Church Hat is a 7 minute, animated short film based on the children’s book of the same name. Emmy winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph is the voice of the mother, and the multi-talented Maximus Turner is the voice of Quentin, the young boy. It is currently on the 2026 film festival circuit.
Here is a link to a brief clip.
The story captures a conversation between a young black boy and his traditional, conservative, Jamaican mother when she finds him playing dress-up, secretly posing in her fancy hats. Instead of being in trouble, she offers him emotional safety and empathy for him to talk about what he is questioning so he can fearlessly be his authentic self.
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Meet the talented production team
Stop motion paper puppetry animation involves creation and precise manipulation of thousands of paper figures that are animated frame-by-frame. This artistic cutout technique uses flat characters, props and backgrounds applying various materials such as paper, cardstock, stiff fabric and photographs. Miceal precisely created individual pieces to manipulate the construction of physical three-dimensional scenes, like a small theatre where the action takes place, for the 7 minute short film to come alive. No AI was used in the creation of this production.
Here is brief clip from the short film starring Emmy winning actress, Sheryl Lee Ralph as the mother and the talented Maximus Turner as the young boy.
To find out more details about the film festivals the animated short is in, please click here.
Debra Williams and Sheryl Lee Ralph at
Margarita Mix Studios in Los Angeles, CA