Nickelodeon announced Friday that the animated preschool program - whose central characters bear a striking resemblance to those of the Oscar-winning film `Hair Love` - has been pulled from its schedule. The 22-episode series was scheduled to debut Sept. 13 on the Nick Jr. channel.

`'Made by Maddie' is a show we acquired several years ago from Silvergate Media, a renowned production company we have previously worked with on other series,` Nickelodeon said in a statement. `Since announcing the show's premiere date this week, we have been listening closely to the commentary, criticism and concern coming from both viewers and members of the creative community.

View this post on Instagram

#Nickelodeon is pulling animated show 'Made By Maddie' amid the 'Hair Love' controversy. Link in bio for more details on the backlash and the company's statement.

A post shared by Hollywood Reporter (@hollywoodreporter) on Sep 4, 2020 at 6:01pm PDT

The controversy over resemblances between `Made by Maddie` and `Hair Love` comes as the animation industry, like much of Hollywood, reckons with discrimination against Black creatives in the wake of the nationwide movement for Black lives. In June, a number of animated programs announced that their nonwhite characters would no longer be voiced by white actors, and an open letter asked that studios conduct investigations into internal incidents of racism and commit to the hiring, training and advancement of Black staff.

`Animation is a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to how Black people are seen and represented because it's storytelling, and it is storytelling that influences a lot of young people,` Taylor K. Shaw, the founder and chief executive of Black Women Animate, told The Times in July. `It's an art form that deeply shapes the minds of our youth.`