05. “Natu Natu”

---

Natu Natu is a new children’s animated series project from the globally renowned Cartoon Saloon, pitched at Cartoon Forum 2025. During the pitch, they revealed that the series will explore warm stories found in nature, such as in your own garden, which its charming characters will portray through beautiful and soft visuals. We had the opportunity to interview Fran Bravo, the creator of Natu Natu.

---

Interview with Fran Bravo

Hideki Nagaishi (HN): What do you think are the key points of this animation series that would attract the potential audience?

Fran Bravo: Natu Natu is about childhood and nature. It creates strong links with a very familiar kind of nature that our audience can easily recognise during their daily strolls, as well as when they play in gardens or backyards.

The spirit is to show nature from a child’s perspective, having fun and discovering all the wonders that nature can offer, no matter how small the patch of green is.

HN: Where did the initial ideas of the project, such as the characters and story universe, come from?

Fran Bravo: Natu Natu has always been in my mind. As a child, I used to enjoy nature, observing insects and birds. That presence and appreciation of nature has accompanied me ever since.

When I became a father, I wanted to transfer all that passion and those experiences to my kids, so I created these characters to give nature a little voice.

The characters came into being and are still appearing while observing Nature. They are mostly based on plant and fungi shapes, but more may come that include insect or other animal features.

The stories are based on real children’s questions, issues, and games, where nature can be the spark for a new adventure, create a conflict, and offer a solution.

HN: What do you want to deliver to the target audience the most through this animation series and why? 

Fran Bravo: The message is very simple: we need to observe and listen more in order to understand our environment and create a strong link with it.

Talking about environmental issues and endangered species can be very abstract (not only for children) but especially for those who haven’t had any experience in nature.

To me, creating that bond with nearby nature can hopefully seed a feeling of conservation and protection that may grow within them and makes them more sensitive in the future.

HN: You worked on a globally successful pre-school series Silly Sundays as the art director. Natu Natu is also an animation series for pre-school toddlers.

Could you please share your thoughts on the attractiveness, important elements, and challenges of creating animation for that age group?

Fran Bravo: I’ve always been creating content for very young audiences. I like the freedom and simplicity you can bring into the art of these kinds of shows or books.

Natu Natu is a pretty clear and easy-to-read product. The characters are simple enough that any child could draw them or create their own. In addition, I created a simplified yet realistic environment that brings all the beauty of nature into the show. The watercolour look adds a gentle touch, and the white spaces give the children room to complete the background themselves. It is a mix of botanical illustration and Japanese painting vibes.

Having worked in illustration for many years, I wanted to keep a picture book look so that the product can easily be switched from screen to paper and vice versa.

HN: Could you please let us know how the project started and progressed so far? I would like to hear about your journey to realize the animation project after you came up with the idea.

Fran Bravo: I did my very first drawing of Natu Natu in 2010. I was thinking about how powerful nature is. Even small plants can break the cement and thrive over the asfalt. Also I was thinking about how we could learn more from nature to let it help us.

I began working on the project in my spare time, gathering material from time to time. After a few years, I had enough content to start creating stories and defining the world’s rules and style.

I created a few books, as publishing was my first option, but I never found the right publisher. I also wanted to develop it as a multi-patform IP.

I participated in the “License this!” competition in BLE in London in 2015 and Natu Natu was selected as one of the four finalists. Even though I didn’t win, it gave me the courage to keep working on it and confirmed that I was on the right path.

I joined Cartoon Saloon in December 2017. After a few months of working there, I had the chance to present my project, and they liked it straight away. Despite that, it took some time to begin further development.

I had the chance to define any aspect stylistically and conceptually. Around 2020, Jason Tammemagi joined the studio as a creative director and brought thousands of questions that helped us keep defining the Natu Natu world. We’ve been working together ever since. Then, Cian McGarrigle also joined the team as a scriptwriter.

After six years of intermittent work, we finally presentd it at Cartoon Forum this year.

HN: How did you design the visuals and inner character of the two main characters? What did you take care the most in the creation process?

Fran Bravo: I always carry a sketchbook when travelling, and one of the subjects I love to sketch is nature.

Natumi is based on the shape of a mushroom, while Natuko is more flower-like.

I want Natu Natu to feel cute but also balanced, and nature is the perfect source of inspiration. I want them to feel as though they truly exist and are part of our world.

In nature, you can find the most beautiful and balanced designs. You just need to stop and observe for a moment to see a wide variety of wonderful shapes, colours and compositions.

HN: How has the collaboration with Cian McGarrigle been so far in developing the many short stories of Natumi and Natuko for each episode? What contributions are you and Cian making to each other, and what do you think are the keys to maximising each other’s creativity?

Fran Bravo: It was great having Cian on board, he’s a great scriptwriter with a great sense of humour. He quickly captured the spirit of the series and the characters’ personalities.

In order to fine-tune some character dynamics, we found that creating what we called “inspirational drawings” or even representing scenes as comic strips helped us understand the kindness and type of humour I was aiming for.

I’m more of a picture-oriented artist, so that back-and-forth between words and images worked quite well for everyone.