what’s a ‘british christmas’ in the 21st century?

Disney EMEA wanted a pull-out-all-the-stops Christmas film to tie together their Q4 marketing campaign. They knew they wanted it to be a 3D animation, and that it should feature a family dynamic wholly different from that of the default white 2.4 children model we normally see. We were asked to come up with a properly authentic story, that celebrated communities from the Global majority in an authentic, recognisable way.

swapping tokenism for truths

Over six months, we worked closely with Disney’s in-house animation team to create ‘The Stepdad’, a three-minute short that followed the journey of Mike as he moves into the family home of his partner Nicole and her two kids. Together, they create a new family tradition, unique to them, as they marry their Jamaican and Philippine heritages…with a little sprinkling of Disney magic along the way.