For my final project in my Digital Media Literacy class, I created an interactive timeline about Disney’s negative depictions of people of color (POC). My project is titled Transformation, Fascination, and Racialization: A Look at Disney’s Depictions of People of Color in Animated Films through the Years. I was inspired to choose this topic after watching a trailer for the upcoming Disney Pixar film Soul (2020). Initially, I was excited to see this movie would feature Pixar’s first black character in a lead role. My excitement quickly turned to frustration when this character dies suddenly and transforms into a tiny blue soul. I felt a strange sense of déjà vu as I realized the majority of the film would follow this man’s afterlife as a blue soul, not his lived experience as a black man. I wondered to myself, “How many times has Disney represented people of color through unhuman characters?” When presented with the opportunity to analyze a media topic for my final project, I knew this was the perfect subject to explore.
My research opened my eyes to the subtle racist undertones in animated films from the 90s and 00s. These undertones bled over from volatile times in Western history and included neocolonial media agendas, the Orientalization of Eastern cultures, the fetishization of several princesses of color, and racist caricatures clear as day in many beloved animated classics. At times, I wished I could double or triple my required number of slides so that I could shine a light on all these disturbing aspects! Nevertheless, I stayed grounded in my topic of negative depictions of POC that involved animal elements (i.e. racialized anthropomorphic animals, “uncivilized” human POC characters, and characters of color that turn into animals or mythical creatures).
I enjoyed completing my project’s technical aspects. TimelineJS is a great software for creating and displaying interactive content. It did not take very long to get the hang of using this application. Similarly, uploading my audio to SoundCloud was a good experience. This was my first time using SoundCloud, but I will definitely utilize it again for storing and sharing audio files. Because I couldn’t display multiple pictures on one slide, I created photo collages of my examples on PowerPoint, uploaded the collages to Flickr, and embedded the files into my timeline. These collages were very useful in the early stages of researching and presenting my topic. Filming my last videos was bittersweet. It’s hard to believe my Digital Media Literacy class is coming to a close. I will take with me a host of new content creation skills and a sharper lens for analyzing media. I leave with you my final project, enjoy!
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