A History Of Racism In Cartoons Retrospective (11/15)

 (Virtual) (Doors open 8pm EST-12am EST)

Prepare for an odyssey through Hollywood’s harmful & painful racist past through the pens & light boxes of some of its most harmful animators, when we pull the mask off major studios like Warner Bros’ role in re-enforcing racist tropes & stereotypes through coded language, symbols, & images!

This educational retrospective will not only cover the harmful racist history of Hollywood’s animation, but also the exploitation & lack of black cartoonist voices in the industry that only worked to further allow this type of dangerous representation through cartoons to exist.

First up, we will analyze the Looney Tune’s “Censored Eleven” cartoons, 11 cartoons that were put in the vaults of Warner Bros after public outcry to whitewash their culpability, with prints restored for the first time ever! We’re following these 11 films up with arguably the first black-animator lead controversial blaxploitation animation powerhouse; Coonkin! Directed by New York underground icon Ralph Bakshi, Bakshi hired a full team of black animators, allowing them to take the harmful tropes used in the first 11 films we’ve watched & throw them back in the face of the American public!

Starring Scatman Crothers & Barry White, with a narrative framing device that directly puts Disney’s “Songs Of the South” in the line of fire, this is a film you won’t wanna miss! We’ll be following up this retrospective with a panel of guests, including artists & animation historians!