AI-Generated Film and the Future of African Storytelling: An Experiential Report of a Mupun Language Ai-Cartoon ‘ Why the Wasp Has A Thin Waist .

Dakwom Makpring Longgul Prof. John Sani Illah

doi:10.56201/rjhcs.v12.no1.2026.pg31.39

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AI-Generated Film and the Future of African Storytelling: An Experiential Report of a Mupun Language Ai-Cartoon ‘ Why the Wasp Has A Thin Waist .

Dakwom Makpring Longgul Prof. John Sani Illah

Abstract

The crux of this Paper is to examine the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the creative industry, with a focus on its application in preserving and modernising indigenous African folklore into film. Using AI tools such as Google Gemini, Google Veo, Viraflow, and Adobe After Effects, this experiment reimagined the traditional Mupun story, "Why the Wasp has a thin waist" (Njingkook), into an animated cartoon. The resulting film was published on YouTube to assess the viability and implications of this production model. This case study revealed both significant prospects, including enhanced accessibility and new creative avenues for indigenous storytelling, and formidable challenges, such as the need for specialised tools for low-resource languages and the ethical considerations of AI in cultural heritage. The findings provide critical insights into the future of indigenous filmmaking in Africa, highlighting the potential for AI to support linguistic decolonization and cultural preservation.

References

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AI-Generated Film and the Future of African Storytelling: An Experiential Report of a Mupun Language Ai-Cartoon ‘ Why the Wasp Has A Thin Waist .

Abstract

References

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