If you see a dad pushing a stroller or having a baby in the little baby carrier or whatever, like, it’s just a normal thing. I would love to get to a point where that’s all normalized. And it’s weird because dads get credit for doing stuff that moms do all the time. I think that’s the best way for them to understand that it’s OK to be warm and loving.Ĭherry: I think personally, with rent being so expensive everywhere, we’re living in a time now where both parents have to work. When you see the role that media plays in terms of changing social attitudes toward sexual orientation, gender norms and all of that, I just feel even more responsible to really kind of open the door to show the various ways that men can be men. I think it’s so powerful when you see the soft side of a man that we know is there and needs to be there. I think a lot about masculinity, you know, and the images and stereotypes of what it means to be a man. After Kobe Bryant’s death, many of the emotional remembrances have been about him being a proud “girl dad.” How important is it for people to see images of strong, supportive fathers? “The way she draws hair and the way she draws young black children,” Cherry says, “her drawings are just so special and unique.”Ĭherry and Toliver discussed “Hair Love” and centering black stories and storytellers during a recent afternoon at Sony Pictures Animation. Inspired by the videos he came across of dads doing their daughters’ hair, he sees the short as an opportunity to normalize black hair.Ĭherry also turned to artist Vashti Harrison, who illustrated the “Hair Love” book, which also was made possible by the Kickstarter campaign, and became the film’s character designer. “If you watch movies and TV, you would think they don’t exist, but studies have actually shown that they’re among the most involved groups in their kids’ lives.”Ĭherry, a former NFL wide receiver, turned to directing (“The Last Fall,” “9 Rides”) after he left football, but this is his first animated project. “It felt like a great opportunity to really shine the spotlight on black fathers, because so often in mainstream media they just get a bad rap,” he adds. Cherry of the short film that originated from a 2017 Kickstarter campaign and is now nominated for an Oscar at the 92nd Academy Awards being held Sunday. “I liked the idea of something that was centered around a black family, because so often you don’t see that in animation,” says writer and co-director Matthew A. When it doesn’t quite go as planned, she turns to her father for help. In “Hair Love,” a young girl named Zuri wakes up one morning and attempts to style her hair in a way befitting the special occasion she excitedly prepares to attend.

Hair love cherry