Creator Matthew A. Cherry said he was mulling the idea for the short for a couple of years. He found the confidence to move forward with it after seeing online videos of black fathers interacting with their children go viral - particularly videos of dads helping daughters with their hair.
Started as a Kickstarter campaign to fund a 5-minute, animated short in 2017. With a starting goal of $75,000, it raised $284,058 from 4,981 backers in 30 days. The funding period was July 10, 2017, through August 9, 2017.
Zuri is 7 years old, according to the animated short's crowd sourcing campaign.
The $284,058 it raised in 30 days set a Kickstarter record for short films.
The only short film released theatrically by a major studio in 2019 at the time it opened with The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019) on August 14, 2019,