Matthew McConaughey and Snoop Dogg jam out to Willie Nelson. NEW YORK — Wilson Cruz, a co-star in the new Hulu animated children's series "The Bravest Knight," describes the show's dad couple this way: "We're not explaining homosexuality, or same-gender Knight as actors.”. The show has also attracted guest stars including RuPaul, who is voicing a Big Bad Wolf in (traditionally) women’s clothing, and Wanda Sykes as Mona the Mayor. “I spent a long time trying to get people to pick [The Bravest Knight] up and I honestly couldn’t even give it away for free — people were so scared of having an openly gay protagonist,” Errico tells us. This is a way to reach someone that profoundly affects them for the rest of their life and I wanted to be a part of that.”. The GLAAD Wrap: 'Booksmart' in theaters, 'The Bravest Knight' and 'Pose' first looks, and more! For the next generation, that is not only progress, but promise. However, it should be noted the streaming data in this study comes only from Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, compared to the multitude of broadcast and cable channels. The Bravest Knight, which is gearing to debut the back half of its first season on Hulu this Oct. 11, is a product of that freedom on the digital space. By Stephanie Speck, Contributing Writer. She is more motivated by “the television station banning the content,” in the case of Arthur, or “the Christian family network coming on and saying ‘homosexual deviants,'” which she says happened when news came out about The Bravest Knight. Hence, with accommodating platforms like Netflix and … “The Bravest Knight” is a forward-thinking LGBTQ inclusive animated fairy tale adventure, aimed at ages 6-9 and families,’’ Jazz posted on social media. They found the fact that The Bravest Knight had two gay dads inspiring rather than intimidating, and set out to redesign the characters and prepare for the “Pitch Your IP” session at MIPCOM in 2017. From there, they got the green light from Hulu and the rest is history. It is absolutely possible to give proper representation tomorrow if we choose. This led him to create the e-book The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived. “That’s where it’s going.”. They don’t have to watch traditional broadcasts anymore.”. Having noticed a lack of diversity on-screen, he is especially inspired by the stories that haven’t been told before. I heard of this through a gay friend who sent me an … Kids are already primed and ready for their imaginations to run wild. Today, in “The Bravest Knight,” Hulu’s animated children’s series about a child who discovers their bravery, Knight is the voice of one of her two loving dads. “In my personal opinion, it is very close minded,” Shabnam Rezaei, a producer from Canadian production company Big Bad Boo, tells EW over the phone of APTV’s decision. Something I learned early on is people who tell you they don’t like something don’t speak for the world or the market or your audience — they don’t speak for anyone else other than themselves. It also happens that the big bad wolf of this story likes to wear women’s clothes and is voiced by RuPaul. Hulu Releases Animated LGBTQ Fairy Tale Short: The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived A brave knight and a prince share pumpkin pie, fall in love. Knight as actors.”. Why are we slowly tip-toeing towards progress when we’re fully capable of making great strides quickly? Errico is a lifelong animation fan and has dreamed of telling a story arc across an entire season. This year also saw the return of Rocko’s Modern Life on Netflix with a prominent story arc for a trans character. “The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived” is based on a digital book of the same name by best-selling children’s author Daniel Errico. She also said that the show is teaching life lessons and called it an "adventure about how to be a great knight" and how to be a good person. Given the fantastical nature of fairy tales, the medium also has less limits than live-action when it comes to breaking the rules of physics. One episode in particular was a difficult sell: when one of his friends is upset that he father couldn’t be with her for a Father’s Day gather, Luke, a boy with two same-sex parents, lends her one of dads so she can participate. “The Bravest Knight brings important lessons about diversity and acceptance to young audiences and finally provides children who have gay parents with an animated family that they can relate to and applaud,” Rich Ferraro, GLAAD’s chief communications officer, said in a statement to EW. “The flip side of that is that people now have access to all kinds of content. She’s referring, at least in part, to her own show, The Bravest Knight. He continues, “With animation, you get to spark kids’ imaginations in ways you otherwise couldn’t. Aimed at a preschool-and-above audience, The Bravest Knight is one of the first children’s shows in history to feature an openly gay main character. Additionally, the protagonist and his husband are in a biracial relationship with an adopted daughter of a different ethnicity. Then came Mixed Nuts, a show about four kids from underrepresented countries. Hulu’s ‘Bravest Knight’ Will Be Cartoon Fairy Tale Featuring Gay Dads. Knight and Wilson Cruz. New York City-based author and producer