Disney World honours Zim artist
VERSATILE arts personality Caroline Nyaka Chana (pictured left) was last week honoured by Disney World as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations.
Disney World started the celebrations on October 1, 2021 and they are expected to run until March 31, 2023.
The Zimbabwe-born and Ireland-based quintuple threat artist is taking Europe by storm. She was honoured for her role as Princess Tiana.
She became the first black African to play the principal Disney character in the series “The Princess and The Frog” from 2013 to 2015 in Walt Disney Resort in Paris, France.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail Society from her Ireland base, she described the honour as “surreal”.
“It is with great delight to be a recipient of the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary figurine for playing the role of Princess Tiana in ‘The Princess and The Frog’ theatre film,” said Nyaka Chana.
“I am overwhelmed with joy and delighted to have been honoured. This honour is not just for me alone but it’s for Zimbabwe and Africa. I was the first black African to play that role, which is an achievement bigger than Nyaka Chana as an individual.
“I hope this will inspire many upcoming artists from my country (Zimbabwe) and other African countries to aim high and do better.”
Having moved to France in 2010, she was cast by Walt Disney just to be in the parade before she excelled and ended up joining the principal Disney characters.
She looks back at the time in Paris with joy.
“It’s 10 years since I played the role of Princess Tiana. I look back at my debut with a smile on my face.
“I would like to thank the cast, the principals for the appreciation and the welcome they gave me, an outsider, an African to the Disney World. It was because of their hard work and help that I achieved this,” she added.
She is looking forward to a reunion with the principals and the cast of Disney World when the 50th anniversary celebrations move to Florida.
Having been inspired into the arts industry by Freddy “Kapfupi” Manjalima in the formative years of her career, she is geared to unearthing raw talent back home and turning them into household names.
The artist now has decades of experience in the arts industry and is currently the head judge of the World Monologue Games (WMG).
WMG is a global acting competition and virtual showcase, allowing professional and budding actors from anywhere in the world to participate from their homes.
“My wish is to establish an arts academy in Zimbabwe that will groom children in the arts sector to be international artists. As the head judge of the World Monologue Games, I was disappointed in the last two editions of the games, since its establishment in 2020, as most of our kids exited the games midway through because of some simple mistakes,” she said.
“My academy would train the kids on the do’s and don’ts of international competitions. To be honest, Zimbabwe has a
lot of raw talent when it comes to acting.
“In our last World Monologue Games, we had 55 countries. I have also co-hosted African Arts Festival in Scotland and I want to use that exposure to empower our own children.”
Nyaka Chana also feels local musicians are missing out on global music awards that are often won by South African artistes, including those from West and East Africa.
“I am delighted to announce that I was given a licence to host an ‘Africa-Festival’ here (Ireland), but I have decided to call it ‘ZimFestival’ because it is us Zimbabweans that need it the most.
“We have had the likes of Mbuya Stella Chiweshe who held sold-out shows singing in Shona and I believe we have much more of that sort of talent that just needs exposure.”
Her list of credits involve works in theatre, film and television.
She has been on channels such as
BBC, ITV, Channels 4 and 5, and Sky (Fox Television).
She was involved in the production of the super-hit show “Game of Thrones” during the fantasy drama’s final two seasons.