Meet ‘Maxxie LaWow’, The World’s First Animated Drag Superhero
Image: Maxxie LaWow/Instagram
The world’s first animated drag queen superhero has graced our screens in the form of indie feature film Maxxie LaWow: Drag Super-shero, and there’s a side of self love and empowerment along with that face she’s serving.
Maxxie LaWow was created and directed by queer filmmaker Anthony Hand, who grew up in rural Michigan during the AIDs crisis. The idea of Maxxie came to him in 2018 after he noticed the lack of queer superheroes in media. Hand went on to crowdsource more than $50,000 to fund the film.
The movie follows quiet barista, Simon (voiced by Grant Hodges), who encounters a magical pink wig that, when worn, transforms the user into a singing and dancing diva superhero named Maxxie LaWow. She has the enviable power of being able to pull anything she wants out of her wig, keeping her equipped for any situation.
Over the course of the movie, Maxxie takes on villainous drag scientist, Dyna Bolical (voiced by Terren Wooten Clarke), who’s planning to steal kidnap drag queens to harvest their magical, anti-aging tears to achieve domination in the world makeup market. In order to defeat her, Maxxie has to compete in a lip sync showdown and, along the way, learn to embrace their true, authentic self.
Heartfelt message underneath all that glitter
Making the rounds at film festivals earlier this year, Maxxie LaWow delighted audiences, and picked up a number of awards including Best Animated Film at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival, and the Impact Award in D.C Independent Film Festival.
The cast features a lineup of stellar queer talent, including some Drag Race royalty in the forms of Jinkx Monsoon, BenDeLaCrème, Monét X Change, and Rosé. Actor and famously hot nerd, Erika Ishii voices Maxxie’s sidekick Jae, and Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, who starred in dark comedy, UnREAL.
The soundtrack also includes four original songs, sung by Grammy-nominated artist, Angie Fisher and composered by Dave Volpe and Electropoint (Roman Molino Dunn).
Although the movie is a rainbow and glitter-sprinkled romp through the fabulosity of drag culture, it does carry a deeper message of self-love, queer excellence, and empowerment.
“In a time when LGBTQ+ voices are being challenged, we need stories that celebrate our resilience, our joy, and our magic,” Hand told Gayming magazine.
“Maxxie isn’t just a superhero. She’s a symbol of owning your power and being unapologetically yourself.”
Maxxie LaWow: Drag Super-shero is streaming now on Prime Video, Apple TV+, and iTunes.
