Representation in Animation — Bringing Diversity Behind the Screen
After long years of pushes for more diversity in all forms of media have led to more inclusive efforts on the part of film and television studios, it’s also important to recognize the changes in a classic medium — animation. Animation has been a key part of many childhoods, from Disney princesses to Marvel superheroes to Saturday morning cartoons.
Despite the progress made “in front of the camera” where racial representation in animation is concerned, it’s important to remember animation’s deep, complex history with race.
In his book, Black Representation in the World of Animation, Darius S. Gainer reminds readers of the fact that multiple studios that were prominent figures in the early days of cartoons — but who also leaned heavily into racial stereotypes and caricatures that were tied to minstrelsy. For example Disney, MGM, and Warner Brothers all have made cartoons that depict Blackface in one form or another.
“As Technicolor increasingly flourished and integrated into the animation industry, Black representation in theatrical, cartoon shorts remained heavily influenced by negative racial and ethnic biases,” he writes. “Various animation studios continued releasing cartoons, featuring denigrating portrayals of African-Americans, the purpose of which was to exploit the comic possibilities of lampooning Black culture, identity, and expression through a reliance on caricature.”
Gainer acknowledges that the changes seen in representation have been important, especially for children who watch animated films or television shows where their identities are represented, when they had not been previously. To him, that momentum must continue not only in widening the windows of representation, but also to create varieties of characters within multiple identities.
“Obviously today we’re starting to see a major leap forward in terms of giving more positive images of historically marginalized groups, but there is always that need to keep pushing for much more complex and sophisticated characters on screen,” Gainer says. “We need to have a full spectrum of the human experience and identity. We need to see different kinds of ethnicities and cultures. It’s so affirming. It gives them a sense of visibility, it gives them the validation that their place in the world has meaning.”
Mann Lightfoot knows just how important representation in animation is. He’s the creator and host of the YouTube channel, Mann of 1,000 Thoughts, where he often shares his thoughts and critiques on animation with his over 23,000 followers. His video “Black Representation in Animation and WHY We Care” currently sits at 12,000 views, and he’s been a massive animation fan for years.
“Growing up, a lot of Black characters I would see usually stem from a stereotype or trope,” says Lightfoot. “There weren’t a lot of main-line protagonists who looked like me or like someone else non-white. I started to want to shed light on, and this became a theme of mine at the time, say, Black animation for like a whole month. Let’s talk about some Black characters that people just aren’t paying attention to or from shows people are missing. In the current age, we’re starting to see more Black characters, Hispanic characters, or Asian characters and so on. We’re seeing more people actually properly represented in animation. It’s kind of great that this is starting to happen.”
In a pinned comment on his video, Lightfoot poses a question open to discussion for his viewers, echoing Gainer’s thoughts.
“As a Black man, I find it very important to be able to see people of my skin tone to be on the big and small screen. To be the hero or the villain, to be the quirky friend or the friend you can have a heart to heart with. To be the mother, the father, the brother, sister, the aunt, the uncle and so on. This allows for many to feel like they are just as valid as everybody else. What does representation mean for all of you?”
On-screen representation isn’t simply a box to check off or a quota to fill, nor does representation alone make for a successful film. The recent release of Disney’s Strange World is proof enough of that.
With a worldwide box office of $72.8 billion, the film was not a commercial success despite boasting an openly gay, biracial protagonist in the film, as well as a fairly diverse cast. The film became a huge talking point for right-wing media, citing the argument “go woke, go broke,” meaning that a film or television show that makes efforts toward any kind of diversity won’t succeed. In reality, marketing, timing and a weak storyline were a much more likely cause for the film’s downfall.
Films like Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse and Wendell & Wild, are strong evidence against that argument against diverse characters. The former would go on to make over $375 million at the commercial box office, receive a much-anticipated two-part sequel and would go on to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
Allan Neuwirth is a film and television writer and producer who has worked on shows such as Arthur, The Octonauts, and the recent reboot of Rugrats. Neuwirth has worked in the industry for over 20 years, and notes that it’s changing to tell diverse stories directly from those who’ve experienced it.
“I think it helps a project if you’re doing something that includes a certain group of people, it shouldn’t be created by others who have no experience of what it is to live in that world,” says Neuwith. “I think what would happen in the past is that many creators were caucasian and would research. They’d talk to people and fold their knowledge into the work. But now, more and more, we are looking to include the contributions of people who’ve walked the walk and talked the talk.”
Into the Spiderverse is a personal favorite of his.
“I loved that movie, it was a different take on Spiderman. While the characters were very representative of a whole spectrum of humanity, that wasn’t the only thing that made it a good film. What also made it a good film was that it was a good story, the design was absolutely awesome, the direction was incredible, and it was innovative in style. This all added dimensions to the film”
Wendell & Wild, released in October 2022 both on Netflix and in select theaters, received fairly positive reviews and is already receiving Oscar buzz. Both films feature more than diverse characters — they boast diverse production teams, bring forth complex characters and storylines, and touch on aspects of intersectionality outside of just racial identity.
In one of his more recent videos, Lightfoot praises Wendell & Wild, and its main character Kat, a young Black woman fighting her literal and metaphorical demons, dubbing it “a new Halloween classic.”
