Disney is making history again after announcing its first plus-size female protagonist.
The animation company debuted the trailer of its new Short Circuit film called ‘Reflect.’ The film follows Bianca, a young plus-sized ballet dancer struggling with her confidence and body dysmorphia. ‘Reflect’ shows Bianca overcoming her doubts and fears by channelling her inner strength.
In the clip, Bianca is practicing her ballet in the mirror. Her teacher then yells “tummy tight, long neck!” The image of Bianca reflected in the mirror breaks apart, which symbolizes her negative self-image.
‘Reflect’ is apart of Disney’s Short Circuit, which is a series of experimental short films that focuses on body positivity. In addition, the short film is also directed by Hilary Bradfield. Hilary is best known for working on ‘Frozen 2’ and ‘Encanto,’ which brought Disney’s first princess with glasses.
The groundbreaking film comes after Disney executives announced its plan to produce more content that featured characters from underrepresented groups.
In March, Disney’s president of general entertainment content, told employees that the company is striving to have at least 50% of its regular characters represent those from “underrepresented groups.”
Of course, the company received some backlash from implementing the corporate strategy with many believing that educating kids about sexual identity is unnecessary.
Some naysayers called out Disney for “glorifying obesity” in the ‘Reflect’ film.
“You wouldn’t represent anorexia, Disney, don’t represent obesity either. It’s wrong,” one Twitter user says.
Nevertheless, the short film is out and available for streaming on Disney+.
