Update: Family, Friendship And Fashionable Drive Nickelodeon’s Brand-New Animated Series

Today Nickelodeon sent Harlem World Magazine an e-mail stating: Nickelodeon is pulling its preschool animated show Made by Maddie off its schedule. 

This is in response to a controversy about similarities between its characters and those in the Oscar-winning short Hair Love, reports Hollywood Reporter and others.

“Made by Maddie is a show we acquired several years ago from Silvergate Media, a renowned production company we have previously worked with on other series. Since announcing the show’s premiere date this week, we have been listening closely to the commentary, criticism, and concern coming from both viewers and members of the creative community.  

In response, and out of respect to all voices in the conversation, we are removing the show from our schedule as we garner further insight into the creative journey of the show.  We are grateful to Silvergate Media for all of their work.  And we hold Matthew A. Cherry and the wonderful and inspiring Hair Love in the highest regard.”

Here’s our original post on Monday, August 31st, 2020:

Family, friendship, and fashionable fun drive Nickelodeon’s brand-new animated preschool series, Made by Maddie (formerly Fashion Ally), premiering Sunday, September 13, 2020, at 11 a.m.(ET/PT) on the Nick Jr. channel. Created by Paula Rosenthal and produced by Paula Rosenthal(Sunny Day, Peter Rabbit, The Octonauts, Hilda), the series (22 half-hour episodes) follows 8-year-old Maddie in New York City, as she uses her imagination and design ingenuity to turn every problem into a positive with the perfect fashion fix. Made by Maddie will continue to air regularly Sundays at 11 a.m.(ET/PT) on the Nick Jr. channel.

Throughout the season, Made by Maddie will feature guest voice appearances by: Karamo Brown (Queer Eye); Rhyon Nicole Brown (Empire); Danny Burstein (Broadway’s Moulin Rouge!); David Burtka (Professional Chef); Monét X Change (RuPaul’s Drag Race); Joey Fatone (*NSYNC); Griffin Robert Faulkner (Raising Dion); Nina Garcia (Project Runway); Joy Lynn Jacobs (The Blacklist); Claudia Morcate-Martin (Seneca); Wanya Morris (Boyz II Men); Christine Pedi (Steven Universe); Christiani Pitts (Broadway’s King Kong); Al Roker (TODAY); D’Angelo Russell (Minnesota Timberwolves); Horatio Sanz (Black Monday); and Nico Tortorella (Younger).

Made by Maddie centers on Maddie (Alyssa Cheatham), a quick-thinking little girl with a big personality and a huge heart, who has a passion for fashion. Maddie finds design inspiration around every corner and her big ideas couldn’t become a reality without the love and support of her aspirational and talented fashion designer mom, Dee (Patina Miller), and her super cool and upbeat musician dad, Rashad (James Monroe Iglehart), along with the assistance of friends and neighbors, including kind, animal-loving best friend, Jada (Sophia Torres), and the twins—rule-following Harper (Amanda Dressel) and fearless Hudson (Ames McNamara)—who are always up for adventure. Maddie’s creative thinking and dazzling designs are a reflection of the bustling, colorful city of New York and its residents. Maddie confidently embraces her own unique style, celebrates individuality, treats everyone with kindness, and encourages others to take risks and be themselves.

In the series premiere, “If the Glue Fits/Mini Me DJ,” Maddie gets her hands stuck to a pair of shoes Dee designed. Once she finally gets the shoes unstuck, she has to come up with a redesign to save the day. Then, Maddie, Dee, and her assistant Dustin design an outfit for DJ Fierce, a famous DJ. They scour the city for the perfect materials, but when a misunderstanding leads to an outfit mix-up, Maddie will have to get creative with a fashion fix.

Following the series premiere of Made by Maddie, NickJr.com and the Nick Jr. App will feature short-form content and full-length episodes. Episodes will also be available on Nick Jr. On-Demand and Download-To-Own services.

Production of Made by Maddie for Nickelodeon Animation Studio is overseen by Eryk Casemiro, Senior Vice President, Nickelodeon Preschool.

Silvergate Media creates and produces world class content built to inspire, entertain and engage audiences of all ages through innovative storytelling. The company was founded by Lord Alli and Viscount Astor in October 2011. Since then, Silvergate has built Octonauts into a global success, produced and delivered Sunny Day andPeter Rabbit for Nickelodeon and Hilda for Netflix. Silvergate is in production on four new properties for partners Netflix, Disney and Nickelodeon, as well as producing a string of new content for its hit series Octonauts and Hilda. Silvergate Media has offices in London and New York and operations in China.

Nick Jr., the 24-hour network from Nickelodeon dedicated to preschoolers and parents, features an extensive slate of hit series, including PAW Patrol, Blue’s Clues & You!, Blaze and the Monster Machines, Peppa Pig, Ryan’s Mystery Playdate, Bubble Guppies, Butterbean’s Café, Team Umizoomi, Abby Hatcher and Shimmer and Shine. For more information or artwork, visit www.nickpress.com. Nick Jr. and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of ViacomCBS Inc.