Stereotypes in American Animated Film

This text deals with the representation of African-Americans as the Other in the context of a number of films made in the 30’s and the 40’s. Some of the films, although technically and aesthetically brilliant – and in some cases elevated to the status of classics – are nowadays banned, mostly because of their controversial topics and fixed representations of African-Americans. The ideological critique of films in the text focuses on the roots of racism, which had their popular representations (minstrel, vaudeville, stereotypes in literature) even before the creation of film, on ethnicity and humour, thematic similarities in the presentation of stereotypes and connections between jazz and animation. Primarily, the analysis is focused on films made in the Warner Brothers studios.

The integral version of this article can be found in the printed KINO!