An Anti-Racist Animation Syllabus
The resources below were originally compiled in response to an email my colleague Kodi Maier sent to the Society for Animation Studies listserv in order to begin a conversation and resource exchange aimed at defining best practices for creating an anti-racist classroom in our subfield. I would like to once again thank Kodi for taking the initiative to remind us of our collective responsibility as scholars, educators, and human beings.
An anti-racist classroom is impossible without a conscious effort to design animation syllabi which amplify non-White voices and celebrate the creative and scholarly achievements of people of colour as an integral, rather than a nominal, aspect of the course. This may seem self-explanatory, and yet the syndrome of the “token week” (on race, on anime, on the entire continent of Africa) continues to plague many an animation course (and I have been guilty of this as well). To do better involves a constant effort to first un-learn (the disciplinary canon, White auteur worship, Eurocentrism) in order to successfully teach. After all, stagnation goes against every core animation principle.
Liyana (Amanda Kopp and Aaron Kopp, 2017).
Simple syllabus design questions to ask oneself include: Whose films serve as my main case studies? Whose articles and books will shape students’ understanding of animation? When is the last time I needed subtitles during a screening? There are no wrong answers here, but there are White ones.
The resources below, put together in an effort to begin unlearning, are meant to offer a representative sample of films and readings (both scholarly and popular). This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather an attempt to highlight a broad range of creative and scholarly works by and about POC that can foster productive classroom discussion and/or provide useful teaching tools. The list is, by virtue of my educational background and location, skewed towards a North American/Anglophone perspective, and inevitably limited by its own context. For this reason, it is my hope that the materials below can serve as a starting point for an extended, ongoing conversation within the field. I am keenly aware that, as a White scholar contributing to this discussion, it is my job to make room, not occupy it.
Finally, this post is scheduled to go live on June 19th, or Juneteenth, a date commemorating the announcement of the end of slavery in Texas. Every year, this holiday celebrates the legacy – one of strength, perseverance, and honor – of generations of enslaved African Americans. But Juneteenth, as noted by Vann R. Newkirk II in this 2017 piece for The Atlantic, also “marks the observance of a victory delayed, of foot dragging and desperate resistance by white supremacy against the tide of human rights.” In 2020, in the wake of mass global protests against rampant police brutality disproportionately directed at Black Americans across the US, Juneteenth comes as a reminder that, as long as white supremacy continues to kill, indifference – be it personal, political, or pedagogical – will never be a neutral choice.
The Night is Short, Walk on Girl (Masaaki Yuasa, 2017).
Selected Recent Features with Protagonists of Colour and/or directed by POC:
Approved for Adoption (Jung and Laurent Boileau, 2012)
Aya of Yop City (Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie, 2019)
Big Hero 6 (Don Hall and Chris Williams, 2014)
Boy and the World (Alê Abreu, 2013)
Coco (Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina, 2017)
Funan (Denis Do, 2019)
Green Days (Ahn Jae-Hoon and Han Hye-jin, 2011)
Have a Nice Day (Liu Jian, 2017)
Home (Tim Johnson, 2015)
Liyana (Amanda Kopp and Aaron Kopp, 2017) – thanks to Jason Cody Douglass for introducing me to this one
Ne Zha (Jiaozi, 2019)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, 2018)
Tehran Taboo (Ali Soozandeh, 2017)
The Breadwinner (Nora Twomey, 2017)
The King of Pigs (Yeon Sang-ho, 2011)
The Night is Short, Walk on Girl (Masaaki Yuasa, 2017)
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Isao Takahata, 2013)
The Wolf House (Joaquín Cociña and Cristóbal León, 2018)
Virus Tropical (Santiago Caicedo, 2017)
Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming (Ann Marie Fleming, 2016)
Hair Love (Matthew A. Cherry, 2019).
Selected Recent Shorts:
Bao (Domee Shi, 2018)
Carne (Carlos Gómez Salamanca, 2013),
Continuum (Noncedo Khumalo, 2017), https://vimeo.com/168003066
Deer Flower (Kim Kangmin, 2015), https://vimeo.com/219692884
Deyzangeroo (Ehsan Gharib, 2017), https://www.nfb.ca/film/deyzangeroo/
Four Faces of the Moon (Amanda Strong, 2016), https://vimeo.com/248095181
Fox Fears (Miyo Sato, 2015), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvZUcIpCsaw
Hair Love (Matthew A. Cherry, Everett Downing Jr., Bruce W. Smith, 2019), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNw8V_Fkw28
Jing Hua (Jerry Hyunh, 2019)
La Corteza de mi Abuela (Isidora Torrealba, 2017)
Luis (Diluvio, 2008), https://vimeo.com/5214935
Nutag-Homeland (Alisi Telengut, 2016).
