It’s important to have representation on television and because of that, people were excited when they heard Nickelodeon was working on a cartoon series for kids that would feature a Black family and center on a little girl. The project, titled Made by Maddie, was announced on Sept. 1 and set to air Sept. 13, but there was one glaring issue people had with the announcement: It appeared to be really close to Hair Love, a short-film featuring a Black family, also centered on a little girl.
‘Made by Maddie’ has striking similarities to ‘Hair Love.’
According to a press release, Made by Maddie was created by Paula Rosenthal and produced by Silvergate Media. The story is about an 8-year-old girl who “uses her imagination and design ingenuity to turn every problem into a positive with the perfect fashion fix.”
Made by Maddie was first green-lit in 2018, according to Animation Magazine, and was originally going to be titled Fashion Ally.
The characters on the show include Maddie, her mom and dad, and her pet, a grey cat. It was the look of the family that was called into question on social media and turned it into a trending topic with people saying the family in Made by Maddie is a basic copy of the family in the short-film Hair Love.
Hair Love is an Oscar-winning short film written and directed by Matthew A. Cherry, and it follows the story of a Black dad who must do his daughter’s hair for the first time. The film was produced after a successful 2017 Kickstarter campaign to get it made, and it was so popular, the story was released as a children’s book in May 2019 with illustrations by Vashti Harrison.
The short is even getting turned into an animated series itself, with the new title of Young Love, for HBO Max. Matthew is set to be the showrunner for the 12-episode series, alongside Carl Jones, who is known for The Boondocks and Black Dynamite.
While the premise of the show Made by Maddie is different from the premise of Hair Love, the character designs look similar and many called that out on Twitter. There was also the additional issue that Made by Maddie‘s showrunner is a white woman.
Why do these characters look exactly like the family in Matthew Cherry’s ‘Hair Love’, like down to the cat? 😒
— 🌒J isn’t going away (@paraempathetic) September 1, 2020
People called out the artwork in the Nick Jr. show being very similar to the ones in Hair Love, “right down to the cat.” Several concerned fans tweeted this to Hair Love creator, Matthew A. Cherry, who confirmed that he was not involved with this project with Nick Jr.
“@MatthewACherry, PLEASE tell me you’re going to do something about this. I legitimately thought Hair Love was getting an animated series,” one person tweeted. Adding, “That alone should tell you enough.”
Matthew replied, tweeting, “We are getting a series and this wasn’t it.”
Despite the controversy, some noted that the show, having a fairly unique premise, may still “be positive overall.”
i just wanna clarify that made by maddie brings something new to the table, with its theme being a little girl with supportive parents into fashion, its effect will be positive overall! nick jr just didn’t have to press copy paste on a black creator’s work without his involvement
— ❥ (@softblackgirls) September 2, 2020
So far Nickelodeon nor anyone from Silvergate Media has responded to the controversy.
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Source : https://www.distractify.com/p/made-by-maddie-hair-love