A study of the British animation industry’s approach to equality, diversity, and inclusion 2000-2020

The aim of this thesis is to investigate equality, diversity and inclusion in British preschool animation. This was examined through on-screen depictions and participation within the British Animation Industry. In order to do this, this thesis conducted a semiotic content analysis and a narrative, thematic qualitative content analysis. The programmes selected for analysis in this thesis are Peppa Pig (winner of the BAFTA Preschool Animation in 2005, 2011 and 2012), Charlie and Lola (BAFTA winners in 2007 and 2008), Timmy Time (winners in 2010 and 2013), Sarah & Duck (winner in 2014) and Numberblocks (winner in 2019). In addition, this thesis included JoJo and Gran Gran in its analysis, which was first broadcast in 2020, after the preschool BAFTA award was suspended. These programmes were all examined against the protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010. These protected characteristics are sex, race, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religious belief, marriage and civil partnership, and finally, pregnancy and maternity. In addition, the names of creators, writers, directors and animators of these programmes were gathered using on-screen credits. This data was then compared to census data compiled by the UK Government to identify how the depictions of characters on-screen and participation within the industry compare with the British population. The data revealed that equality, diversity and inclusion do not exist on-screen when looking at the combined data from all programmes. The analysis revealed that representation across all protected characteristics was below the demographics of the British population and that several characteristics were not depicted at all on-screen. Male characters were over represented on-screen and within the animation industry. Additionally, the participation of women within the animation industry was low within the three roles identified as most likely to influence
depictions on-screen, creator, writer and director.