Hair-Raising

After being teased for her big, fluffy hair, a young girl is shocked to discover her hair is alive, and has plans to get revenge on her bullies. But things don't exactly go as planned.

My little film poster:

Hair-Raising: causing terror, excitement or astonishment.(1)

(1) “Hair-raising.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hair-raising. Accessed 19 Apr. 2023.

As a kid, I was teased for my thick, poofy hair (which was honestly just curly hair my parents didn’t know how to style yet), and I got a lot of joy out of undoing my ponytails and scaring the kids that picked on me with my “wild” hair. It’s a funny memory that I thought would make a great film about accepting yourself and others, and loving the things that make you unique. That is how "Hair-Raising" came to be. The specific focus of this film is on loving and accepting one’s hair texture, since that was something I struggled with as a kid but am passionate about now as I’ve come to love my hair as one of my favourite features. While the film is based on my personal story, I hope that anyone with wavy, curly, and coily hair textures can see themselves in my protagonist and learn to love their hair if they’re not quite there yet.

To make this silly, lighthearted, children’s film, I looked to children’s illustrators such as Elise Gravel, Cathon, and Guillaume Perreault as design inspiration. My medium is 2D digital animation, but textured brushes were used to create something that appears like a moving kids drawing, since I love the convenience of 2D software but also love things that look traditionally drawn. As an artist with perfectionist tendencies and a background in realistic traditional art [before pursuing animation], I’ve found this cartoon-y, simplistic style of drawing to be incredibly liberating, taking me back to when drawing was just something I did for fun as a kid and I wasn’t overthinking it. This style calms my inner child and makes me happy.

"Hair-Raising" is a love letter to my younger self, and every other kid (and grown-up) learning to love their natural hair.

Here are some pages from my Production Dossier detailing the design process:

And here are some production stills, giving the final look of the film!

I also had some incredible collaborators on my sound! here are some details: