Disney's Western-centric skew revealed by map of where popular animated movies are set
Just four of the 124 films are located in South America and only seven in Africa
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Your support makes all the difference.Ever wondered where your favourite animated movies are set? Well today’s your lucky day, as a Slovakian designer has mapped it all out for you in one cool, handy infographic.
Martin Vargic, known for his Map of the Internet and Map of Stereotypes projects on Halycon Maps, has pinned the 124 most popular films of the genre onto a world map, and the results are illuminating - click here for a big picture.
There is a notably heavy concentration of movies in Europe and North America, clearly showing how Western-centric cinema remains. Just four of the most popular animated films of all-time have been set in South America and one of those, Rio 2, is a sequel.
Only seven are based on African soil and most draw on common perceptions of the continent – The Lion King, Madagascar, Tarzan and The Wild for example.
Australasia also fares badly, with four films set down under, while Asia boasts a relatively small proportion for its size with eighteen, including Mulan, The Jungle Book, Big Hero 6, Kung Fu Panda and Aladdin.
In stark contrast, at least 50 animated movies are set in North America and close to 40 in Europe. Disney Pixar has just eleven films based outside these two continents – scroll down for the full list.
Disney is making moves to address the skewed representation of countries in its films, with the first Latina princess, Elena of Avalor announced in January and another, Moana from Oceana revealed last October.
Each location mapped was either explicitly stated or shown in the movies, such as in Madagascar, derived from evidence within them, as in Frozen and The Lion King, or taken from the original work in which the movie was based, as in Snow White and Pinocchio.
Vargic researched the films in detail by reading fan theories and studying where various animal species are geographically distributed. He did not include movies set in radically different worlds such as Treasure Planet and Wreck-It Ralph.
Where is your favourite animated movie set?
1. 101 Dalmatians – English countryside
2. A Bug’s Life – Texas/Mexico border
3. A Goofy Movie – New York
4. Akira – Tokyo
5. Aladdin – Jordan River
6. Alice in Wonderland – English countryside
7. Anastasia – St.Petersburg
8. Antz – New York
9. Arthur Christmas – North Pole
10. Atlantis: The Lost Empire – Atlantic Ocean
11. Bambi – Western US/Canada border
12. Beauty and the Beast – middle France
13. Bee Movie – New York
14. Beowulf – South Sweden (Götaland)
15. Big Hero 6 – Tokyo
16. Bolt – Los Angeles and New York
17. Brave – Scotland
18. Brother Bear – Alaska
19. Cars – Arizona/Nevada
20. Cars 2 – London(and numerous other locations)
21. Cinderella – South France
22. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – Bermuda
23. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – Bermuda
24. Coraline – Ashland, Oregon
25. Corpse Bride – Rural France(possibly England)
26. Despicable Me – Albukerque, New Mexico (and numerous other locations)
27. DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp – North California coast (and numerous other locations)
28. Dumbo – Florida
29. El Dorado – South Mexico
30. The Emperor’s New Groove -Peru
31. Epic – Connecticut
32. Ernest and Celestine – Belgium
33. Finding Nemo – Sydney, Australia
34. Fantastic Mr.Fox – North England
35. Flushed Away – London, UK
36. From Up on the Poppy Hill – Tokyo
37. Frozen – South Norway
38. Happy Feet – Near Adelie Land, Antarctica
39. Happy Feet 2 – Near Adelie Land, Antarctica
40. Hercules – Greece
41. Home on the Range – Nevada
42. Hotel Transylvania – Romania(Transylvania)
43. How to Train Your Dragon – Hebrides
44. The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Paris
45. Chicken Little – US Midwest
46. Chicken Run – Northwest England
47. Ice Age – Alaska
48. James and the Giant Peach – Chiefly New York
49. Kung Fu Panda – Rural south China
50. Kung Fu Panda 2 – South China coast
51. Lady and the Tramp – New England
52. Lilo and Stitch – Kauai, Hawaii
53. Lion King – East African Rift
54. The Little Mermaid – Danish Virgin Islands
55. Madagascar – New York and Madagascar
56. Madagascar 2 – Near the Nyiragongo volcano
57. Madagascar 3 – Monaco (and other locations)
58. Mary and Max – Melbourne
59. Megamind – Michigan
60. Meet the Robinsons – South Canada
61. Millenium Actress – South Japan
62. Monsters vs Aliens – San Francisco
63. Mulan – Beijing, North China
64. My Neighbor Totoro – Tokyo
65. Over the Hedge – East Oregon
66. The Owls of Ga’hoole – South Australia / Tasmania
67. ParaNorman – Massachusetts
68. Persepolis – Tehran, Iran
69. Pinocchio – Collodi, Italy
70. Peter Pan – US Midwest
71. Planes – Ohio
72. Pocahontas – Virginia
73. Polar Express – North Pole
74. Ponyo – Tokyo, Japan
75. Princess and the Frog
76. Prince of Egypt – Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
77. Princess Mononoke – North Japan
78. Puss in Boots – Andalusia, Spain
79. Rango – Nevada
80. Ratatouille – Paris, France
81. Rio – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
82. Rio 2 – Amazon Rainforest, Brazil
83. Rise of the Guardians – North Pole
84. Robin Hood – Sherwood Forest, England
85. Romeo and Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss
86. Shark Bait – Near Dominican Republic
87. Shark Tale – Bahamas
88. Shrek – Germany
89. Sleeping Beauty – France
90. Snow White – Germany
91. Song of the Sea – Ireland
92. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut – Colorado
93. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron – Dakota region
94. Spirited Away – Japan
95. Surf’s Up – French Polynesia
96. Tangled – Bodensee, Germany
97. Tarzan – Gabon
98. Teacher’s Pet – Florida
99. The Adventures of Tintin – Morocco (and other locations)
100. The Incredibles – Chicago
101. The Iron Giant – Maine
102. The Jungle Book – Middle India
103. The Great Mouse Detective – London
104. The Illusionist – North Scotland
105. The Rescuers – US South Coast
106. The Rescuers Down Under – Australian outback
107. The Secret World of Arrietty – Japan
108. The Simpsons Movie – Oregon and Alaska
109. The Smurfs – New York
110. The Smurfs 2 – Paris
111. The Wild – New York and Mozambique coast
112. The Wind Rises – Tokyo, Japan
113. Tokyo Godfathers – Tokyo, Japan
114. Toy Story – Ohio
115. Triplets of Belleville – France and New York(in an alternate universe)
116. Turbo – Los Angeles
117. Up – Angel Falls, Venezuela
118. Yogi Bear – Yellowstone Park, Wyoming
119. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit – English countryside
120. Waltz with Bashir – Lebanon
121. Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Los Angeles
122. Winnie the Pooh – South England
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