Lumaajuuq (Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, 2010), https://www.nfb.ca/film/nunavut_animation_lab_lumaajuuq/
Maacher Jhol (Abhishek Verma, 2017)
Man on the Chair (Dahee Jeong, 2014)
Nutag-Homeland (Alisi Telengut, 2016), https://vimeo.com/141286954
Pigtails (Yoshimi Itazu, 2015)
Prita Noire (Sofía Carrillo, 2011), https://vimeo.com/23990638
Requiem for Romance (Jonathan Ng, 2012), https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2013/08/11/requiem-for-romance/
Revoltoso (Roy Ambriz and Vonno A. Ambriz, 2016), https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=QUG-liKiMAQ
Sanjay’s Super Team (Sanjay Patel, 2015)
Sea Child (Min-ha Kim, 2015), https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2016/10/04/sea-child/
Shinga Bekoe (Andrew Lunga, 2014), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5ruwDFqT5w
Substance (Jamaal Bradley, 2019), https://vimeo.com/360128253
The Fox of Shichigorosawa (Tune Sugihara, 2014)
The Mechanism of Spring (Atsushi Wada, 2010), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_48Cp-aJKc
The Mighty Grand Piton (Wesley Louis, 2019), https://vimeo.com/332632993
The Zoo (Julia Kwan, 2018), https://www.nfb.ca/film/zoo/
Valley of White Birds (Cloud Yang, 2017), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQnT3bHBAvs
Yellow Fever (Ng’endo Mukii, 2012), https://vimeo.com/122574484
More available at: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/channels/animation/
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Noelle Stevenson, 2018-2020).
Recent US TV Series Notable for Positive Representation of Diverse Characters:
Doc McStuffins (2012-2020)
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (2020-present)
Motown Magic (2018 – present)
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018-2020)
Steven Universe (2013-2019)
The Proud Family (Bruce W. Smith & Doreen Spicer, 2001-2005).
Useful for Discussion/Debate and/or Historical Context:
Afro Samurai (anime miniseries, 2007)
bro’Town (TV series, 2004-2009)
Static Shock (TV series, 2000-2004)
The Boondocks (TV series, 2005-2014)
The Cleveland Show (TV series, 2009-2013)
The Problem with Apu (Michael Melamedoff, 2017) – a documentary about the eponymous character from The Simpsons
The Proud Family (TV series, 2001-2005)
William Kentridge’s work (in relation to apartheid)
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (Mami Sunada, 2013).
Documentaries about Animation Artists of Colour:
Floyd Norman: An Animated Life (Michael Fiore and Erik Sharkey, 2016)
Moustapha Alassane, cinéaste du possible (Christian Lelong and Maria Silvia Bazzoli, 2008)
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (Mami Sunada, 2013)
Tyrus (Pamela Tom, 2015)
Selected Bibliography:
Animated Encounters: Transnational Movements of Chinese Animation, 1940s-1970s, by Daisy Yan Du
Animating Film Theory, Part IV: “Animation and the World,” edited by Karen Beckman
"Animating Indian production culture: an interview with animation filmmaker and educator Ram Mohan" by Timothy Jones, The South Asianist 2.3 (2013)
Animating the Spirited: Journeys and Transformations, edited by Tze-yue G. Hu, Masao Yokota, and Gyongyi Horvath
Animation in Asia and the Pacific, edited by John A. Lent
Animation in the Middle East: Practice and Aesthetics from Baghdad to Casablanca, edited by Stefanie van de Peer
Anime resources (a partial list): Anime: A Critical Introduction by Rayna Denison; Anime: A History by Jonathan Clements; Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation by Susan J. Napier; Anime Fan Communities: Transcultural Flows and Frictions by Sandra Annett; Anime’s Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan by Marc Steinberg; Cinema Anime: Critical Engagements with Japanese Animation, edited by Steven T. Brown; Interpreting Anime by Christopher Bolton; Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime, edited by Mark W. MacWilliams; The Anime Machine: A Media Theory of Animation by Thomas Lamarre
