Inclusion and diversity in children’s television

Walt Disney Studios introduces first plus-size heroine

Walt Disney Animation Studios have featured their first ever plus-size protagonist in the short film Reflect, which was released in September this year. Six minutes long, the short was released as part of the Short Circuit experimental film series on the streaming service Disney+.

The film follows its young protagonist, a ballet dancer called Bianca, as she struggles with her appearance. She becomes self-conscious as other ballet students enter the room and as she tries to follow her teacher’s directions. But Bianca’s anxieties get the better of her, and the mirror swallows her up, transporting her into a fantasy world in which she quickly becomes lost and has to battle her reflection by dancing.

Bianca’s experience in the short seems to be an apt metaphor for body dysmorphia. According to the NHS, body dysmorphia is a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about imperfections in their appearance that are usually unnoticeable to others. It most commonly occurs amongst teenagers and young adults. In a feature at the beginning of the film, the director, Hillary Bradfield, explains that dancing felt like an appropriate mode to approach this subject form: “It’s a part of the craft to be looking at your posture and checking things in the mirror, so it just seemed like a really good way to put her in that environment where she has to look at herself and she doesn’t want to.”

By the end of the short film, Bianca has overcome her feelings of negativity and self-doubt and is able to find her way back to reality, dancing freely as a result. Bradfield hopes the film will help people to: “feel more positively about themselves and how they look, and feel okay about the tough parts of their journey.”

Bradfield also worked as the animation story artist on Encanto, another Walt Disney Studios film that was released last year. It was praised for its strong female lead and cultural diversity in its depiction of a large, extended Colombian family. Both Reflect and Encanto can be seen as a reflection of Disney’s ‘Stories Matter’ initiative, which began in 2020 and saw Disney vow to strive to “consciously, purposefully and relentlessly champion the spectrum of voices and perspectives in our world.”

The release of the short film triggered a large media response. Many have praised the story’s positive representation and its inspiring messaging; however, others believe the gesture is too little, too late.

Perhaps, in the future, a plus-sized protagonist will be able to stand as the heroine of a full-length feature film. But, for now, Bianca’s story is undoubtedly a step in the right direction and, hopefully, Disney’s efforts towards creating more diverse and inclusive media representations are continued.

EMILY PARSONS, Assistant Editor

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