Introduction
Since its inception, cartoons and animated programs were created with the intention of entertaining the youth. With this, animation networks such as Disney are able to glue the youth to the television by providing animated content 24/7. These programs have been studied to have a profound impact on the child’s view of the world which persists far into adulthood (Barth and Ciobanu 2017, pp. 7-25). This is why many shows of the kind include moral messages and ideas that reflect the current societal climate such as teamwork and courage in hopes of subtly educating the younger generation. However, the efforts to better influence the youth have willfully neglected race and proper representation for them. This can be seen with the overabundance of white characters taking the lead and even supporting roles while people of colour are relegated to one-offs or comic relief. As found by Dobrow (2016), only 17% of cartoon characters are people of colour while the rest have defaulted to white. Even though racial representation in cartoons and animated programs have improved in recent times, cases of harmful and ignorant representation still persist (Scott 2017). Therefore, this paper aims to investigate how racial representation is handled in cartoons and animated programs for the youth by taking the stance that modern cartoons have better racial representation compared to older cartoons. This is done by discussing the frequency of character appearances, outward contextual representation and character importance.
To achieve this, two case studies will be used to better facilitate the research. The cartoons that have been chosen as case studies include DuckTales 1987 and its 2017 reboot (Magon 1987; Youngberg 2017). The two DuckTales cartoons are chosen as they show the values of racial representation at each of their respective times and would also be studied for its use of stereotypes and proper representation. As these case studies are distributed on the largest children’s networks in the world, Disney, a representational example of the societal norms and discourses that were trying to be instilled in the youth can be examined.
Literature Review
The literature that is used for this paper would be ‘Normative Media Theory in The Digital Media Landscape: From Media Ethics to Ethical Communication’ by Pieter J. Fourie (2017). In this article, Fourie uses the normative media theory to explain the role of media on society and the ways it helps sustain as well as further develop democracy in society. According to Fourie, this theory acts as a yardstick measurement of the media landscape, thus allowing media and cartoons to act as a gauge for social values and changes. This article is important to this research as it allows for a better understanding of the media and cartoon’s view of the world and how it would, in turn, influence the youth about their societal roles due to their race. By applying the theory put forth by Fourie in this article, the discourse generated by the case studies can be interpreted as normative statements on society in their respective eras. Therefore, this article and its theory will be used in this paper’s investigation into how cartoons handle racial representation and its ability to change normative discourse by being a tool to maintain and encourage democracy and individuality among society.
In addition, the literature of ‘Racial Assumptions Colour the Mental Representation of Social Class’ by Ryan F. Lei and Galen V. Bodenhausen (2017) will also be reviewed. In this article, the authors researched how the colour of one's skin affects societal prejudices and preconceived notions of wealth and social class that would be directed toward them. For example, people with darker skin will often be perceived as dangerous and poor along with other forms of stereotypes. This concept is known as intersectionality where disadvantaged groups often face discrimination from multiple fronts such as race, gender and social class. This article is important for this research as stereotypical ideas of race and their surrounding prejudices are often portrayed in the media and cartoons. This shows that the youth are not just being fed superficial ideas about race but the negative connotations that haunt them. Through the application of this article and the intersectionality theory, a better understanding of the ideas that the youth were frequently exposed to can be obtained. Hence, this article and its theory are important to this paper as it aids in studying the treatment of different races in cartoons and also the implications it tries to enforce on future generations.
Methodology
The methodologies that would be used to examine the topic and gather information from the case studies include quantitative and qualitative approaches. Content analysis as a quantitative approach will be applied to measure the frequency different race characters appear between the original DuckTales cartoon and its 2017 reboot. As these two pieces of media aired over 30 years apart from each other, the change in frequency of representation between old and contemporary cartoons can be studied. Through this, a better picture of how the representation of race in animated programs has evolved and improved over time. For the purposes of this paper, the character list from the respective cartoons will be investigated as well as the number of episodes the characters were featured in. Character importance will also be investigated through content analysis by examining the number of times characters of colour saved the main cast as compared to the white characters in the two versions of DuckTales.
Furthermore, textual analysis will be conducted on the two versions of DuckTales in order to investigate how different races and their corresponding stereotypes are portrayed. By analysing the text of these cartoons, the representations presented can also be linked back to societal views and cultures as cartoons and media have been a mirror of normative society and its world view. Analysing not just the outward text but the implied discourses will also aid in the argument of contemporary cartoons providing better racial representation as compared to older cartoons (Hasinoff 2008). Therefore, investigating the roles and ways people of colour are represented in cartoons would allow for further investigation to be conducted on the implication of such representation on the youth.
