#candied magic

So I want to address a question that someone left for me about my BFA project. "The animation is great! I have no idea why it was made into a Spanish-theme, though. I don't understand the point."

For those of you that don't know, my BFA project is an animated TV show titled "Candied Magic" which is a retelling of the Hansel and Gretel fairytale, mine being set in Mexico with a few twists.

I have received more backlash from this project that I expected, people writing racist comments about it to people asking me why I didn't keep the characters white like the original story.

And my answer to this comment is simple enough. Because I want to see more diversity. I don't have to be a minority to want that. There is not a single white person in my show and why does there need to be? Why can't I retell this fairytale in a different and honestly beautiful culture? Mexico has some awesome and bizarre candy! It works perfectly! So if people can't look past the skin color of my characters then frankly I don't want them watching my show. I have a series of projects where I retell fariytales set to different cultures. It started with Stroke of Midnight, Cinderella in Italy, and I have no plans of stopping.

The best part of BFA was reading the comments from people who belong to this amazing culture. I had people come up to me saying they hadn't expected to walk into the show and see their culture portrayed. That made me happier than anything else, for my characters to represent an amazing culture that we are finally seeing more of in animation and media, as well as people who don't belong to the culture being introduced to some of it!

I am very happy to announce that my senior project, titled “Candied Magic” is complete! This has been a eight month long project (not all of the art is included here), all development for an animated TV series!

“Candied Magic” is a re-telling of the fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel” set in the golden age of Mexico. 

Hermosa and Gabriel are both orphans who run away together and find themselves at a candy shop called the Candy Cauldron after following a strange blue creature. They discover that the shop, the candy, and the shop runners are anything but normal.

Ginger, a candy witch, creates unique candy which give temporary powers to the person who eats it, providing practical and entertaining uses. Sugarbones is her sugar skeleton assistant, and Caramela is an alebrijie who has a habit of eating Ginger’s sweets.

Of course, nothing about Ginger or Sugarbones is cookie-cutter, and the young orphans find themselves on a few fantastic adventures learning more about the witch and her companion. 

This has been such an amazing project and I hope to someday turn it into a real TV or a webseries. It was amazing to see people’s reactions at the gallery opening, and even more amazing to share the experience with @oakydeer who was a MAJOR part of this project. I hope to continue with this project and showcase the fun story and culture!