Why Are There So Few Women In Animation?

Of course, to fully explain the gender disparities in animation — and any part of entertainment for that matter — we must discuss the culture-wide epidemic of harassment, abuse, and discrimination. In October 2017, 217 women and gender nonconforming people in animation sent a letter to more than a dozen studios, including Disney, demanding an end to sexism and sexual harassment in the animation industry. As the open letter noted:

In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, many of the women who work in animation have begun discussing more openly issues that we have dealt with quietly throughout our careers. As we came together to share our stories of sexism, sexual harassment and, in some cases, sexual assault, we were struck by the pervasiveness of the problem. Every one of us has a story to share, from tossed-off comments about our body parts that were framed as “jokes” to women being cornered in dark rooms by male colleagues to criminal assault.

Animation is a relatively small industry, where everyone knows everyone and speaking out can often feel like putting your career on the line. Even in the supposed #MeToo era, many felt that their fears would be ignored and nothing would come of any allegations made. In a 2016 BuzzFeed report on Adult Swim’s terrible track record with hiring women, a former employee noted that executive vice-president Mike Lazzo declared in 2011 that women in writers’ rooms led to “conflict” rather than comedy. Some sources described an “aggressive office environment” defined by Lazzo’s own actions that contributed to women feeling unwelcome in the creative sphere of Adult Swim.

This concern felt especially familiar when John Lasseter, the former chief creative officer of Pixar and Disney Animation, was forced to take a sabbatical after admitting his own long history of “missteps” in behavior towards women employees. It was reported that Lasseter’s harassment, which included “grabbing, kissing, [and] making comments about physical attributes,” was so well-known at the company that Pixar had “minders who were tasked with reining in his impulses.”

After leaving the company in 2018 (though not before being allowed to stay in a consulting role for several months), Lasseter was almost immediately hired to head the newly formed animation division at Skydance. Indeed, while Peggy Holmes is not credited as the director of “Luck” in its trailers, Lasseter is referenced as “the creative visionary behind Toy Story and Cars.” The animation industry, much like Hollywood as a whole, seems more concerned with consistently elevating the same handful of established white male voices, regardless of their abhorrent behavior towards women, than taking a chance on underrepresented talent. Who can blame women for not wanting to stick around in such a noxious situation?

None of this is specific to animation, but its concentrated force of misogyny and a lack of opportunities for non-cishet white male voices exemplifies the systemic rot at the heart of entertainment. The stories we consume would benefit from being as diversely told as possible, creating a more accurate reflection of reality than what we are all too typically offered. For that to happen, the industry must actively work to stamp out the plague of workplace harassment and terror that marginalizes so many.