Big Hero 6 and Asian American representation in animation with Stephanie Cheng - a podcast by Sean Niu

In Episode 16 Stephanie Cheng joins us to revisit Disney's Big Hero 6 and examine Asian American representation in animation. Steph is an animation industry insider having worked at Dreamworks and now building Netflix's animation studio. We start by sharing how it felt to just see Asian American protagonists exist naturally in a story that is not explicitly about their ethnicity or culture. (9:55) We then debate whether it matters if a well researched movie that feels genuinely inclusive is not made by any creative leads of the relevant minority. (15:46) Later, Steph gives her expert take on the state of Asian American representation in animation today. (24:15) before giving us a fascinating lesson on the subtle challenges facing animation artists in accurately and respectfully portraying different ethnicities. (35:15)

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