The animated short being shown with “Angry Birds 2” was the brainchild of a former N.F.L. player working with two animation veterans.



The charming animated short “Hair Love,” about a self-possessed African-American girl and her loving if slightly overwhelmed father, is the result of some unusual pairings. It’s an indie distributed by a major studio. And it was written by an ex-N.F.L. player who doesn’t have children and who directed in collaboration with veteran animators who do.

On a special morning, Zuri, who has a winning smile and an exuberant mop of curls, wants to put her hair in a complex arrangement of braids, puffs and twists. Her millennial father, sporting dreads and a small tattoo, has never tried to style her locks. He watches a vlogger explain the necessary steps, then tackles a daunting array of products, combs and brushes to fulfill his daughter’s wish.



“Hair Love,” which is showing with Sony’s “The Angry Birds Movie 2,” is the brainchild of Matthew A. Cherry, who spent three seasons as a wide receiver on various N.F.L. squads before turning to filmmaking. (His directing credits include episodes of “The Last O.G.” and other shows.) He’s not a father himself, but “I have a lot of friends who are young fathers,” he said in an interview. He added that, concerned as he was about the lack of representation in animation, “I wanted to see a young black family in the animated world.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/movies/hair-love.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimesarts