ON RACE AND POWER: TWO DECADES OF REPRESENTATIONS OF THE ‘OTHER’ IN DISNEY 3D ANIMATION FILMS
Abstract
The Walt Disney Company has achieved iconic status, following its widespread and sustained influence. Its products have become a major part of popular culture, attracting significant viewership from different categories of audiences around the globe. This study examined the representation of the ‘other’ (people of colour) in Disney’s 3D animation films. It adopted a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of 3 Disney 3D animation films that won the Academy Awards (Oscars) in the animation film category from 2016‒ 2020. Findings from this study suggest that Disney is shifting from the stereotypical, prejudiced and particularly belittling representations of people of colour to more nuanced ones. The study found that characters of colour, males especially, are now being portrayed in more diverse, prominent and positive ways. These emerging patterns of representation counter earlier assertions that the film company’s negative portrayals of this category of people have not changed much over the years. However, while it would seem that people of colour are now portrayed in multiple, varied and particularly positive ways in Disney 3D animation films, traces of stereotypical portrayals, especially of women of colour were also observed. This study argues that these stereotypical representations, as well as the invisibility of women of colour, are aimed towards sustaining existing hegemonic structures. Nevertheless, the study concludes that a strong dissension is happening in 3D animation films dedicated to people of colour, as co-written and co-directed by persons of colour themselves who seem to focus on complex, non-stereotypical representations of this category of people to undermine problematic ones. To build on the emerging changes in the representation of people of colour, this study advocates for the production of more big-budget 3D animation feature films depicting both the lived and beautiful experiences of people of colour within and outside of Hollywood. It also recommends that Black women’s rights groups should advocate for more inclusion of women of colour in 3D animation films towards the achievement of gender parity on screen.
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