Accurate and equal representation in film and television has always been a pretty big problem for Hollywood. It’s gotten much better over the past several years, but for decades, minorities, women, and other marginalized groups have been absent on the big screen and haven’t had their stories told.
A new short, animated film from Pixar called Loop features a young female character of color who is autistic. Loop is part of Pixar’s new short films program called “Sparkshorts” that is intended to tackle such topics and encourages filmmakers to experiment with storytelling techniques.
The short film centers about a canoe trip that a boy and a non-verbal, Autistic girl of color take together. Like any good film with a lesson, these two characters learn about each other and discover how the other experiences the world.
Jim Morris, the President of Pixar Animation Studios, said that the Sparkshorts films “are unlike anything we’ve ever done at Pixar, providing an opportunity to unlock the potential of individual artists and their inventive filmmaking approaches on a smaller scale than our normal fare.”
Pixar Short Film "Loop" Features A Nonverbal Autistic Girl With Sensory Sensitivities #autism https://t.co/Ji4IsEB2GR
— Autism Talk (@Autism_TT) November 25, 2019
An Autism entertainment consultant named Kerry Magro added, “I’m very glad that this character will be a girl and also nonverbal, two groups who are underrepresented in our entertainment industry currently. I’m looking forward to checking this out and hope that the character is a realistic portrayal of someone on the autism spectrum.”
Loop will be available on Disney+ starting on January 10, 2020. These shorts look great, I can’t wait to check them out!
What did you think of the short? Let us know in the comments!
