Jumbie creator makes character a woman

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Being surrounded by strong women his entire life is one of the main reasons why Everard McBain, the creator of Jumbie, decided to make the character a woman.

“My mom…. who a story I like to tell…. she was the one who first gave me my art supplies that caused me to start creating, my sister who did several things to assist me creatively growing up and now today my wife, who is my rock and support and the creator of Jumbie,” McBain said.

He told Guardian Media that 2020 was a difficult year for citizens because of the pandemic and as many lost their jobs and were victims of crime.

“I thought to myself that people would need something to inspire them to encourage them to build back or to recover… and what better place to find inspiration and motivation than in our own culture, “he said.

And while Jumbie was not directly created because of the 47 women killed or abused in 2020 and the others this year, McBain said it was launched at the perfect time.

“She’s a young woman not unlike any other young woman in T&T who through an unfortunate set of circumstances was cursed with the power of the Jumbie and rather than feel bad about it she chooses to use her misfortune to right the wrongs and fight the evils that she sees in her society,” he explained.

In the Caribbean, a Jumbie is seen as a bad spirit of demon but in this animation she is the opposite. McBain said that was because he needed a character synonymous with our culture.

“I tell people the standard superhero would not have a good time in Trinidad, Superman would not last a day,” he joked.

Three seasons, 12 episodes each of Jumbie’s storyline have already been created and McBain said he was in talks with potential sponsors.

The trailer was posted to twitter on February 15 and since then it has gone viral with over 200,000 views.

“When is this coming to Netflix,” one twitter user asked.

“Produce this and take my money,” another said.

McBain said it has been shared regionally and internationally and thanked Trini twitter for blowing the trailer up.

Many described the animation to international standard but Jumbie was actually created by a husband and wife duo. McBain said it was a project he always wanted to start and he thought himself how to animate. His wife, who usually co-writes, also did the 3D modelling.

Their animation company is GemGfx.