A project named for 'Peanuts' character Franklin aims to boost Black animators

https://www.npr.org/2022/07/28/ [login to see] /project-named-for-peanuts-character-franklin-aims-to-boost-black-animators
In 1968, Charles M. Schulz introduced the first Black character to his famous comic strip; Franklin joined Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang.

Over the years, the low-key, friendly character was an inspiration to generations of Peanuts fans. Now, more than half a century later, Peanuts Worldwide has created The Armstrong Project in his honor to support up-and-coming Black writers, animators and cartoonists.

The new initiative was introduced at a pop-up exhibition at Comic-Con in San Diego. It was a rare meet-up of Black cartoonists, animators and fans. Among them was animator Bruce W. Smith.

"Seeing Franklin was sort of like a revelation, 'cause here's a character that represents you," recalled Smith, creator of Disney's The Proud Family series. "The first time I saw him on a special, he's dancing. That meant something to a lot of us, and certainly inspired my path as an artist."

According to the Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fewer than 4% of animators are African American. "When I came into the industry I was one of only four African-Americans in the business," said cartoonist Robb Armstrong, who teamed up with Peanuts Worldwide to try to improve those numbers.