“Beyond Pink or Blue: Portrayals of Adolescence in Latin American Animated Film” by Milton Fernando González-Rodríuez, a chapter in the edited volume New Visions of Adolescence in Contemporary Latin American Cinema (Geoffrey Maguire, Rachel Randall)
Birth of an Industry: Blackface Minstrelsy and the Rise of American Animation by Nicholas Sammond
“Blackface, Happy Feet: The Politics of Race in Motion Capture and Animation” by Tanine Allison, a chapter in the edited volume Special Effects: New Histories/Theories/Contexts (Dan North, Bob Rehak, Michael S. Duffy)
“Blackness, Animation, and the Politics of Black Fatherhood in The Cleveland Show,” by Derrais Carter, Journal of African American Studies 14 (2010)
Black Women in Sequence: Re-Inking Comics, Graphic Novels and Anime by Deborah Elizabeth Whaley
Disney’s Most Notorious Film: Race, Convergence and the Hidden Histories of Song of the South by Jason Sperb
Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Disability, edited by Johnson Cheu
Nicholas Sammond, Birth of an Industry: Blackface Minstrelsy and the Rise of American Animation (Durham: Duke University Press Books, 2015).
Drawn to Sound: Animation Film Music and Sonicity, Part II: “Musical Intertextuality,” edited by Rebecca Coyle
Film Blackness: American Cinema and the Idea of Black Film, Chapter One: “Reckless Eyeballing: Coonskin and the Racial Grotesque,” by Michael Boyce Gillespie
“From The Simpsons to “The Simpsons of the South Pacific”: New Zealand’s First Primetime Animation, bro’Town” by Katalin Lustyik and Philippa Smith, Television & New Media 11.5 (2010)
Indian Accents: Brown Voice and Racial Performance in American Television and Film, Chapter Two: “Apu’s Brown Voice: The Simpsons and Indian American Accents” and Chapter Three: “Animating Gandhi: Historical Figures, Asian American Masculinity, and Model Minority Accents in Clone High”, by Shilpa S. Davé
“Indigenous Animation: Educational Programming, Narrative Interventions, and Children’s Cultures” by Joanna Hearne, a chapter in the edited volume Global Indigenous Media: Cultures, Poetics, and Politics (Pamela Wilson and Michelle Stewart)
Kids Rule! Nickelodeon and Consumer Citizenship, Ch.5 “Consuming Race on Nickelodeon,” by Sarah Banet-Weiser
“Kung Fu Panda: Animated Animal Bodies as Layered Sites of (Trans)National Identities,” by Hye Jean Chung, The Velvet Light Trap 69 (2012)
Mechademia journal, various articles: https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/461 (+ many more anime articles which would require a separate blog entry)
Peter Limb and Tejumola Olaniyan (eds.), Taking African Cartoons Seriously: Politics, Satire, and Culture (East Lansing: Michigan State University, 2018).
“New Vistas? Aboriginal Animation and Digital Dreams at the National Film Board of Canada” by Jennifer Gauthier, Journal of Media & Cultural Studies 28.4 (2014)
“Racism and Resistance: Black Stereotypes in Animation,” by Karl Cohen, Animation Journal 4.2 (1996)
“(Re)Claiming Cultural Identity: The NFB’s Eskimo Legends and Inuit Animation from Cape Dorset” by Suzanne Buchan, in the edited volume The Oxford Handbook of Canadian Cinema (Janine Marchessault and Will Straw)
“Remediations of Nonfiction: Animation, Interactivity and Documentary from Africa” by Paula Callus, Critical Interventions 11.3 (2017)
The Animation Studies Reader, Part 3: “Representation: Frames and Contexts”, edited by Nichola Dobson, Annabelle Honess Roe, Amy Ratelle and Caroline Ruddell
“The East Asian Post-Human Prometheus: Animated Mechanical ‘Others’” by Joon Yang Kim, a chapter in the edited volume Pervasive Animation (Suzanne Buchan)
“Thoughts about Halo: Race and Violence and the Muslim Superhero” by Francis M. Agnoli, https://www.fantasy-animation.org/current-posts/2019/7/4/thoughts-about-halo-race-and-violence-and-the-muslim-superhero
“Toward an Indigenous Feminine Animation Aesthetic” by Channette Romero, Studies in American Indian Literatures, vol. 29, no. 1 (2017), pp. 56-87
