Academic paper argues Oscar-nominated animated films reinforce White privilege and racist narratives
Three professors say mainstream animated films often reinforce White privilege and recycle racist cultural storylines, according to a new academic paper they co-authored.
Natalie Khazaal, director of the Middle Eastern and North African studies programs and an associate professor of Arabic at Georgia Tech; Ellen Gorsevski, an associate professor at Bowling Green; and Tobias Linné, head of the communication department at Lund University in Sweden, recently published an analysis examining racism and “speciesism” in major animated movies.
Their paper, published Jan. 6, is titled “Media Analysis of Racism and Speciesism (MARS) test finds Oscars so AnthropoScenic in contemporary animated films.” It reviews Oscar-nominated animated films from 2016 through 2024 and argues that the genre has a mixed history when it comes to racial representation.
In their assessment, the authors contend that Hollywood animation has repeatedly drawn on “white privilege” and relied on harmful cultural narratives. They contrast different films’ approaches, writing that some titles elevate Black culture while others, in their view, position Black characters or coded identities as inferior—adding that animation overall has struggled to fully move beyond negative stereotypes and unfair treatment of racial minorities.
To conduct the review, the scholars say they applied what they call the Media Analysis of Racism and Speciesism (MARS) test, which they describe as a practical framework meant for scholars, creators, and general audiences. They used it to evaluate portrayals and character interactions in films including Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Although Into the Spider-Verse won an Oscar, the authors argue that parts of the film can still be read as racially problematic. They point to the introduction of Miles Morales—the first Black Spider-Man in the series—alongside Spider-Ham, a character they say is mocked for being a pig, and they question whether featuring a Black lead may have influenced awards recognition.
The paper proposes a set of guiding questions for filmmakers, researchers, and viewers to decide whether a movie “passes” or “fails” under their framework. Among them: whether racialized characters are reduced to simplistic or harmful stereotypes; whether nonhuman characters fall into “speciesist” stereotypes (such as pests or threats); whether the story ignores shared roots of racial and species-based oppression; and whether it frames movements against racial oppression and species-based oppression as competing rather than connected.
Beyond individual character portrayals, the authors also connect animated storytelling to broader themes such as immigration enforcement, capitalism, climate issues, and incarceration.
As one example, they discuss Pixar’s 2021 film Luca, set on the Italian Riviera. The movie follows a boy who is a sea monster but can take human form on land. The scholars argue that the story treats “humanness” and “whiteness” as superior and ultimately rewards the protagonists for assimilating into human society. They further claim that the boys’ acceptance comes with an environmental and moral cost, describing a dynamic where the dominant group benefits while nonhuman life is depleted.