“I love Wendell & Wild for how they did Kat,” says Lightfoot. “That’s something you don’t always get to see. Black goths? They exist? And this movie was like ‘I want a Black goth girl, we want to really showcase that.’ That design is going to be cosplayed so much. They gave Black girls, especially Black goth girls, a major inspiration with that. ”
While the landscape for representation for characters on screen appears to be improving and expanding, it’s also important to examine the animation industry itself to see if these changes are reflected “behind the scenes.”
According to Zippia, the animation industry is largely white, with little net change in percentages regarding racial demographics from 2010 to 2019. As of 2019, 72.2% of animation artists were white, with the majority of artists staying in their job for one to two years.
Ashna Choudhry is an animator and published the paper “Representation in Animation: A Great Power and a Greater Responsibility.” Her paper details both the influx of more diverse characters in animation as well as her own experiences as a Bengali-American animator.
“When we were younger there weren’t a lot of options,” says Choudhry. “There’s still no Bengali-American animated things that I can latch onto yet, but when I was young there were even less. The one or two things you did see really stood out and made a difference. I remember when I first saw Avatar: the Last Airbender, I think I was in the fourth grade and I distinctly remember when I saw Katara on screen. I was like ‘Oh my god, it’s another brown girl! That’s so cool!’ I was so not used to that sight, to see any brown girl. And she’s one of the protagonists, the show is sort of narrated by her, the whole story begins with her and her brother. I was immediately grabbed by the show. She wasn’t supposed to resemble South Asian culture but I was so moved by her. She was a brown girl kicking butt. Even re-watching it, she is just such a cool character.”
A lack of representation throughout the animation field, particularly within leadership, leaves already working animators of color vulnerable. Many studios, including Netflix and Warner Brothers, which also encompasses Cartoon Network, laid off animation employees in the past year, and studios aiming to present stories from a wide array of backgrounds were impacted.
Choudhry was no exception, she was ultimately laid off from her recent position as well.
“I went to school at UC Berkeley, so in some sense I’ve grown up in a very diverse place. I grew up in San Jose, I went to school in the Bay Area. In the animation circle, which was very niche, was actually a pretty diverse community. I had that protection for a while. Obviously out of college you step out of that protection, and I’ve always seen that the industry, animation or otherwise, is very predominantly male and even more white.”
“At my previous job, every producer was a white man. They were perfectly lovely people, delightful and good at their job, but it gets lonely. At my level, most of the artists I worked with were women of color, it was nice to have a team and camaraderie. The people all above me, in terms of rank, were white. From where I was, I’d see some decisions being made, creative decisions and would think ‘Are you sure you thought about that? Everyone thought this was a good idea?’ I was on the DEI committee so it would be my interest to be cognizant as to why certain decisions were being made. There’d be instances of a certain character being made over months and months of deliberation, hundreds of designs and designs, but somehow the thing they settled on would be dangerously close to the world of tropes or stereotypes.”
Choudhry specifically cited Domee Shi, director of the Pixar short Bao and successful feature film Turning Red, and first woman to direct a both Pixar short and solo direct a Pixar film, as hope for the animation industry being led by more diverse voices.
Groups like Women in Animation have focused on providing mentorships for women of color within the animation industry, and Pixar has created SparkShorts, the release of animated short films specifically led by women and people of color.
Jasmine Katatikarn has worked in the animation field for over ten years, often as a 3D artist and lighting technical director, has been an adjunct instructor for NYU and is the CEO and Founder of The Academy of Animated Art. The school offers online courses for anyone interested in learning more about pursuing animation as a career.
Last year, she began the school’s Diversity Action Program, which aims to support young people from a wide variety of backgrounds to gain access to animation education. The fledgling program has mentored about one hundred students across New York so far, and has received support from studios like AccessVFX, GhostVFX, Framestore and more.
“The idea came about when I was on a diversity, equity and inclusion panel at SIGGRAPH, one of the biggest conferences for animation and VFX. I was there to talk about how to increase diversity within the industry. It was a great panel, mostly studio heads, but what I found was that as everyone was talking about how to increase diversity in the studio, everyone was talking on such a high level. I kind of raised my hand and was thinking, “How can you increase diversity without looking at the root of the problem?’ At the high level, where it’s not diverse, there won’t be a way to change that if the applicant pool isn’t diverse. We have to play the long game here. I thought ‘I have this academy and the background and experience to create education to reach a wide audience. Why don’t I just do it?’”
The program begins in middle school and can last through high school for students who want to continue their education. Katatikarn’s program helps reduce the financial barriers through sponsorships with real, working animation studios. The students watch pre-recorded videos of Katatikarn to learn techniques and practice their skills in person at school. All students also receive a kit with materials and tools to create their stop-motion animation projects.
Programs like Katatikarn’s Diversity Action Program are making a real difference for students by starting small and aiming to nurture artistic creativity.
“I want to make the biggest impact possible. One of my missions is to make this accessible to anyone, no matter where they live. Just because they don’t live in New York City where this is currently happening, doesn’t mean that should block them. My whole thing is ‘How can we make this easy, how can we make it accessible to the masses?’ That’s how you increase diversity, not just 20 students at a time, but hundreds and thousands exposed at a time. Plus the students seem really happy, they specifically asked that I come to their showcase!”