Oh man! I'm not crying. You're the one who's crying!
Sony Pictures Animation debuted their newest animated short film today, entitled HAIR LOVE. Directed by Matthew A. Cherry, Everett Downing Jr. and Bruce W. Smith, the uplifting yet heart-breaking animation tells the story of an African American father trying to do his daughter's hair for the first time.
The concept for HAIR LOVE was first launched as a Kickstarter project, with a goal of $75,000 to produce the 5-minute short. In time, the HAIR LOVE Kickstarter shattered its original goal with $284,058 pledged toward bringing the animation to life. As the Kickstarter notes, the story was born out of seeing a lack of representation in mainstream animated projects, and also wanting to promote hair love amongst young men and women of color.
Here is the official description for HAIR LOVE via Kickstarter:
HAIR LOVE, is an animated short film that centers around the relationship between an African-American father, Stephen, his daughter, Zuri and her hair. Despite having long locks, Stephen has been used to his wife doing his daughter's hair, so when she is unavailable right before a big event, Stephen will have to figure it out on his own. This sounds simple enough, but we soon come to find that Zuri's hair has a mind of its own.
You can watch the short in its entirety below:
"I've had the idea for this project for a couple of years now, but it wasn't until I recently started coming across a lot of viral videos of black fathers interacting with their sons and daughters online that I finally had the confidence to try and make this a real thing," Cherry wrote on the project's official Kickstarter page.
Oh, my heart! While I'm not a parent myself, I've heard many a tale from friends who've endured the challenges that come with fixing their child's hair. They've spoken of everything from temper tantrums to personal injuries while attempting to tame their little one's unmanageable mop of locks. Godspeed to you, parents. I do not envy your position, though I'm certain that it has its rewards.