Tunes for ‘Toons: Music and the Hollywood Cartoon by Daniel Goldmark
Animation Studies 2.0 blog:
“Animation’s Uncharted Territories and the Archive Issue: The Tunisian Case” by Maya Ben Ayed, https://blog.animationstudies.org/?p=3511
Asian Animation entries: https://blog.animationstudies.org/?cat=516
“National” Animation entries: https://blog.animationstudies.org/?cat=140
“Racialized Voice Acting and Transracial Voice Casting of Animated Animals” by Kara Lynn Andersen, https://blog.animationstudies.org/?p=3074
“Stronger than You: Garnet as Queer Icon” by Jake Pitre, https://blog.animationstudies.org/?p=1970
Animation Studies (peer-reviewed open-access online journal):
“A Pig, The State, and War: Porco Rosso (Korenai no Buta)” by Daisuke Akimoto, https://journal.animationstudies.org/daisuke-akimoto-a-pig-the-state-and-war-porco-rosso/
“Animating Indianness: A Study of Assimilating Indian Images in a Western Narrative” by Paritosh Singh, https://journal.animationstudies.org/paritosh-singh-animating-indianness-a-study-of-assimilating-indian-images-in-a-western-narrative/
“In Search of a ‘New Wind’: Experimental, Labour Intensive and Intermedial Animation in 1950s and 60s Japan” by Jason Douglass, https://journal.animationstudies.org/jason-douglass-in-search-of-a-new-wind-winner/
“Reaching Out to Touch: Animation and Aboriginal Children in Taiwan,” by Zhi-Ming Su, https://journal.animationstudies.org/zhi-ming-su-reaching-out-to-touch/
“Rhythm to Reliance: The Globalized Discourse of Indian Animation” by Timothy Jones, https://journal.animationstudies.org/timothy-jones-rhythm-to-reliance-the-globalized-discourse-of-indian-animation/
“The Introspective Merlion: Transculturalism in Singaporean Animation” by Qing Sheng Ang, https://journal.animationstudies.org/category/volume-14/qing-sheng-ang-the-introspective-merlion-transculturalism-in-singaporean-animation/
“Uses of Arabic Calligraphy in Religious Animated Films,” by Tariq Alrimawi, https://journal.animationstudies.org/category/volume-12/tariq-alrimawi-uses-of-arabic-calligraphy-in-religious-animated-films/
Special issue on transnational animation: https://journal.animationstudies.org/category/transnational-animation/
Links to Online BIPOC Animation Resources:
“A Tribute to African-American Animation Artists” by Amid Amidi, https://www.cartoonbrew.com/animators/a-tribute-to-african-american-animation-artists-57937.html
“All-Indigenous Animation Hothouse & More Progress for NFB Action Plan,” by Mercedes Milligan, https://www.animationmagazine.net/people/all-indigenous-animation-hothouse-more-progress-for-nfb-action-plan/
“Australia Just Launched its First-Ever Animated Series about Indigenous Children” by Marnie Cunningham, https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/an-australian-television-first-a-cartoon-for-indig/
“Black Girl Animators Collective Aims to Make Animation More Inclusive” by Teryn Payne, https://www.teenvogue.com/story/black-girl-animators-collective-taylor-shaw-interview
“Black Women in Animation Launch Call for Action” by Ann-Marie Corvin, https://variety.com/2020/film/festivals/black-female-animators-launch-call-action-wia-virtual-summit-1234638316/
“CalArts Animation Student: ‘If I Don’t Draw Black Characters, Who Will?” by Amid Amidi, https://www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-commentary/calarts-animation-student-dont-draw-black-characters-will-137372.html
“Celebrating Indigenous Culture Through Animated Film” by John Ahni Schertow, https://intercontinentalcry.org/celebrating-indigenous-culture-animated-film/
“Comedy Central Orders Daria Spinoff Starring Tracee Ellis Ross,” by Megh Wright, https://www.vulture.com/2020/06/jodie-tracee-ellis-ross-mtv-daria-spinoff.html
“Eight Animated Series with Black Leads to Look out for” by Victoria Johnson, https://comicsalliance.com/animated-series-black-lead-characters/
“From Kickstarter to Kickin’ It at the Oscars: Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver Talk Hair Love” by Tonja Renée Stidhum, https://thegrapevine.theroot.com/from-kickstarter-to-kickin-it-at-the-oscars-matthew-a-1841461506
