Director Matthew A. Cherry has partnered with Sony Pictures Animation to release his super cute and relatable animated short, Hair Love—a 5 minute film showcasing the all-too-familiar struggle of a Black dad’s first attempt at doing his daughter’s natural hair.
Little Zuri’s father, Stephen, always leaves the hair-doing duties to his wife, but when she’s all tied up preparing for a big event, the task of doing Zuri’s hair falls squarely on his shoulders. I mean, for a man with long, natural locs, doing a little girl’s hair should be a piece of cake, right? Not quite! Stephen soon finds out that Zuri’s hair will need a little more love and care than he initially anticipated.
For Cherry, this charming premise was a big win. In 2017, it raised $300,000 from fans and supporters on the crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter—the most money to ever be raised for an animated short film in the 7 year history of the platform.
Kristine Belson, the president of Sony Pictures Animation, agrees that the project is one that should be supported:
“In the past year, it has been very clear that audiences have been yearning to see fresh stories that are universal and culturally authentic. Hair Love is a wonderful father-daughter story and we are proud to nurture talented young filmmakers like Matthew who are breaking new ground.”
This refreshingly sweet animated short can be seen in theaters across North America, playing ahead of Sony Picture Animation’s newest release, Angry Birds 2. Don’t worry if you happen to miss it, Hair Love has also been brought to life as a children’s book written by Matthew A. Cherry himself and illustrated by talented, Brooklyn-based artist Vashti Harrison.
Here’s a cute (and funny!) clip of Hair Love below:
