Encanto director invites glasses 'hero' schoolgirl Lowri to Baftas

The director of Disney hit Encanto has invited a schoolgirl who campaigned to see more glasses-wearing heroines to join him at the Bafta film awards.

Lowri, from Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, wrote to Disney in 2019 asking for more characters that looked like her.

She saw her dream realised with Encanto's main character Mirabel, which director Jared Bush said was already in production when he saw the letter.

The awards take place on Sunday at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Lowri, 12, said she never expected her letter to be seen by anyone but Mr Bush said he had heard about it three years ago and "so desperately" wanted to tell her that her wish was about to come true.

"But I had to wait and it was difficult," he said.

Appearing on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday, Mr Bush said: "As it turns out I may be in the UK and I wondered if you might be interested in maybe joining me and the other filmmakers at the Bafta awards ceremony?

"It's going to be a really, really great time.

"I'm so excited to meet you in person, I can tell you all the Disney secrets that I couldn't tell you, but now I can whisper them all to you and no-one can stop me."

Speaking from Los Angeles, Mr Bush said: "She's my hero. I can't imagine being that age and being that brave. You're such an inspiration to all of us.

"This is a movie that's all about us seeing each other and putting people on the screen that deserve to be seen.

"And audiences from all over the world have been able to find themselves, their family members in these stories and it's something that we'd always hoped for and it's so rewarding."

A gobsmacked Lowri struggled to speak after receiving the invite and nodded vigorously before presenter Jon Kay stepped in and said: "I think that is a yes."

"Oh my goodness, that's crazy. Thank you so much," she said.

Thanking the film director, her mother Cyrilyn Moore held back tears as she said: "That is like the stuff dreams are made of, isn't it? That's beautiful."

Lowri first spoke to Mr Bush on BBC Radio Nottingham last month when he surprised her with a special drawing of Mirabel by one of the film's artists, Jin Kim, which featured the words "heroes wear glasses".

Encanto is nominated for Best Animated Film award alongside Luca, Flee and The Mitchells vs. the Machines.

The 75th Baftas will be hosted by actress Rebel Wilson and broadcast on the BBC.

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