“Frozen 2’s Bizarre Storyline about Reparations, Explained” by Inkoo Kang, https://slate.com/culture/2019/11/frozen-2-reparations-northuldra-twist-ending-spoilers.html
“How Anime Short The Mighty Grand Piton puts Caribbean Culture at the Forefront,” by Sajae Elder, https://www.thefader.com/2019/05/09/how-anime-short-the-mighty-grand-piton-puts-caribbean-culture-at-the-forefront
“How Black Women Animate and Cartoon Network are Supporting Black Women Animators,” by Dominique Fluker, https://www.forbes.com/sites/dominiquefluker/2018/10/29/blackwomenanimate/#4893afe2420a
“Increasing Inclusion in Animation: Investigating Opportunities, Challenges, and the Classroom to the C-Suite Pipeline,” by Stacy L. Smith et al, http://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/aii-inclusion-animation-201906.pdf
“In Toon with the Times: Diversity in American Commercial Animation” by Mihaela Mihailova, https://www.flowjournal.org/2019/09/in-toon-with-the-times/
“Meet the Man Behind Japan’s First Major Black-Owned Anime Studio,” by Dana Givens, https://www.blackenterprise.com/meet-the-man-behind-japans-first-major-black-owned-anime-studio/
“Now Starring in Children’s Cartoons: Authentic Indigenous Characters,” by Mandalit del Barco, https://www.npr.org/2019/07/17/740804272/now-starring-in-childrens-cartoons-authentic-indigenous-characters
“Orlando’s Joint’: Urban, Stoned, and Running a Business” by Aymar Jean Christian, http://tvisual.org/2009/12/11/orlandos-joint-urban-stoned-and-running-a-business/
“‘People are Finally Listening’ – Indigenous Animation Rises Up” by Chris Robinson, https://culturedays.ca/en/blog/indigenous-animation-rises-up
“Rise Up Aims to Connect BIPOC Animators,” by Megan Haynes, https://kidscreen.com/2020/06/18/rise-up-aims-to-connect-bipoc-animators/
“Sonya Carey on Success, Diversity and Being a Black Woman in Animation, interview by Philip Mak, https://blog.toonboom.com/storytelling/sonya-carey-on-success-diversity-and-being-a-black-woman-in-animation
“Storytellers ‘Must Keep Pushing’: ‘Hair Love’ Producer Karen Rupert Toliver in WIA Statement on Protests,” by Mercedes Milligan, https://www.animationmagazine.net/people/storytellers-must-keep-pushing-hair-love-producer-karen-rupert-toliver-in-wia-statement-on-protests/
“Stunning Animated Game Helps Teach Endangered Aboriginal Language” by Ariel Bogle, https://mashable.com/2016/10/06/interactive-animation-indigenous-languages/
“The Challenges of Being Black in the Animation Industry (Video Discussion)” by Alex Dudok de Wit, https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-rights/the-challenges-of-being-black-in-the-animation-industry-video-discussion-193165.html
“The New Blackface Minstrelsy: When White Actors Voice Black Characters in Animation” by Jordan Simon, https://shadowandact.com/the-new-blackface-minstrelsy-when-white-actors-voice-black-characters-in-animation
“The New Pipeline for Black Women in Animation,” by Natelegé Whaley, https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xwjeaq/black-women-in-animation-careers
“Wununguru Awara: Animating Indigenous Knowledges,” https://www.monash.edu/arts/monash-indigenous-studies/wunungu-awara/overview
**Article published: June 19, 2020**
Biography
Mihaela Mihailova is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan Society of Fellows, with a joint appointment in the Department of Film, TV and Media. She has published in Feminist Media Studies, animation: an interdisciplinary journal, Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema, and Kino Kultura. She has also contributed chapters to Animating Film Theory (with John MacKay), Animated Landscapes: History, Form, and Function, The Animation Studies Reader, and Drawn from Life: Issues and Themes in Animated Documentary Cinema. She is currently editing a collection of essays titled Coraline: A Closer Look at Studio LAIKA’s Stop-Motion Witchcraft for Bloomsbury Publishing.