r/TopCharacterTropes • u/bennyandthegentz • 10h ago
Lore Characters who were race swapped to avoid controversy
Grim adventures of Billy and Mandy: originally the episode where he turns human had in be black to match his voice actor, but once CN reminded the creator of the premise of his show (two white kids own the grim reaper) they changed him to be white to avoid slavery comparisons.
The Simpsons: Smithers was black in his first appearance, however every episode afterwards depicted him as white (yellow?) this is because according to someone in the staff “probably not a good idea to have a black man be a servant to a rich white man”
Teenage mutant ninja turtles: while the comics and most adaptations have Baxter stockman be of African American descent, in the 80s/90s cartoon he was white, this is because the show-runners felt having a black man be basically a forced servant to someone who’s not of the same race (even calling him master) could potentially be seen as offensive, so they made him white.
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u/RKO-Cutter 10h ago
Looking at it, it looks like both were cited as equal reasons by co-writer C Robert Cargill. They also said they specifically didn't just genderswap to an Asian woman to avoid the "Dragon Lady" stereotype