Cartoons are really effected by Orientalism. When ever there is an older wise person who has some sort of involvement in magic or martial arts that person tends to be Asian. An example is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's master (the rat) who is dressed and voiced as an Asian. Another example is Master Fu from Miraculous Ladybug. The entirety of the Jackie Chen Cartoon combines the idea of Orientalism, with it's mistic protray of chinese artifacts as well as the main villain being a talking dragon carving, with a humanization of the characters through Jackie's niece attending a public school and Jackie's job in his grandfather's antique shop.
I find it so interesting to realize how much we (Americans) are surrounded and presented with the Orientalist ideal... Though cartoon only really touch on the wise, magical, and difference of the "orients" it still is so amazing how young people are when they are first exposed to this ideal. It makes me rethink the things I've read and watched, and also made my wonder if my own stories reflect this principle as well.
To be honest I did not really consider orientalism in a cartoon setting. For what ever reason it just did not come to mind, nevertheless I was very interested by your post and thank you for opening my eyes to something new.
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