Hair Love

An opening 'Pixar' logo wouldn't be out of place in 'Hair Love (2019)', a short by Sony Pictures Animation, as it perfectly captures the heart and spirit typically associated with the widely-accepted-as-number-one studio. It's a touching tale of father and daughter, one that hits its emotional beats just as well as its more surrealist comedic ones. It's both sad and hopeful, a portrait of a family surviving through tough times. It's feel good, for sure. It's also wonderfully diverse and body-positive, focusing quite overly on something most family films actively run away from. It isn't a masterpiece, but it's a great little short that's sure to put a smile on your face. 7/10

The day has arrived and a little girl is excited to do her hair using internet tutorials. It does not go well. Her father is horrified and tries desperately to fix it to no avail. He is KO'ed. With a little help, they are able to fix her hair and the true reason for the date's importance is revealed. The boxing is funny. It's a cute little short and then it hits you with an emotional punch. It's great.

Matthew Cherry's book, "Hair Love" is a very sweet story. So sweet that a Kickstarter campaign was organized to turn the children's book into a short film. Amazingly, they were able to get the services of Sony Pictures....hence the gorgeous animation in the short. How they managed to get such a big, quality production company to make the film, I have no idea...but it's the sort of thing I'd like to see more of in the future.

The story is simple. A black girl has dreams of all sorts of wonderful hair styles for herself...but her hair is a huge and unruly mess. Her father has no idea how to style the hair...and fails miserably. However, he eventually learns from a blog how to make his daughter beautiful. Then, you learn more about the man, the girl and their family...

I loved the story for three main reasons. As I mentioned above, the animation is terrific. The second reason is that the story is so sweet...and it is bound to capture your heart. And finally, there just aren't that many animated films about non-traditional girls...and many people of color have felt left out because of this. A nice film with some nice role models about some formerly marginalized people....and done in a way that isn't heavyhanded in any way. Well worth your time...and available for free on YouTube.

I loved this! Such great representation and a great story that, as a friend put it, "It made me feel all the things." I hope there are more films like this in the future.

A black girl has an unruly afro, and grandiose ideas of the styling she wants - something that probably should be done by a professional. Her mother usually does her hair, but in mother's absence, her father tries his hand at it.

This is a heartwarming story, well done. I recommend it.