Team Hero: A pioneering cartoon
Reem Alfranji, who has two sons with developmental disabilities, is making the first Arabic cartoon challenging taboos.
Having moved from Gaza to a more supportive community in Amman, Reem wanted to focus on raising disability awareness.
She teamed up with a film producer, Khalid Abusharif, to create Team Hero – a cartoon about children with disabilities. The show will be the first of its kind in the region.
“I decided to feature their lives in a positive way,” she says.
The show is based on Aboud and Amro.
“We made it about two brothers. One of them, Waseem, has the same disability as my kids. The other, Rashed, is a typical child.
“They move to a new neighbourhood and meet other kids who are curious about Waseem. They start to think – why does he not speak like us? Why doesn’t he act like us? How does his brother understand him? Are they from another planet?
“In the first episode, they start to understand what it means to be a child with special needs; that their minds work differently, but that they also have hobbies and special skills.
“They go on adventures and meet other children – a boy with Down’s Syndrome, a girl with learning difficulties. We included other topics such as children’s rights, racism and bullying, to show that we can live in an inclusive society – whether kids have disabilities or not.”
Watch the Cartoon Series on YOUTUBE
Source: Read the full article
MyCareSpace resources may be shared provided they are credited to MyCareSpace with backlinks to the original resource.
