Diversity in Cartoons: Kid’s Shows
Cartoons have come along way from the first cartoon back in the early 1900s. Many of the cartoons did not include different races, backgrounds, or cultures. Today we will look at a few children’s television shows that I feel have an outstanding mix of characters.
The American cartoon The Proud Family (2001) and aired new episodes until 2005. The show follows the Prouds, an African-American family, through crazy life adventures. The show features many different types of people, from race to personality to background. The show teaches kids to appreciate everyone’s differences and embrace them.
The Magic School Bus (1994) broke many gender stereotypes. The show features girls who play sports and love science and math; boys who are scared of mostly everything. The main character, Miss. Frizzle, is a crazy teacher who takes charge of her students education and takes them on field trips throughout space and the human body among many other adventures.
While many of these shows air mainly in the U.S. this next one takes place in the middle east. Burka Avenger (2013) is about a school teacher who teaches by day and fights for girls education by night. Jiya uses notebooks and pens to fight evil villains trying to keep the girls from school. When asked what the meaning behind the show is the creator said, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” This goes to show that knowledge is power.
On PBS, the show Maya and Miguel (2004 –2007) are twins growing up as a Latino family in the U.S. Their mom is Puerto Rican and their dad is Mexican which shows the mixed heritage of many Americans today. The characters are bilingual with Maya and Miguel’s family speaking both English as well as Spanish. Contributing to this is a Chinese American character who, in addition to English, speaks Mandarin, while another is still learning English. Being different is portrayed as the norm in this show and PBS wants to show that we should “ Encourage children to value, respect, and better understand a variety of cultures, perspectives, traditions, languages, and experiences.”
For decades, many little girls have grown up loving Disney princesses. Disney has done a great job of taking girls from different backgrounds and turning them into beautiful, strong princesses. One of the more recent movies, Brave (2012), the lead character is Merida believes she doesn’t need things to be done for her. As different men fight for her hand in marriage, she takes it into her own hands and fights for herself against the wishes of her parents. It shows little girls how strong they can become.
Hey Arnold! (1996–2004) was a popular show that many 90’s kids will remember. The show features many different ethnic groups all in one neighborhood. The creator of the cartoon, Craig Bartlett, wanted the show to reflect reality. Not only did the show have a mix of races and backgrounds, but broke racial stereotypes. Phoebe showed kids that not all Asians are smart but are only human and sometimes need some help like many others. Gerald showed us that not all black kids come from broken families. Additionally, Hey Arnold! included two gay characters, Mr. Simmons and Eugene. This show teaches kids to be open to people who maybe don’t look or think like them but embrace it anyway.
In Nigeria, Bino and Fino (2011) is one of the first children’s cartoons not imported from a different continent. The show follows brother and sister duo, Bino and Fino, through everyday life living with their grandparents. This show isn’t just good for kids in Africa but also kids all around the world. It portrays a positive image of Africa, unlike the picture the media paints for us.
One TV show I grew up on was Arthur (1996). At the time I didn’t realize how diverse this show actually was. The main character, Arthur and his sister D.W. are both aardvarks and have an array of friends including monkeys, rabbits, cats, and many more. These characters come from many different backgrounds and situations from being rich to poor or having one parent versus two. These characters were created this way on purpose so that kids don’t relate to them based only on ethnicity but on things like personality instead.
Since the 1990’s the Power Puff Girls (1998) had a huge following among children and teenagers. In 2016 Cartoon Network released a five-part movie starring an African-American lead as the original three’s long lost sister. The new character, Bliss is African-American and helps the girls fight off all the evil villains of their city.
These shows all showed a diverse cast in some way and taught children about different cultures and asked them to embrace each other's differences.
Sources :
- Google Images, Google, images.google.com/
- Khoo, Isabelle. “These ’90s Children Shows Had Diversity Down.” HuffPost Canada, HuffPost Canada, 7 Mar. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/03/07/90s-kids-shows-diversity_n_15192796.html.
- Lenker, Maureen Lee. “‘The Powerpuff Girls’: Here’s the Scoop on the New Sister.” EW.com, 17 Sept. 2017, ew.com/tv/2017/09/17/new-powerpuff-girls-sister-bliss/
- Meade , Stephanie. “7 Diverse Children’s Cartoons (Where the Main Character Isn’t the Standard White One).” InCultureParent, 1 Aug. 2018, www.incultureparent.com/2013/09/7-diverse-childrens-cartoons-where-the-main-character-isnt-the-standard-white-one/.
