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TS creator is Iranian-American, the characters are evolved from the genies of Arabian mythology, and their clothing is a mash-up of high fashion, Indian folk costumes and the magpie effect of glitter.
This rich tapestry is just one of the things that makes Shimmer and Shine, the Nickelodeon animation sensation, a source of much delight to South African kids and others across the globe.
Its creator, Farnaz EsnaashariCharmatz, was recently in South Africa for the Cape Town International Animation Festival, where she spoke about the ways animation can teach children valuable life skills without “hitting them over the head” with didactic language.
The main characters in the Shimmer and Shine series are genies-in-training. Their bestie Leah is the perfect “guinea pig” for these two glitzy interns who don’t always get it quite right.
After each snag created by wishes being granted not-very-perfectly, the three girls must work together to set things straight.
“What young viewers can learn from these three is how important it is to learn from your mistakes,” says Esnaashari-Charmatz. “And you will see how the three girls engage in teamwork to get there.”
The other quality imparted by the show is kindness — a very valuable lesson in a world of “queen bees”, social media cruelty, and bad old traditional bullying.
“In every episode without fail, the girls are incredibly kind to one another,” she says. “They don’t put each other down or scrutinise each other’s behaviour so that they can criticise it.”
She says that even the main antagonist (because, let’s face it, every show needs a bad guy to foil the good guys) isn’t that bad.
The show also says a lot about teamwork and how the girls navigate their way through problems by incorporating everyone’s input.
“They teach each other to think through each problem in a different way, from a new perspective, and in the world we are living in right now, that is crucial,” says Esnaashari-Charmatz. “Resilience” is another thing kids are likely to take away from the show.
Esnaashari-Charmatz is no stranger to the trial-and-error world of internships — nor to the magical world children inhabit.
She did her internship at Nickelodeon many years ago, and had no idea that one day she would have her own title under the same banner.
In the interim she worked as a post-production supervisor on various other Nickelodeon preschool series, including Dora the Explorer and Go Diego.
As a mother of two small children, she has an endless source of inspiration.
“Just seeing what makes my son laugh helps me understand the physical comedy that has to go into the show,” says EsnaashariCharmatz.
In fact, Shimmer’s catch phrase came from her daughter: “My favourite colour is glitter!”
Who could resist that? — Tanya Farber