The Character Mosaic Project aims to make diverse characters more accessible thereby encouraging animators and filmmakers to make more ethnically inclusive stories.
As these characters get refined, they will be made available to broader audiences as international and domestic animation professionals will be able to use them in their films as well. This project will bring attention to (and address) a very important issue in mainstream media and step away from limited stereotypes and unfair projections.
Sheryl Browne Graves speaks to this directly in the Journal of Social Issues:
“Television programming provides information about social groups in two ways: by inclusion and by exclusion. When diverse groups are included, television content offers specific examples of the physical, psychological, social, cultural, and economic characteristics of each group. However when groups are absent from the television curriculums there is implication that the missing groups are unimportant, inconsequential, and Powerless. Both types of information can contribute to the development, maintenance, and modification of children's thoughts, feelings, and actions towards racial/ethnic groups.”
It is hoped these characters will begin a new movement to represent a multitude of nationalities and
cultures around the world. By creating meaningful characters we hope to provide a new cast of
role-models for younger generations, thereby allowing them to empathize with other races and
cultures and attribute a sense of familiarity to them.
