Winnie Wanna is one of the few Black characters from children's media I actively remember from my childhood (Germany in the late 90s/early 2000s, we effectively didn't exist on screen). She's from the show Alfred J. Kwak and is the main character's love interest, who saves her from the villain's clutches in the final episode. I remember that because watching a Black woman being cherished and saved on screen was a novel experience for me. To that point, this treatment seemed reserved for white princesses.
Winnie is the daughter of Kwah Wanna and is introduced when her father brings her, her mother, and her brother abroad to protect them because he is the leader of a resistance group of Black ducks fighting the segregation of the White geese who invaded and took their country. As far as I remember, the show was quite gritty and explicitly confronted topics like colonialism or fascism/nazism (the villain is a Hitler allegory). It was political and may have influenced my taste because I like it when my entertainment media is not afraid of being political.
I don't know if I recommend the show because I haven't watched it since I was a child, and I don't know if I can enjoy how they handle these heavy topics from my perspective of today (my mind lost details about plot and arcs to time). The show is from the late 80s and a Dutch/German/Japanese/Spanish co-production - not exactly countries I'd ascribe the skill, level of reflection, or sensitivity to adequately handle colonialism. Nonetheless, the focus on Black resistance in the character of Winnie's father and Winnie as a Black woman who's cherished and saved remain in my memory. In general, I wish there was more children's media that doesn't completely sanitize or avoid heavy topics. Especially not colonialism and fascism.
When I say this duck is drawn better to be Black than many people can draw actual Black people... I did not know something so cute could be something so deeply serious, though. I really appreciate that they put that kind of effort into telling that sort of story. It puts a nail in the whole "kids don't understand these themes" when it is clear that some kids have to live through these things. Let the rest of them learn about it. Thank you for telling me about Winnie!
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Lancaster Dream House
Ruby: I never cared about playing with Barbie growing up. They were the perfect sacrificial lambs to my Power Rangers and their awesome powers!
Jaune: I played with Barbie when I played with my sisters. I never knew about the Barbie world, so I was just learning.
Ruby: How to play Barbie? Is it really that different?
Jaune: Well, yeah, because everything is so every-day and situational in the Barbie world. It's totally different from how you'd play with Naruto figures.
Ruby: True.
Jaune: I'm not making them fly up in the air and shouting jutsus at each other and punching each other in the face.
Ruby: "Kage Bunshin!" Heh heh heh...
Jaune: Exactly! I'd do all the voices, too, but... With Barbie, the way girls played, it was all situational and slice of life. They'd be like...
Jaune: "Here, they're having dinner right now."
Ruby: Huh... I never realized.
Jaune: "And now they're going driving in their car."
Ruby: Where would they go?
Jaune: Probably to their other friends' house. And I would do it because I didn't give a fuck! I just wanted to play with toys!
Ruby: What do they do when they get to their friends' house?
Jaune: They'd have dinner again.
Ruby: And after that?
Jaune: Probably go on a tour of the house. Y'know, just showing off their stuff like going on a tour.
Ruby: "I'm probably gonna have to do some landscaping and renovations if I wanna sell."
Jaune: Yeah, 'cause the houses are really nice, y'know, and-
Ruby: "Right now, I'm looking to lease with an option to buy." Like, they get really adult about it.
Jaune: Hahaha! "Yeah, I'm thinking, you know, it'll help build some equity and I think the ROI in ten years... It'll probably be... I wanna say, like..."
Ruby: "Ken is such an idiot! I told him to hire a lawyer before we go through escrow!"
Jaune: "I don't wanna get fucked by fees!"
Ruby: Heeheeheehee!
Jaune: HAHAHAHA!
Ruby: "Honey? It's time to stop playing with your dolls."
Jaune: "Play with the Dragon Ball figures, instead. Like your idiot sister."
Jaune: "And they'd go boom! A kaboosh! Bwaah! Bwerk! Kwah! And they crash into each other and smashes into rocks!"
Ruby: Snrk! Ken's like, "Barbie, I don't have a low sperm count! It's just, they have low motility!"
Jaune: "How is that better?!"
Ruby: "It's- I- I- There are pills I can take!"
Jaune: "Thanks for playing dollhouse with me~!"
Ruby: Yeah, and you're just sitting there in stunned silence.
Jaune: Ha ha ha ha!
Ruby: "With today's IVF advancements-!"
Jaune: "You know that doesn't work! I was just reading in GOOP the other day!"
Ruby: "It's worth a shot, at least!"
Jaune: "Is it two thousand lien worth a shot?! We have bills to pay, Ken!"
Ruby: "Maybe we wouldn't have so many bills to pay if you didn't run this god damned Malibu Dreamhouse 24/7!"
Jaune: "You always want the convertible! You want it custom-painted pink!"
Ruby: "Have you ever considered the climate implications on this dream car?!"
Jaune: "It's not even electric! You can see the gas intake right there!"
Ruby: "THAT'S BULLSHIT, KEN! ELECTRIC CARS STILL WORK OFF THE SAME GRID!"
Ruby: HAHAHA!
Jaune: HAHAHA!
Ruby: "Yeah, but they don't have emissions, Barbie! It's the best we can do, unless this society starts investing in trains and public infrastructure! That's all we can do!"
Jaune: "THEY TRIED, KEN! They tried in Mantle, and you know what? It was a FUCKING RED-TAPE BUREAUCRATIC DISASTER!"
Ruby: And your sisters are, like, "Can I go home?"
Jaune: HAHAHAHA!
Ruby: HAHAHAHA!
Ruby: "Barbie, that's why you need to run for office. You've been saying it your whole life, and you never do it."
Jaune: "...You know what, Ken? You're right."
Ruby: ...I love you.
Jaune: ...I love you.
Ruby: You can do anything.
Jaune: ...
Ruby: ...
Ruby: "Now let's have some tea!"
Jaune: Heh heh heh...
Jaune: MALIBU~! BARBIE DREAMHOUSE~!
Ruby: "Do you wanna be Ken now?"
Jaune: "Agh, well..."
Ruby: "You know, it's getting pretty late...
Jaune: "It's, like, three-thirty."
Ruby: "Can I bring Godzilla into this?"
Jaune: "Sure~! He can be who I'm running against for local office~!"
Ruby: "SKRREEEEEEEE! EEEEK-OOOONK~!"
Jaune: Now that I'd love to see.
Ruby: "Barbie, I want you to meet my new friend, Godzilla!"
Ruby: "Graaaaaagh!"
Ruby: "Oh my god! THE Godzilla?!"
Ruby: "Yeah, have you heard of him?"
Ruby: "HE'S WHO I'M RUNNING AGAINST~!"
Ruby: Boo-wooow-wow-wooow~!
Jaune: MALIBU~! BARBIE DREAMHOUSE~!
Jaune: Godzilla is running on a strong destroy the city platform.
Ruby: "I've gotta stop him~!"
Jaune: "And you know what? I say with all these politicians, I'd say they're all trying to destroy the city! AT LEAST HE'S HONEST ABOUT IT!"
Ruby: "He tells it like it is!"
Ruby: RAAAAAAAAAAAGHK!
Ruby: "Y'see?!"
Jaune: MALIBU~! BARBIE DREAMHOUSE~!
Jaune: ...What the fuck were we talking about before this?
Ruby: "Anyways, same time, 4PM?"
Jaune: "Yeah, sure..."
Ruby: "I'll bring Ghidorah..."
Jaune: "Ugh... Can't I just do homework instead?"
Ruby: "Can you bring the Technodrome with all the goop, too? I've got an idea..."
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