Before continuing, ethical issues regarding this research must be addressed. This research may include personal biases towards the two case studies. DuckTales 1987, might be subject to nostalgia while also have its content unfairly judged due to its age. On the other hand, the 2017 version is also subjected to the bias of better production quality and clearer messaging. Also, having the characters of these cartoons consists of ducks rather than traditional humans would require personal interpretation of the text and the race of the characters. This may also lead to errors or misinterpretation of the intended portrayal by the cartoons. However, a substantial effort will be made to ensure that the research conducted for this paper would be objective and fairly discussed through extensive collection and review of the data gathered.
Findings & Discussion
4.1 Frequency of character appearances
Racial representation in media and cartoons have been scarce at best and inappropriate at worst. Despite that, modern cartoons are argued to have better racial representation compared to older cartoons due to the increasing number of racially diverse characters. This is because cartoons and media have been slowly evolving to fit current values of equality and non-discrimination. Due to various historical factors, white characters are often portrayed as the default and dominant culture, causing characters of a different race to be often overshadowed by the number of white characters (Klein & Shiffman 2006). This led to the underrepresentation of different races and ethnicities as they are the minority groups not just in cartoons but in normative society as well (Klein & Shiffman 2006). Thus contributing to the statistic that only 17% of the characters on the screen consists of different ethnicities (Dobrow 2016). Through content analysis, it can be found that only 3 of the 51 named characters in DuckTales 1987 were people of colour (Magon 1987). This is further exacerbated as 2 out of the 3 characters are only implied to be of a different race. This is contrasted with DuckTales 2017’s 48 named characters, 6 being explicitly people of colour while an additional 4 remaining ambiguous (Youngberg 2017). With this, it can be seen that the 2017 version of the cartoon changed the ethnicity of certain characters in order to include more racial representation in its 2 seasons while the original failed to represent many races in its 4 season run.
Contrariwise, some may argue that racial representation in modern cartoons is equally lacking compared to older cartoons. This is because, despite the slight increase in numbers, these characters are still placed in supporting and minor roles. This may be analysed through the normative media theory posed by Fourie (2017) that people of colour are still not seen as the main players in society. Even so, this counter-argument can be overruled as there is a noticeable shift in racial representation as the number of minority characters double in the 30 years between DuckTales 1987 and 2017. For example, out of the 105 episodes that have been aired for DuckTales 1987, only 8 of them consists of explicitly multiracial characters playing supporting roles. This is incredibly telling to the norm of society 30 years ago with the white characters, usually taking on the main roles and having more appearances and agency in the cartoon.
However, it can be argued that the 2017 version of DuckTales has improved in this department with 10 episodes consisting of explicitly different raced characters out of its current 48 episodes. Not only that but a few of these episodes will see to it that the racially diverse characters take the spotlight and drive the story forward. By increasing the screen time for different races, the youth would be able to understand the equality and understanding that should be present in society through long periods of time (Barth and Ciobanu 2017, pp. 7-25). The cultivation theory proposed by Grebner suggests that after long exposures to media, and in this case, cartoons, the youth would begin to change their perception and opinions on normative society based on what they’ve learned (Potter 2014, pp. 1015-1036). The cultivation theory’s effect can be seen with today’s adults that grew up with cartoons such as DuckTales 1987, where the different races have often been sidelined due to their minority status (Lewis-McCoy 2018). This, in turn, led to many uprisings and social movements by minority races to cement their place and equal rights in society such as the Black Lives Matter movement (Lewis-McCoy 2018). By improving racial representation in contemporary cartoons, the possible implications for the youth would be a more inclusive and equal society. Therefore, the improvement of racial representation in modern cartoons, albeit incredibly slowly, will be able to provide a more equal society for future generations.
