A new short film, Reflect, is gaining attention because its lead character is plus-size and overcomes body image problems. Disney heroines tend to look small and slender, which is why a plus-size lead character in the film is a welcomed change.
Disney has debuted its first plus-size female lead. The Disney+ short film “Reflect” is about a ballet dancer [named Bianca] who battles her reflection, trying to overcome doubt and fear by channelling her inner confidence, grace, and power.
Through the main character, Bianca, the film’s first plus-sized heroine, Disney’s new short film “Reflect” promotes body positivity and a healthy self-image.
The film debuted on Disney+ on September 14 as Episode Seven of Season Two of Short Circuit, a series about experimental films. Bianca is in an empty dance studio, happily and confidently practising by herself before class begins and others enter the room. She then becomes uneasy because she is the only plus-sized person in the room, and her instructor’s feedback of “tight tummy, long neck” causes the room to vanish, leaving there is only Bianca in front of a broken mirror that has hundreds of reflections of herself in it.
Short introduction by Disney Animation story artist Hillary Bradfield, who worked on “Frozen 2” and “Encanto.”
She stated that she wanted to share this story because “in principle, I feel like I’m a very body-positive person.” But being body positive on a personal level is much more difficult.”
Bradfield explained that she specifically chose a dance studio setting because mirrors are required to master the movements and she didn’t want Bianca to be somewhere “she has to look at herself and she doesn’t want to.”
Bianca saw her reflection in the mirrors and reconciled how she looked with how she felt, which inspired the title “Reflect.” Bianca is initially terrified and self-conscious about her appearance while surrounded by broken mirrors.
Checkout the video below:
An all-new Short Circuit Experimental Film has arrived! Stream “Reflect” and all the Short Circuit Experimental Films by Walt Disney Animation Studios artists now on @DisneyPlus. 🩰 🎆 pic.twitter.com/c0gw5U4ecc
— Disney Animation (@DisneyAnimation) September 14, 2022
To console herself, she begins to dance, and the broken mirrors begin to move with her, forming shapes and changing colours.
Bianca realises that simply moving as she is controlling the previously broken glass. This silent pep talk culminates in her breaking through the mirror and reentering the classroom with her peers, full of confidence.
She acknowledged that it is a progression rather than a linear path, saying, “Maybe sometimes you have to go to the dark place to get to a good place, and there is just something about a good place that makes it even more beautiful.”
