Filipina character returns in new Disney X'mas short, but there's a twist

Filipina American Nicole is now a mother with a new partner.

OPINION

Disney has done it again for Christmas, but ...there's a twist.

Remember last year's touching animated short where Nicole recreates a Filipino tradition by making parols (star-shaped X'mas lanterns) for her homesick lola? Apparently, several years have passed and Nicole is back.

This year's story follows Nicole, the granddaughter from last year's ad, who is now all grown up with a family to make Christmas traditions with. We follow her and her two adorable Filipino British children, Max and Ella, as their new stepdad Mike moves into their family home. At the heart of the story is a very special storybook – a precious item belonging to Max from his birth father. The book celebrates the power of storytelling and how it can deepen family bonds; as the family are shown delighting in the magic of Disney storytelling, beautiful animation springs off the pages, igniting the true spirit of Christmas. Follow their emotional journey as we see them combine existing festive traditions with wonderful new ones.

During one of The Stepdad‘s montages we see that Nicole teaching Max on how to create a Christmas parol, a nice nod to last year's short. The Christmas parol’s symbolic meaning is to show the victory of light over darkness. It also symbolizes hope and goodwill during the Christmas season.

In celebration of the ‘From Our Family To Yours’ campaign, Disney will give support worth more than $2m to its long-standing charity partner, Make-A-Wish® International and their network of Affiliates around the world. To learn more, visit thewaltdisneycompany.eu/makeawish in Europe and wish.org/Disney in North America and any other region.

Love runs Deeper is available to download. For every download before 31st December 2021, 100% of the proceeds from the retail price will be donated to Make-A-Wish International.

While Disney's intentions are good and I'm willing to give the entertainment conglomerate a pass, but I wonder if this year's holiday short might generate some controversy.

First of all, Disney skipped over Nicole's first marriage. What happened? We get a brief glimpse of Nicole's first husband in a photo in the background. He appears to be Filipino. They looked happy. Did her husband die (from COVID-19)? Or, maybe he died in a war? Or, he was a victim of a hate crime.

Less likely because I doubt Disney would get this dark, did Nicole divorce him for some other reason?

I wasn't the only one raising this question.

I like that Disney chose to show a racially mixed family, one of the fastest growing demographics in the U.S., with Asians apparently willing to mix it up, according to the 2020 Census. Respecting each others' traditions is a background theme of the video as we see Filipino and Jamaican traditions honored and practiced.

But without the background story of the original Dad, it looks like the Filipino husband got the short end of the stick ... again.

Disney hopes you enjoy this special Christmas ad, (and there's no doubt it is an ad for all things Disney, from Moana to Marvel to Star Wars) but don't let that spoil enjoying this brief interlude of warm feelings and celebrating the joy that the stepdads of the world bring us.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.