Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Disney Race and Gender Data

Primary Protagonist in Disney Animated Theatrical Releases with Human Lead


38 Main Human Protagonists
    
29/38 white characters (76.31%)
      3/29 (10.34%) white characters are inhuman for large portions of their movie
             Pinocchio - puppet (still recognizably white)
             The Sword in the Stone - squirrel, sparrow, fish
             Little Mermaid - mermaid (still recognizably white)
9/38 characters of color (23.68%)
      3/9 (33%) characters of color are inhuman for large portions of their movie
            The Emperors New Groove - llama
            Brother Bear - bear
            Princess and the Frog -frog

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Ratings Raw Data (1992-2012)



Besides ParaNorman, there have been only two American animated theatrical releases in the past two decades that overtly dealt with any LGBTQ characters or themes. In South Parks: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, the characters Satan and Saddam Hussein are gay lovers; and in Aqua Teen Hunger Force (colon) Movie Film for Theaters, the character Frylock declares himself a transsexual lesbian trapped in a man's body, and the end credit scene shows Frylock as a woman. These were also the only two R-rated films released during this time.

In the last twenty years, 95% of the American animated films released were rated G or PG.
Although animation primarily targets the family audience, if we look at the data by decade we can see a gentle but persistent slide in what is considered an appropriate and marketable rating.  From 1992-2001 74% of the films were G rated and 20% were PG. But from 2002-2012 only 27% of the movies were G rated while 68% were PG. Additionally, from 2002-2012 the number of animated films released doubled from 55 to 110.

- ParaNorman's Mitch: First Family-Friendly Gay Animated Character