UPDATE: In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Silvergate Media CEO Waheed Alli said, “Made by Maddie is a preschool show about an 8-year-old girl who uses her fashion sense and design ingenuity to solve problems. Silvergate Media has been working on the series for the last five years and throughout the production has taken steps to ensure a diverse production team and an appropriate voice cast lending their expertise and talent. As creators ourselves, we have the utmost respect and admiration for Matthew A. Cherry and Hair Love, and our hope is that when people watch our show, they will see it is its own story with its own adventures.”
Originally reported: Fans are noticing some key similarities between Nick Jr.’s upcoming children’s series, Made By Maddie, and Matthew A. Cherry’s Oscar-winning animated short, Hair Love.
Both the characters and the animation style have similarities with Hair Love. Twitter users have been drawing parallels between the two projects, citing how both include a young girl with her parents, how the parents have the same natural hairstyles, how the young girl has a grey cat and more.
They even done stole the cat: @nickjr @HairLoveShort pic.twitter.com/g0Y2Bpurit
— onetoughkitty Doctors & Science over Politicians! (@onetoughkitty) September 1, 2020
???? I looked at the picture and thought “oh wow Hair Love getting a TV adaptation how sick” and then I read the rest; y’all got me fucked up.
— Timothy Perez (@DigitalVeil) September 1, 2020
Damn they stole @MatthewACherry’s whole flow
— जय हो (@jai1patel) September 1, 2020
@nickjr Yall stole this? It looks a lot like someone else’s work…. pic.twitter.com/JGnBefgC8k
— walkietalkie (@MadamOvaries88) September 1, 2020
@nickjr Run Matthew @MatthewACherry his check though..we know ‘Hair Love’ when we see it
— Whitney ♥️ (@ViewssFromWhit) September 1, 2020
@Nickjr We don’t support plagiarism. YOU DIDN’T DREAM THIS OR DRAW IT. #BlackCreatorsMatter You thought you were going to steal from #MatthewCherry right in our faces & we weren’t going to say anything??!#NickJr there’s nothing new abt stealing Black labor to turn a profit. pic.twitter.com/QcW7BGEygu
— Caffeinated Living (@WokeLiving) September 1, 2020
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
Disappointed that you would steal content from Black creators and say Black Lives Matter in the same breath. Won’t be watching unless credit (and coin!) are rightfully given to @MatthewACherry and @VashtiHarrison.
— PettyAF BLK AF✊???? (@uneange1) September 2, 2020
You stole the ENTIRE premise + characters from Matthew Cherry. WHAT IN THE HELL.
— AM (@AnalauInLA) September 2, 2020
C’mon man, give @MatthewACherry all his things Nick. You’re going to have to add into the intro “Inspired by Matthew Cherry’s Hair Love.” Matter fact straight up “Copied from”, “Columbused!” We see y’all.
— Cocoa (@Leodewallflower) September 2, 2020
Are they, are they- serious??? pic.twitter.com/9smkYB1TeB
— Aoibhe (ee-va) (@Corkyscorner3) September 2, 2020
I tried doing a “Google lens” search to see what this show is, and look what came up! ???????????? pic.twitter.com/u5r8lhGVSS
— Justice for Breonna Taylor (@justkelly_ok) September 2, 2020
Made by Maddie dropped its trailer earlier this week. According to the press release, it is created by Paula Rosenthal and produced by Silvergate Media. Production of the show for Nickelodeon Animation Studio is overseen by Eryk Casemiro, Senior Vice President of Nickelodeon Preschool.
As for Hair Love, following its Oscar win and critical acclaim, a series based on the short, Young Love, was ordered at HBO Max. The show will expand on the world of Hair Love, “including millennial parents Stephen and Angela, their daughter Zuri and her pet cat Rocky – as they juggle their careers, marriage, parenthood, social issues, and multi-generational dynamics all while striving to make a better life for themselves.” Cherry is also under a first-look deal at HBO Max. Because of the uncanny similarities, some people seem to have confused Made by Maddie with one of Cherry’s upcoming projects,
We have reached out to Nickelodeon for comment but have not heard back.
READ MORE:
‘Young Love’: Animated Series Based On Matthew A. Cherry’s ‘Hair Love’ Ordered At HBO Max
Photo: Nickelodeon/ Sony Pictures Animation
