasked with the burden of bearing news, both good and bad. Today we have a little bit of both, brought to you by what I suspect is a familiar face. Just in case it isn’t, I’ll let this lively cheetah introduce herself.
NALA15: I’m Kamaria, also known as Nala15. I’m an artist over on DeviantART where I mostly do comics, Lion King fanart, and commissions. I also help Ash out with character design and some story supervision and advice.
SAJARA: So, on to the news. The good news is, we’ll have a Limited Animation series coming your way soon! The bad news is, it’s not The Windwater Pack.
SAJARA: So what IS “Branded By Tears”? Branded tells the story of the lioness Mauja and the cheetah cub she adopts after the loss of her first litter. The world challenges her choice, and at times even Mauja doubts if she made the right decision. But when she looks into her son’s eyes, she cannot imagine it any other way. A lion he is not, but her son, he most certainly is. The world will just have to get with the program.
Why did you and Ash choose to switch projects?
NALA15: We decided to do this for a couple reasons.
First, TWP is quite a ways out from being completed to the point of getting off the ground as a project. Whereas Branded is nearly finished and is almost ready to be adapted from start to finish as a script right now.
Second, Branded has a limited cast of characters who are already fleshed out and decided as far as motivations and personality. That’s something that TWP is still struggling with. In short, the cast over there hasn’t been finalized yet.
Third, and possibly the most important, Branded has some more recent hype and a growing fan base. That’s something that TWP doesn’t have right now.
SAJARA: Given the last ten years of Ash chasing her tail… So where do you fit in with this project, Nala?
NALA15: Like I said earlier, I’m helping with the character designs and the script adaptation. I’ll also be helping a lot with the first trailer that’s coming out very soon.
SAJARA: You seem really excited about this. Why?
NALA15: I’m looking forward to these characters and designs because… while big cats certainly aren’t anything new in the world of storytelling or film/video, I’m looking to take these designs to a unique place. I want them to be expressive and “cartoony” while still having a lot of elements present in their real life selves. Because The Lion King basically has the perfect lion character design, it’s really hard to not default to our characters looking like they could be in that movie.
Through a lot of experimenting, we’ve found some good designs that are going to help our characters have a “look” that’s more or less unique to Branded, while also still being capable of expression and emotion. Like all character design challenges, it’s a balancing act between what you want and what you should have. In our case, what we want is a realistic look, but what we should have is expressive characters. We’re attempting to have the best of both worlds and I think we’re in a good place as far as that’s concerned.
SAJARA: Anything else we should know?
NALA15: Something that I’m excited about is, to use this story to surprise people. I think because of The Lion King and because most of us grow up knowing about animals like lions and the other denizens of the savanna, we think we know how it all works in the wild. Branded is going to be fiction, yes, but it’s going to be showcasing some things inspired by and directly related to real-life animal behavior. We’re hoping to teach people some things and maybe help them “unlearn” a few “facts” they’ve picked up due to misinformation or misconceptions.
SAJARA: If I remember right, you all had the same plans with TWP. Unteaching old myths and keeping a realistic yet expressive design. So what sets Branded By Tears apart for TLK [The Lion King] and similar series?
NALA15: Branded is going to take place in a beautiful location in what would be Gashaka Gumti National Park in Nigeria. I hope I’m saying that right. It has some very unusual landscape, that most people don’t think of when they think of where lions live. Though that’s not without cause. Nigeria is still home to lions, but they’re severely endangered there. With Branded, we’re hoping to draw attention to that crisis as well.
SAJARA: Awesome! So, where does this leave TWP?
NALA15: I’m still working on it! I promise! It’s just … on the back burner for the moment.
SAJARA: Welp, that’s all for now. If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe –
NALA15: (in the background in time with Sajara’s “subscribe”) Subscribe! (giggles)
SAJARA: (snickers) And check out Ash’s Patreon or Ko-Fi. Thanks for watching, and be sure to check out Nala15 everywhere you can.
NALA15: Yeah, thanks, guys! I’m also on Patreon, and I’ve got a Ko-Fi. I’m also on DeviantART and right here on YouTube so if you wanna check me out – that’d be awesome. And uh, subscribe to her [Sajara’s channel] just… just you know to know about all the cool things happening.
SAJARA: All the links you need are in the description.
SAJARA AND NALA15: Thanks, guys! See ya later!
~*~
▶Ash’s Website: http://ashleighdjcutler.com/
▶Ash’s Patreon: https://patreon.com/ashleighdjcutler
▶Ash’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/ashwolfforever
▶Nala’s Website: https://www.foxandpearlpress.com/
▶Nala’s DeviantART: https://www.deviantart.com/nala15
▶Nala’s Patreon: https://patreon.com/Nala15
▶Nala’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/Nala15
▶Check out Gashaka Gumti National Park:
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gashaka_Gumti_National_Park
– https://www.cometonigeria.com/where-to-go/wildlife_parks/gashaka-gumti-national-park/
– https://sites.google.com/a/miamioh.edu/geo121f15/home/africa-gashaka-gumti-nigeria-01
– https://www.pridemagazineng.com/adventurous-places-to-go-up-north/
▶See the “hype” for yourself:
– https://www.wattpad.com/story/165084254-branded-by-tears-on-hiatus
– https://www.deviantart.com/ashwolf-forever/art/Branded-By-Tears-Chapter-One-Pre-2020-Version-769391790
– https://www.deviantart.com/bubu1233/art/My-love-my-life-784476933
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