16 Comments
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This one was wonderful to research. Where culture, society and cartoons overlap.

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Indeed. I must admit I like how animations have reflected culture and changed to the changing times. They really have an influence, more than we fully know!

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Thanks Kate. He is worth finding out about for sure 😁

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Thanks Charlie, it was fascinating to research this one.

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Like many others here, I don't know this one. Thanks for enlightening me! It's interesting that in new cartoons, I see few people at all, as if animators are avoiding inclusivity. I wonder? However, some have added characters to that effect - Fireman Sam has added a south Asian and Black characters as well as one in a wheelchair.

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I agree. Over time cartons have started to embrace a more inclusive attitude to their animations. Not seen Fireman Sam for ages. Used to love Bella Lasagne 😎

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I think animated people vs animals/aliens/others seems to go in and out of fashion. I’m not so sure that it’s avoiding inclusivity questions, so much as following what the market wants? After all, representation can still happen without “people” in shows: ‘Hey, Duggee’ has a character that is clearly adopted, despite them all being animals, for example.

(Thinking about what my nieces watch, their favourite animated shows don’t have human characters, but they do watch a mix of animation and live-acted programmes, which are pretty inclusive on the whole.)

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Great example. Plus there are so many different kinds of inclusion. I don't know much about animation trends other than what I've subjectively witnessed.

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I’m the same, but I’ve seen a lot more over the last 9 years of babysitting 😂

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I’ve not heard of this one, but great post as always! Thanks, Jon :)

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Another one that I don't know! But I enjoyed reading about this superhero :)

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Fascinating read, Jon! Thank you!

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I can’t say I’m familiar with Great Lightning but so interesting to read the backstory, thanks for sharing. I would love to see the original storyboards though!

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Thanks for the comment. That’s a great idea. Will do some of those in future posts.

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Wow it’s fascinating to read how this superhero brought diversity to the forefront. I’ve not heard of this cartoon but I’ll have to give it a go :)

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Again, i haven’t heard of the character or the series, but clearly played a role historically. Interesting stuff! 😁

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