Where are the toys of color in Toy Story 3?

Leslie — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:03:51 +0000

Some might argue a kids’ movie packed with white characters is too easy a target in this multicultural age. I beg to differ.

My complaint about Toy Story 3 doesn’t stem just from a desire to see more diverse characters represented in a box office winner (and quality movie). Rather, my dissatisfaction has another dimension: merchandising. We all know how poorly represented people of color are in the mainstream toy market, and Pixar has missed a significant opportunity to address that gap in representation.

Critics of this idea might argue that including a toy of color in the film–and then creating an actual toy from the character–would be a losing proposition for Pixar, as toys of color are less popular than white character toys, even sometimes among children of color. I argue that Pixar has a large enough media platform and merchandising empire to influence the attitudes of all kinds of children toward multicultural play.

In this age, why must Jessie be a redhead? Or solely a redhead? Why can’t she be, say, Latina? Couldn’t Pixar’s merchandising division offer variations on characters so that children can see themselves represented in their everyday play, if not in the movie?

What are your thoughts?

African American superheroes: a round-up

Leslie — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 05:25:36 +0000

My husband is a comic book collector and increasingly our home is being taken over by action figures. But like most comic book characters, these action figures are white, white, and, um, white. I’d like my son to recognize diversity in superheroes, so I went looking for some African American and Black superheroes. (Future posts will look at other superheroes of color.) Here are the resources I found:

List of black superheroes at Wikipedia
The Museum of Black Superheroes
Comic Books Enrich Their Character Mix
Glyphs blog at PopCultureShock
East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention
Africomics
Paradigm: Ethnic superheroes and their creators
The Ormes Society: “an organization dedicated to supporting black female comic creators and promoting the inclusion of black women in the comics industry as creators, characters and consumers”
The Carl Brandon Society: “dedicated to addressing the representation of people of color in the fantastical genres such as science fiction, fantasy and horror. We aim to foster dialogue about issues of race, ethnicity and culture, raise awareness both inside and outside the fantastical fiction communities, promote inclusivity in publication/production, and celebrate the accomplishments of people of color in science fiction, fantasy and horror.”
Pioneering cartoonists of color

Want to buy superhero of color figures for your kids or your favorite ~~comic book geek~~ action figure collector? Here are some available online:

The Multicultural Toybox» figures and figurines

Where are the toys of color in Toy Story 3?

African American superheroes: a round-up