1/10/2024 0 Comments Maya and the three![]() The director of The Book of Life presented a preview of this production, which he made together with the character designer and his wife, Sandra Eqihua, at the tenth edition of the Chilemonos Festival. ![]() Walking skulls, giant jaguars, inverted pyramids, dragons, gods, and monsters will be part of Maya and the Three, the new Netflix animated series by Mexican filmmaker Jorge R. If you do watch it, I’d love to hear your opinions and reviews.Wandering craniums, gigantic jaguars, upside-down pyramids, monsters, gods and dragons make up Maya and the Three, the new Netflix animated series from Mexican filmmaker Jorge R. If you like Carmen and Dora, you have a soft spot for Lucha Libre, and you want your cartoons to be multicultural, colorful, and complex, then I promise you will enjoy Maya and the Three. I love the live action Dora the Explorer (who admittedly is not a cartoon in the movie, but she was a cartoon first, so that counts.) and now Maya makes it official. And note, these are all shows I watch with Babygirl, who is now ten years old. I wouldn’t say I have a favorite type of cartoon heroine, but I am definitely seeing a trend in my recent favorites. The second time around though, I’m going to watch in Spanish. ![]() In fact, I’m already committed to watching the entire series again, because I know I missed so much in the layered storytelling. In other words, this isn’t just a kiddie flick. Because the bad guy in Maya and the Three is the God of the Underworld/the God of War, there are a lot of references to spirits, life after death, magic, and the connection the living have with the dead. Even though children will no doubt be engaged by the colors, the funny characters, and the battle between good and evil, there is enough layered content in this series to keep any adult binge watching through to the end of the final episode (There are nine in total.)īecause we just finished celebrating Día de los Santos, Halloween and Día de los Muertos, I’ve been deep diving into learning about the beliefs of the Spanish and Latino people as they relate to the spirt world, ancestor veneration and magic. No spoilers here, but Maya and the Three goes way beyond kiddie content. It goes without saying that series creator and director, J orge Gutiérrez was not interested in whitewashing Maya’s multicultural world. Skin colors, hair textures, facial features are varied in unique and beautiful ways. In fact, each one of Maya’s friends comes from a different kingdom that clearly represents different geographical and cultural regions of the real world. For example, one of Maya’s fellow adventurers, Rico from Rooster Island, is Black and wears his hair in intricate, sculptured dredlocs, as do all of the inhabitants of Rooster Island. ![]() Little did I know, I’d be transported to a magical world with characters that looked as diverse as the people hailing from across Latin America and the Caribbean. I watched the trailer and decided it looked interesting enough. No Whitewashing Maya’s Multicultural Worldįull disclosure, I didn’t do any advanced reading about Maya and Three before settling in to watch with my daughter. If they make Maya dolls to sell in Happy Meals, I would be the first in line to buy one for my daughter, and maybe one for myself as well. In other words, she’s been drawn to look culturally authentic, strong and, quite frankly, like a hero. In addition to the fact that Maya is a female hero, she is also brown-skinned, short, and has thicks thighs. The motives for the killing include revenge, honor and a lust for adventure. And “she” is Maya, a 15-year-old, Aztec princess who, along with three friends, goes on a quest to kill an evil god. Except the hero is a she instead of a he. The basic storyline of Maya and the Three is rather simple, a classic hero’s journey. Indeed, Maya and the Three takes multicultural storytelling to a whole new level. But Netflix has definitely come through with the diversity, drama and color in their new limited series, Maya and the Three. She generally chooses her TV shows from Netflix, so honestly she has a bevy of programming to choose from that feature multicultural characters, even though a diverse cast doesn’t guarantee a quality show. Since arriving in Spain, I’ve been strict about keeping my rules about diverse media consumption for my daughter.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |