An upcoming animated TV series about a little Black girl is being accused of culturally appropriating a similarly styled short film as a promotional push for the new show has prompted comparisons for all the wrong reasons.
“Made By Maddie, which is set to premiere later this month on Nickelodeon‘s Nick Jr. channel, is about a budding 8-year-old fashion designer who “uses her imagination and design ingenuity to turn every problem into a positive with the perfect fashion fix,” according to a press release. And while that description decidedly does not match that of “Hair Love,” the Academy Award-winning short that focuses on natural hair (among other issues), it was the similarities between what the characters look like from each project that became a trending topic on Twitter Wednesday afternoon.
Both feature a nuclear Black family with a young daughter, and in each case the mothers, fathers and daughters all sport natural hair. In fact, both fathers were drawn with dreadlocks that appear to be just about the same length as each other. Both families also have a cat with similar features to one another, as well. Because of the widespread success of “Hair Love” — it played in movie theaters nationwide after being a best-selling book — some people could understandably be confused after a quick glance at the “Made By Maddie” promotional materials.
One major distinction between the two is the all-Black team of author Matthew A. Cherry and illustrator Vashti Harrison behind “Hair Love.” While “Made By Maddie” stars Black actors voicing the show’s main characters, it was created by a white woman the year after Cherry first launched an online crowdfunding campaign to finance “Hair Love.”
I really thought this was based on @MatthewACherry‘s #HairLove. I have questions, @nickjr. https://t.co/mqosfQ89FK
— April (@ReignOfApril) September 2, 2020
That time difference suggested that “Made By Maddie” may have at the very least been inspired by “Hair Love” and prompted claims of cultural appropriation to be leveled at Nickelodeon as well as creator Paula Rosenthal, a white woman.
The creator of this new series is a white woman btw 🙂 https://t.co/j7tF45W9tB
— Hater | available for work (hiatus) (@SA1NTCAKE) September 2, 2020
@MatthewACherry @HairLoveShort
So this is the creator of Hair Love rip-off Made by Maddie huh? Very telling Silvergate didn’t want to post her picture on their website. Shame on you Nick Jr. pic.twitter.com/zUciYfjyOG
— Motherfuckin Toast. (@tuttletuttleFTP) September 1, 2020
A number of tweets tagged Cherry on Twitter to bring his attention to what they claimed was a blatant ripoff of “Hair Love.” Cherry, for his part, retweeted some of those claims and tweeted Wednesday without mentioning “Made By Maddie” that his “Hair Love Kickstarter was launched back on July 10th 2017.”
Our Hair Love Kickstarter was launched back on July 10th 2017 with these images created by @VashtiHarrison. There was Zuri the daughter, Stephen the Dad, Angela The Mom and Rocky the Siamese Cat.https://t.co/ZtbqZLrkAy pic.twitter.com/48drFs4uHu
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) September 2, 2020
Cherry also posted a telling GIF on Tuesday while quote-tweeting a “Black Lives Matter” tweet from Nick Jr.
https://t.co/c3DxNcNzqk pic.twitter.com/7VAdkeIPuW
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) September 2, 2020
Meanwhile, “Made By Maddie” was reportedly first greenlit in 2018 with the title, “Fashion Ally,” suggesting the original iteration of Maddie may not have been Black. It is now set to debut on Nick Jr. on Sept. 13.
Nickelodeon’s new preschool series “Made by Maddie” premieres Sunday, Sept. 13 at 11am on the Nick Jr. channel.
When it was first announced as “Fashion Ally” at Nick’s 2018 upfront, the show was given a 40-episode order. Today’s press release says it’ll only have 22 episodes. pic.twitter.com/5WofwBi3tU
— Nickandmore! (@nickandmore) August 31, 2020
Of course, to some people, this is all a “good problem” since it can only mean an increase of positive Black representation in mass media, something that has been sorely lacking amid slow progress in that arena.
‘Made by Maddie’ did not come off as a rip off of ‘Hair Love’ to me
— T (@tameralynnn) September 2, 2020
Cultural appropriation or not, there will be more positive images of the Black family on TV than there were just a month ago, which is a good thing.
Nick Jr has a new show “Made by Maddie” with a black cast (cartoon) premiering on Sept 13th so tell your daughters and your nieces there’s some new self love coming.
— Shaadia the Black Girl (@ScholarlyDia) September 1, 2020
Even further, “Made By Maddie” was giving some employment opportunities to Black actors during a time when there is record unemployment. That Black talent includes Alyssa Cheatham as Maddie, Patina Miller as Maddie’s mother and James Monroe Iglehart along with guest voice appearances by Black folks such as Karamo Brown, Rhyon Nicole Brown, Monét X Change, Wanya Morris, Al Roker and D’Angelo Russell.
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
But the prospects of the thievery of a Black man’s intellectual property by a white person is a scenario all-too-familiar to Black America, prompting legitimate questions about how exactly “Made By Maddie” came to be.
We’ll wait and see how — or if — Nickelodeon responds.
SEE ALSO:
‘Hair Love:’ Animated Film On Natural Hair Raises Almost $300,000
Sony Pictures To Release Animated Film That Celebrates Black Hair
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