From 1900 to 1960, Hollywood’s greatest animators and biggest studios produced more than 600 cartoon shorts featuring black characters. These films reflected the racial stereotypes of the pre–Civil Rights Era, portraying blacks as less than human and as minstrel caricatures. It wasn’t until the late 1960s and early 1970s that Saturday morning television cartoons featured black animated characters in a positive and realistic manner. Funky Turns 40, from the Museum of Uncut Funk, explores these black animated characters and the impact they had on a generation of young folk.
Drawing on the rich and diverse collections of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Funky Turns 40 explores the ways in which people of African descent have been represented in art, photography and graphic media as well as stage, film, and television.