Daniel Errico had the courage to rise to the occasion with his Hulu animated series, The Bravest Knight. The Bravest Knight is a story of a young pumpkin farmer named Cedric, as he attempts to become the greatest knight who ever lived. “Eventually I had a call with Hulu and it was like the clouds parted. The episode, titled “Mr. Among those mentioned, people of colour outnumbered white characters for the first time ever. A recent GLAAD study found young people in the US were significantly more uncomfortable with LGBTQ individuals than they were a few years ago. The marriage of Mr. Ratburn to his husband on an episode of Arthur earlier this year was widely celebrated on social media, though Alabama Public Television refused to air it as they felt it was a breach of “trust” with their viewership. “If that’s the least we’ve done, then I think we’ve done something to spark it… You have to break ground somewhere, and if we’re the unique names who just preach to the choir but then scratch the surface of that conversation with people who don’t want to hear about it, then we’ve taken a step forward.”. In May of this year, PBS Kids premiered the 22nd season of Arthur and effectively painted a picture of where LGBTQ visibility currently stands in entertainment, specifically G-rated entertainment. Faced with similar barriers throughout the pitching process, Errico thought: “Why are we slowly tip-toeing towards progress when we’re fully capable of making great strides quickly? In the 2018-2019 season, the organization logged 75 series regular LGBTQ characters on scripted original series for streaming, and 112 characters in total for streaming. Hulu, on the other hand, was the first to step up during the pitching stage. This is an expansion from the story and animated short by Daniel Errico, The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived. With The Bravest Knight, Hulu created an entertaining and heartwarming show that also goes the extra mile by including LGBTQ icons like Wilson Cruz and T.R. Petosky since moved to Netflix’s Twelve Forever, which she promises is assuredly “queer.” That series features an openly gay lead, a girl named Reggie with a crush on her classmate, as well as multiple other queer characters, like Mack and Beefhouse, two of Reggie’s toys who come to life in her fantasy world of Endless Island. The series is listed on Hulu as an LGBTQ+ … The Bravest Knight: Daniel Errico’s quest for LGBTQ children’s media. Also, always create. She is a writer-producer. Their first project told of a young Iranian boy celebrating Persian New Year. The Bravest Knight has anything anyone could possibly want in a fantasy cartoon. The story follows young Cedric's journey from pumpkin farmer to squire to knight. Hulu’s ‘The Bravest Knight’ is a Bold Step in LGBTQ Kids Programming Jack Xiong September 18, 2019 Based on wildly popular children’s book by Daniel Errico “The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived,” the story chronicles a young pumpkin farmer’s adventure as he attempts to become the bravest knight who ever lived. With The Bravest Knight, Hulu created an entertaining and heartwarming show that also goes the extra mile by including LGBTQ icons like Wilson Cruz and T.R. A rep for Netflix declined to comment.) “It’s starting a dialogue, it’s starting a conversation, and that’s what we want,” she explains. “They’re incredible in that way,” Rezaei says, “because they also know that they’re going into new ground and new territory and there could be backlash, but they’re like, ‘Screw it,’ which is kind of our attitude. According to Hulu, “The Bravest Knight continues Hulu’s commitment to connecting with kids and families through bold approaches in storytelling, and continues to be a supporter of LGBTQ content and creators.” If you note the trend, the appearance of LGBTQ characters in animated and family-oriented movies since 2018 is extremely rare. “LGBT relationships are typically avoided in children’s media or labeled age-inappropriate, putting kids at a disadvantage towards understanding later on … Streaming platforms also opened its doors to Danger & Eggs (Amazon), an animated series that spotlighted the work of trans writer-producer Shadi Petosky. While a reason wasn’t given, various claims shared over Twitter allege a hostile work environment. Modern creators faced a challenge greater than any dragon: How to show more kids that they can be the heroes of their stories? Ratburn and the Special Someone,” revealed the elementary school teacher to be gay in a joyous marriage ceremony with his husband. This Fairy Tale Gives Us The LGBT Hero We've Been Waiting For. While this is proof there has been progress, there has also been pushback. Hulu’s original series, THE BRAVEST KNIGHT, is an animated children’s show that promotes an unbiblical message on sexuality and gender as it follows a young pumpkin farmer’s journey to full-fledged knighthood. LGBTQ representation in children’s TV is building a bandwagon. “It was a chance to expand his world to include his family and friends, and share more lessons along the way. “Children’s media was something I always wanted to do but never thought was practical. ', Sunny Hostin emotionally reacts to Derek Chauvin conviction on-air: 'This is what justice finally looks like', The most 420 thing