Ovie and Wale at 10: Richard Oboh, the brain behind the iconic characters, discusses the origin of the characters, their success so far and what next
"I felt it was a joke when people told me the video had gone viral. I didn't believe until I started hearing it from people all over the place. It was surprising but it felt really good," says Richard
In 2013 when Richard Oboh released the ‘Eee don show video’, he didn’t know that Ovie and Wale, the main characters in the video, would go on to become one of the most iconic and beloved 3D characters in the animation industry in Nigeria and Africa at large.
The video which went viral on social media became a career-defining moment. Ten years on, Ovie and Wale, have brought good fortune to Richard and Orange VFX Studios, the digital content production company for 3D Animation, VFX, Motion graphics, and training, he founded and currently leads. Over the years, the two iconic characters have brought joy and laughter into the lives of many with their inspiring stories, entertaining dance moves, and hilarious jokes.
On the occasion of the ten years anniversary of Ovie and Wale, Richard, the man behind the iconic characters spoke with The Creatives Note on why and how he came about the idea and how it has evolved over the course of the last decade.
The beginning
“The characters (Ovie and Wale) were just the figment of my imagination. I wanted to do something where the characters had contrasting features. For example, you will notice that Wale is short and Ovie is tall. Wale is fat and Ovie is slim. Basically, they have opposing features,” he said speaking about the inspiration behind the characters.
“When it was time to create the characters, I drew inspiration from a couple of caricatures I saw online. I just picked elements from each one and came up with my own characters,” he added. “We later introduced another character called Chichi whose look was inspired by a caricature of Rihanna I saw and liked.”
After working on the characters, he proceeded to work on the storyline and script for the ‘Eee don show video’ that went viral at the time. “I shared the idea I had with the people around me at the time and they helped me flesh it out. I just wanted to make them dance. And I was able to get the music I used from a friend.”
It proved to be a career-defining project
Going viral wasn’t Richard’s plan when he dropped the video. But to his surprise, the video went viral. “I felt it was a joke when people told me the video had gone viral. I didn't believe it until I started hearing it from people all over the place. It was surprising but it felt really good,” he shared. “People from different parts of the world sent us emails praising the work we did. I also got calls from different people about it.”
Richard attributes the success of Orange VFX Studios to Ovie and Wale going viral as it exposed them to a lot of clients and partners. “I always tell people Ovie and Wale is one of the main reasons we are where we are right now. It put us on the map and brought us a lot of attention,” he explained. “Ovie and Wale has played a very pivotal role in bringing us clients. It attracted brands to us. Some brands even reached out to us to buy the characters.”
Richard revealed that they got contacted by MTN who wanted to use the characters in their marketing. DSTV also contacted them because of the characters.
Beyond bringing clients, the Ovie and Wale show has continued to be a major part of their story as it has brought (and still brings) students to Orange Seed Academy, the training arm of the studio that trains people in 2D and 3D animation, visual effects, and motion design. “It has brought students to train at our academy. Some of the students mentioned that it was what made them consider animation as a possible career path,” he said.
Building on the success of ‘Eee don show video’, they developed and released other videos featuring the characters and Chichi, a new character they developed and added as part of the Ovie and Wale Show.
In 2019, the characters featured in the DSTV ‘Step and Boost campaign’ and have continued to feature in subsequent DSTV campaigns.
What to expect going forward
At the moment, there are less than 10 people working on the show. Because they have to work on other client projects, they don’t get to work on the show full-time. “We are trying to get to a point where the show is revenue-generating so that we can hire a dedicated team who will create content, develop more stories, introduce new characters, and work on it full-time,” he shared.
Speaking about his plans for the characters, Richard said, “Our plan is to turn them into influencers and celebrities. We want them to have a brand of their own. We want to grow their social following so that brands can use and leverage them as brand ambassadors for their products and services.”
“We also want to see them in films such as feature films, skits, and series on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime,” he added.
