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The Colored Cartoon: Black Representation in American Animated Short Films, 1907-1954

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Written by Christopher P. Lehman (Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, Saint Cloud State University), The Colored Cartoon: Black Representation in American Animated Short Films, 1907-1954 is a scholarly study of the depiction of African-Americans in early American cartoons - a representation that was overwhelmingly grounded in caricatures from the culture of southern slavery. During the 1920s, when sound-synchronized cartoons were the new wave, animators began to blend black stereotypes with the expressions of jazz musicians and Hollywood actors. In the 1930's, the film industry started to segregate African Americans from others, particularly from the white females. At the same time, animators would tap into African-American culture by creating animal characters like Bugs Bunny which had traits associated with African-Americans yet were not identifiably black. By the 1950's, the advent of civil rights started to erode the prevalence of African-American portrayals in the animated medium, though animated films continue with negative renditions to this day. The Colored Cartoon studies the history and legacy of African-American animated cinema imagery with an eye to what can be learned from the past and how these lessons shape the future. Enthusiastically recommended for scholars and students of animation, as well as animated cinema reading lists.

The only samples of actual racist cartoons,as far as artwork goes is on the cover-which is a little disappointing...after all,a picture is worth a thousand words. Particularly when illustrating the unbridled racism that existed in the 20's,30's,40's and on up to the 60's.