ever? Shabnam Rezaei, who founded Big Bad Boo Studios with her husband Aly Jetha, was the producer of the series. Knight in a scene from the animated children's series "The Bravest Knight." This is thanks to the true knights in shining armour like Daniel Errico and the team at Big Bad Boo, who have paved the way for future creators to get their stories told. By Curtis M. Wong. A wide variety of creatures (such as giants, trolls and fairies), a lot of adventure, an overarching plot, good character development, moral lessons, decent animation, and positive LGBTQ representation. For primetime cable programs, 120 total LGBTQ series regular characters were counted with 208 regular and recurring LGBTQ characters. Then, I reached a certain age and realized it was what I wanted to do with my life and also how much the things I had watched and read growing up had affected me in a meaningful way,” says Errico. By Charline Jao Jun 15th, 2015, 3:21 pm GLAAD’s latest TV report card showed continuing strides for LGBTQ narratives in family programming, as well as streaming. “Making the short into a series was a way for me to tell a more complete story, following Cedric on his journey from young farmer to knight, father, and husband,” he wrote in an email to EW. They understood the importance of a message like this and wanted more content like [The Bravest Knight] and were willing to publicly support it.”. Based on Errico’s 2014 book The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived, the children’s television series follows Sir Cedric (voiced by T.R. She also remained confident the show would air in Canada, parts of Western Europe, the UK, and Australia. T.R. Based on a children’s e-book by author Daniel Errico, The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived, the series tells the story of Sir Cedric (voiced by Grey’s Anatomy alum T.R. There’s something very comforting about that.”. On-screen representation can play a large role in how groups of people are perceived and how children see themselves. Knight) — a pumpkin farmer turned knight who has found his happily ever after married to Prince Andrew (Wilson Cruz) with whom he has a 10-year-old adopted daughter, Nia (Storm Reid). “Those are the things I want to talk about it.”, The Bravest Knight was first made as an animated short on Hulu before Errico crafted an entire season arc for a potential show. Knight), his husband Prince Andrew (Star Trek: Discovery‘s Wilson Cruz), and their 10-year-old daughter Nia (A Wrinkle in Time‘s Storm Reid). Children’s media and animation play an essential role in building empathy — particularly at a time when diversity is met with divisiveness. Creatives, like Alex Hirsch of Gravity Falls and Rebecca Sugar of Steven Universe, don’t shy away from discussing the roadblocks they routinely hit trying to make their network programs more welcoming of different characters. Now grown and married to the prince of his dreams, Sir Cedric recounts his fairytale adventures to his adopted daughter Nia, showing her the paths and pitfalls that await her on the way to knighthood. Knowing the story didn’t end there, he self-financed a short animation with the help of an artist in Denmark. Sir Cedric; Prince Andrew; LGBT Episodes 8) Hulu has announced and released the title sequence for their upcoming children's show The Bravest Knight, which features two queer parents played by out actors T.R. The Bravest Knight is the next progression of their efforts onto a more mainstream platform. The Bravest Knight's gentle messages are also easy to love. "The Bravest Knight" and other children's shows are including LGBTQ characters and showing … (EW has learned the producers on Twelve Forever parted ways with series creator Julia Vickerman. The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived is a rhyming children's picturebook that re-imagines classic fairy tale tropes from an LGBT perspective. The new series is based on the popular children's novel The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived, written by Daniel Errico. A mechanical engineer by training and former investment banker, he quit his job to pursue his dream of working in children’s media. Modern creators faced a challenge greater than any dragon: How to show more kids that they can be the heroes of their stories? The world has since changed, but even now, Rezaei talks about trying to get The Bravest Knight to air on television in different parts of the world, and those discussions are still on-going. As streaming platforms like Hulu not only multiply but also become more multicultural and inclusive in their representation on-screen and behind the scenes, one can hope LGBTQ-friendly children’s entertainment will be more the norm than the exception. Fairness and equality are common themes in children’s animation — though you wouldn’t necessarily believe it if you looked at the industry ... See country-specific product information and pricing by selecting your country on this page. To have your dream fulfilled, you have to put yourself out there — the better you get at that, the bigger advantage you have over everyone else.”, He finishes with: “My advice would also be to actively seek rejections because each one gets you closer to your goal and more immune to them. 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