4.2 Outward contextual representation
Furthermore, contemporary cartoons are argued to have better representations of race as they do not solely rely on stereotypes and outward contextual perceptions. This is because contemporary cartoons tend to use different personality traits for characters instead of stereotypes (Barker 2010, pp. 482-498). Commonly, cartoons and media use stereotypes to define characters quickly to aid in forming quick connections and relatability with the audience (Coyne & Whitehead 2008). This is done especially so with minor characters as not as much screen time is allocated to their development. With this, it can be seen that the issue mentioned above of racially diverse characters lacking screen presence directly contributes to the stereotyping of their culture. These stereotypes can range from untrue and offensive to positive but demeaning. Such stereotypes may hurt the perception of this group in society, as exemplified through one of the only confirmed racial minority characters in DuckTales 1987 named Dijon (Magon 1987, season 4 episodes 95, 99, 100). Dijon is depicted to be a middle eastern character that has 4 appearances throughout the show’s run, throughout these, he was characterised as a liar, a thief and a coward. In the 2017 version of Dijon, now known as Faris Djinn, has been depicted in his only episode so far as a headstrong warrior that is dedicated to his cause but ultimately has good intentions (Youngberg 2017, season 2 episode 8). By contrasting the two versions of the same character, it can be analysed that the 1987 version of Dijon is a mixture of negative traits that are still used to stereotype middle easterners today while the 2017 version treats Faris Djinn as a character with both positive and negative aspects to his personality. The two pictures below showed the difference in Dijon/Faris Djinn’s characterisation between the two cartoons.
However, it can be counter-argued that the 2017 version of characterisation does not improve racial representation as certain stereotypical traits are still used to portray the character. These include his intellectual level and selfishness that carry over from both versions of the cartoons. Since Dijon is the only character of that race, he by default represents middle eastern culture and traditions. This would cause there to be multiple stereotypes stacked on top of each other which leads to the discrimination of middle eastern groups not just on their race but also the idea of their population. Such a concept is known as intersectionality where preconceived prejudices of a group will also be tied to multiple other forms of discrimination (Lei & Bodenhausen 2017). This fosters hostility and racial phobias which can further divide society as certain groups are often depicted as violent and radical (Alrimawi 2014). Intersectionality applies to both versions of the cartoon as DuckTales 1987 shows middle easterners to be sly and cowardly thieves while the 2017 version just replaces these prejudices by depicting them as a group blindly devoted to their traditions and honour, despite the slightly positive spin on it.
Even so, modern cartoons are still argued to have improved racial representation as the 2017 version of the characters are often shown as real people and not just a caricature of their culture. Since 1987’s Dijon has more screen time compared to 2017’s Faris Dijinn, it is still hard to conclude if the stereotypes are merely being replaced. Regardless, the portrayals that are currently present shows Faris Djinn to be a caring, grateful and understanding person despite his short-sightedness when it comes to his culture and tradition. This is a positive implication for the youth as it shows that every character has both strengths and flaw which may be influenced by their upbringing but does not define everyone in that population. Stereotyping races in media and older cartoons have caused discrimination to occur on multiple fronts, for example, black people are often also assumed to be poor and dangerous (Lei & Bodenhausen 2017). By letting the characters in contemporary cartoons have traits that exceed their stereotype, no matter the race would allow intersectional discrimination to possibly reduce among the youth. Therefore, racial representation in cartoons has improved over the years with a lesser reliance on stereotyping minority characters.
4.3 Character importance
In addition, modern cartoons have better racial representation as the characters play a more active role in the narrative as compared to older cartoons. This is stated as minority races are not usually the ones to save the day but instead needs saving from the main characters (Odinino 2014). For example in DuckTales 1987, the ambiguously raced character of Gene the Genie was in constant need of saving by the main cast (Magon 1987). Even if the character of colour was the inciting incident to the story, Gene’s contribution was ultimately scarce and forgettable. Gene the Genie, despite being a magical entity was implied to be middle eastern due to his outfit and origins, has been reduced to a damsel in distress character in need of constant saving from the main cast. DuckTales 2017 managed to better represent character importance by putting a Mexican character in heroic and leading situations. The character of Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera, formally known as Fenton Crackshell in 1987, has been depicted as a Mexican scientist that lives with his single mother while being a part-time superhero known as Gizmoduck (Youngberg 2017). Changing his ethnicity between the two versions has allowed the writers to represent Fenton, a surrogate for Mexican viewers, as a smart, goofy and loveable hero. Between the two characters, Gene the Genie saved the cast a mere 2 times in the 5 episode movie special he was in while the white characters saved the cast 6 times (Magon 1987, DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp). In contrast with DuckTales 2017, Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera saved the cast 11 times in the 5 episodes he was a part of while in those same episodes, the white characters saved the cast 6 times (Youngberg 2017, Season 1 episodes 11, 18, 23; Season 2 episodes 10, 15). With this, it can be seen in DuckTales 1987 that the people of colour only contributed significantly 25% of the time while DuckTales 2017 has the minority characters saving the day 64.7% more. The pictures below illustrate the difference in importance that the characters of colour posses between the two cartoons. Allowing more modern cartoons to break the mould of having the white characters act as the saviours every single time challenges normative society’s view on these races and shows the improvement in racial representation.
