From the British voices of Peter Pan’s Captain Hook and The Lion King’s Scar to the Eastern European Gru in the Minions universe, many villains in US cartoons feature foreign accents.
Now, a study claims that these accents are teaching children to distrust foreigners.
Researchers from the University of Toronto Mississauga analysed over 100 popular children’s films and TV shows.
They found that foreign and non–standard accents are ‘disproportionately’ used to depict villains.
In a lab experiment, the team then told children they were helping to choose voice actors for a new cartoon.
The kids heard the same actor use different accents and were asked which voice would be better for a hero and a villain.
The results revealed that foreign accents were ‘overwhelmingly’ chosen to represent negative characters.
‘By watching media which tends to depict foreign and non–standard accents negatively, participants may have formed general associations between other accents and villainy, which then influenced their decision–making process in the experiment,’ the researchers said.
Researchers from the University of Toronto Mississauga analysed over 100 popular children’s films and TV shows. They found that foreign and non–standard accents are ‘disproportionately’ used to depict villains. Pictured: Gru in Despicable Me
Researchers from the University of Toronto Mississauga analysed over 100 popular children’s films and TV shows. They found that foreign and non–standard accents are ‘disproportionately’ used to depict villains
Previous studies have shown that language biases appear at a young age.
However, exactly where they come from has remained a mystery.
Writing in their study, published in Child Development, the researchers explained: ‘Where these biases come from, and the reasons they increase over time, remain open questions in the field of developmental sociolinguistics.
‘Here, we focus on the depiction of accents in media and its potential role in influencing children’s language biases.’
The study included three experiments.
In the first, the team compiled a list of 105 popular animated films and TV shows from 95 seven–to–nine–year–olds, as well as their parents.
For each film or series, the researchers coded the accent of each character, and how good or evil they were depicted.
The results revealed that foreign accents were ‘disproportionately’ used to depict villains in both the children’s favourite films, and their parents’ top picks.
In the 1953 cartoon, Peter Pan, the villain, Captain Hook, is the only character with an English accent, while the hero has an American accent
In the second experiment, 91 seven–to–nine–year–old children and their parents were played clips of the same actor using different accents, and were asked which voice they would use for a hero and a villain. The results revealed that both the kids and adults were more likely to pick foreign accents for villains
‘We found no evidence that the situation has improved over time, with children encountering as much bias in their media as their parents’ generation did,’ the team explained.
In the second experiment, 91 seven–to–nine–year–old children and their parents were played clips of the same actor using different accents, and were asked which voice they would use for a hero and a villain.
The results of this experiment revealed that both the kids and adults were more likely to pick foreign accents for villains.
‘Perceptually, they thought foreign–accented voice actors were more suited for villain characters compared to locally accented voice actors,’ the team said.
Finally, the researchers repeated experiment two but with 80 five–to–six–year–olds, and 81 12–13–year–olds.
The results revealed that children’s language biases actually increase with age.
‘In Experiment 3, older children, in contrast to younger children, were more likely to associate the foreign accents in our study with villains,’ the team said.
According to the researchers, the findings paint a ‘rather bleak picture’.
In the 1994 Disney cartoon, The Lion King, the villain, Scar, has an English accent
They said: ‘Children’s language biases are pervasive, grow stronger with age (even in linguistically diverse societies), and may be exacerbated by children’s media, which underrepresents and misrepresents non–standard accents.’
Based on the findings, the researchers are calling for parents to encourage their children to watch more inclusive films and TV shows.
They concluded: ‘By embracing more mindful and inclusive programming, where non–standard accents are better represented and depicted more positively, children’s media might serve as a powerful tool for teaching children about language diversity and tolerance, and play an important role in mitigating (rather than exacerbating) children’s language biases.’
The study comes shortly after researchers claimed that cats are seen as cold and evil because of the way they’re portrayed in films and TV shows.
The research, by digital marketing agency Evoluted, found that 64 per cent of cats with important roles in television shows were shown in a negative light.
These include Sylvester the cartoon cat in his relentless, inept attempts to catch yellow canary Tweety, and the similar role of the cat in the Tom and Jerry cartoons.
Another example from the small screen is Mrs Whiskerson – the sphynx cat bought by Rachel in an episode of Friends which is met with horror when she brings it home.
