No Face, No Race? Racial Politics of Voice Actor Casting in Popular Animated Films¹

Abstract

Racial politics in animated films has long been an important topic for scholars, but racial diversity in the casting of voice actors for animated films has been understudied. This article examines patterns in voice actor casting among 850 characters from 170 animated films released from 1989 to 2019. Because characters in animated films are not bound by voice actors' physical attributes, especially given that many animated characters are not even human, we consider the concepts of color-blind and color-conscious casting to understand the racial politics of voice actor casting. Our findings show that racial inequality and white dominance are a categorical reality in the animated film industry and that culturally specific film settings provide opportunities for voice actors of color. However, we also find that both color-blind and color-conscious casting can limit the realization of diverse and inclusive casting in animated films that feature fantastical, imaginative characters.