Stephen Silver, the Jewish cartoon designer behind Disney's Kim Possible, revealed the character's inspiration came from female IDF soldiers, Aish revealed in a recent Instagram post.
Silver, known for creating characters for various animated shows and films, explained his connection to Israel and how his first visit there influenced his design of the title character for Kim Possible.
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Silver stated that he was "inspired by the confident, graceful, and simple design of female IDF soldiers' uniforms, which seemed like the perfect fit for Kim Possible."
The orange-haired character of Kim Possible is depicted in a cropped, long-sleeved black shirt paired with army-green pants, a color choice similar to the IDF uniforms.
Deep connection with Israel
Beyond the character's design, Silver has said that his visit to Israel had a profound emotional impact on him. Having experienced antisemitism and bullying when he was younger, which led him to hide his Jewish identity, Silver expressed a deep connection to Israel when he visited.
"It’s like coming home to my people," he said. "Something in me that lay dormant for what seemed like forever suddenly awoke, filling me with great pride in being Jewish."
Silver also shared a personal definition of what it means to be Jewish: "The feeling of being connected to other Jews and that all Jews, no matter their differences, are part of one family."