‘Hair Love’ Short Will Get North American Release In Front Of ‘Angry Birds 2’

Hair Love, the independent animated short that was acquired earlier this year by Sony Pictures Animation, will make its North American theatrical debut in front of The Angry Birds Movie 2, opening on August 14.

The film centers around the relationship between an African-American father, his daughter Zuri, and “the most daunting task a father could ever come across – doing his daughter’s hair.” Based on a story by former NFL player-turned-director Matthew A. Cherry, it was directed by Cherry, Everett Downing Jr. (animator, Up, WALL—E, Brave), and Bruce W. Smith (creator, The Proud Family, director, Bebe’s Kids).

Hair Love developed a strong base of support during its early production, thanks to a 2017 Kickstarter campaign that raised $300,000, which was at the time the largest amount a short film, animated or live action, had ever earned on the crowdfunding platform.

“To see this project go from a Kickstarter campaign to the big screen is truly a dream come true,” Cherry said in apress statement released on Monday. “I couldn’t be more excited for Hair Love to be playing with The Angry Birds Movie 2 in front of a wide audience and for the world to see our touching story about a black father trying to figure out how to do his daughter’s hair for the very first time.”

Hair Love features the voice of Issa Rae as the young girl’s mother. The short is produced by Karen Rupert Toliver, Stacey Newton, Monica A. Young, Matthew A. Cherry, and Lion Forge Animation’s David Steward II and Carl Reed. Peter Ramsey and Frank Abney serve as executive producers.

The short’s co-executive producers include Jordan Peele, Andrew Hawkins, Harrison Barnes, Yara and Keri Shahidi. The short’s associate producers include N’Dambi Gillespie, Gabrielle Union-Wade & Dwayne Wade Jr., Gabourey Sidibe, Stephanie Fredric, and Claude Kelly.

“This is such a special story that means so much to us,” Ramsey added. “Matthew has rallied an insanely talented group of people to get this short made, and to be able to share it with the world is a gift. We hope that audiences can feel this team’s dedication up on the big screen, we are incredibly proud of it.”

Physical production of Hair Love took place at L.A.-based animation studio Six Point Harness.

In the new sequel to Columbia Pictures and Rovio Animation’s 2016 hit animated comedy, The Angry Birds Movie, the flightless Angry Birds and the scheming green piggies take their beef to the next level. When a new threat emerges that puts both Bird and Pig Island in danger, Red (Jason Sudeikis), Chuck (Josh Gad), Bomb (Danny McBride), and Mighty Eagle (Peter Dinklage) recruit Chuck’s sister Silver (Rachel Bloom) and team up with pigs Leonard (Bill Hader), his assistant Courtney (Awkwafina), and techpig Garry (Sterling K. Brown) to forge an unsteady truce and form an unlikely superteam to save their homes.

The Angry Birds Movie 2 is directed by Thurop Van Orman with a screenplay by Peter Ackerman and Eyel Podell & Jonathon E. Stewart. It is produced by John Cohen, and also stars Leslie Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Zach Woods, Pete Davidson, Dove Cameron, Lil Rel Howery, Beck Bennett, Nicki Minaj, Brooklynn Prince, Maya Rudolph, Tony Hale, JoJo Siwa, Gaten Matarazzo, Colleen Ballinger, and David Dobrik.

Source: Sony Pictures Animation