Despite that, it can be counter-argued that these characters are still not the main characters of the cartoon and hence would never be as important to the narrative. Even if DuckTales 2017 allows for certain characters to take the spotlight, the frequency of it is still not enough to justify proper racial representation. As established in the previous section, characters that do not have much screen time would be riddled with stereotypes in order to form quicker connections to the target audience (Coyne & Whitehead 2008). Putting these characters in an ensemble will also limit the capacity in which they are allowed to act, thus defaulting their core character traits back to stereotypes and reduced importance (Odinino 2014). This involves both normative media theory and intersectionality theory as the slight increase in screen time allocated to these characters would only provide more opportunities for the cartoons to reflect normative society and be further marginalised for their race due to various other factors (Fourie 2017; Lei & Bodenhausen 2017). For instance, characters such as Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera would now be a reflection of normative society because, despite his intellect, still remain as an unappreciated subordinate to a white scientist. The stereotype of minority races being poor and lower on the social class compared to white characters and being raised in broken homes can also be seen with Fenton’s 2017 character.
Nevertheless, it can still be argued that modern cartoons allow for different raced characters have important contributions to the narrative. Even though these characters are not the leading roles in their cartoons, DuckTales 2017 has episodes devoted to both Fenton and Faris Djinn as main characters. With each increasing episode where these characters are in the spotlight, more of their personalities would be shown as these characters are not utilised in a one-off fashion akin to older cartoons such as DuckTales 1987. Carter (2010, pp. 499-508) noted that by having more cartoons depict the many different facets as well as connections to certain cultures, a critique and understanding of said culture can be formed. Not only that, but other modern cartoons such as Star vs the Forces of Evil has one of its main characters named Marco Diaz being of Mexican descent (Nefcy 2015). Besides, this paper only calculated the saves from both Fenton and Genie from their respective episodes, excluding other characters of colour and their roles, especially in the 2017 version. Thus an ever-increasing presence and importance of the roles of minority races in modern cartoons can be observed. This is especially important to the influence of the youth as normative theory can also be applied in order to show the hardworking and positive natures of other races (Fourie 2017). Having intersectionality in cartoons to represent race is unavoidable but can be improved on by providing more positive traits along with a respectful depiction would allow for the youth form better ideas of other races (Keys 2014).
The implications that DuckTales 1987 had on the youth of the time was one that saw the whites as the heroes of society while the other races are either villains or in need of saving. This caused many issues in third world countries, now dubbed the white saviour complex, as western nations impose their will on local cultures to “save” them from poverty through development aid (Straubhaar 2014, pp. 381-400). Even though aiding other nations in development is not inherently negative, the perception that the whites are the main characters of society is harmful. This is because the lack of understanding of local cultures be westerners would more often than not place the third world nation in a worse state after the whites leave (Straubhaar 2014, pp. 381-400). The positive implication of having modern cartoons increasing the chances for equal spotlight allows the youths of minority races to feel empowered while educating the majority races to see others as equals. Hence, contemporary cartoons have better racial representation due to the importance as it allows minority races to have significant contributions to the story.
Conclusion
To conclude, racial representation in cartoons have evolved positively over the years. This can be observed with the number of character appearances that DuckTales 2017 is twice as much as the original 1987 version of the cartoon. Contemporary cartoons can also be argued to have better racial representation as they do not rely as much on stereotypes for characters of colour. This is a luxury afforded to them due to the increased screen time they allocated for such characters. By allowing these characters to have more spotlight, a greater deal of traits can be given to these characters as individuals rather than a representation of a group. Furthermore, this also allows the different raced characters to have more importance in the story and increased chances of being the hero. Through these cartoons, the youth can be influenced to be more understanding of other races, fostering a new normative and democratic society in the process. Therefore it is argued that racial representation in modern cartoons is better than older cartoons. Regardless, this paper could have benefitted from more data gathered from a wider set of cartoons and networks to provide a more accurate view of how much racial representation has actually changed. Nevertheless, the comparison and critical analysis carried out on DuckTales 1987 and 2017, has shown the positive trends of racial representation and the possible implications for future generations.
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