For the television program “Atlanta,” Karen Joseph Adcock and Franchesca Sloane created the character of Thomas Washington.
They wanted to develop a story about a young black man who rose through the ranks of the industry. They discussed how the movie “Boyz N the Hood,” which featured a comparable scenario, inspired the idea.
Washington, who has been interested in animation since he was a little child, attended the Savannah College of Arts and Design to work for Disney. During his time in college, he started experimenting with animation after attending a class led by Art Babbit, the animator behind Goofy. He was soon employed by Disney.
Is Thomas Washington Disney real? Disney character explained
It’s not true that Thomas Washington exists. He’s not real. However, David A. Price, the author, claims that his existence is significant because he stands in for the first black Disney employee. Black Like Me: White Racist Terror From the 1920s to Today, a book by Price, describes how Disney employed him in the middle of the 1940s.
Disney has never appointed an African American as CEO despite being marketed as “awake” and not being a real person. Additionally, even though Disney’s history is replete with examples of black employees in key positions, no one of them has ever served as CEO.
Disney’s chief executive officer from 1992 to 2005 was Michael Eisner. Eisner did not have any African Americans working for him as CEO. Floyd Norman, one of the first black animators at Disney, was nevertheless hired by him.
Thomas Washington’s life was not over when he passed away. Today, it still exists. Donald Glover is a brand-new character that the Disney corporation created in 2009. The television show Community has Glover as a young Thomas Washington.
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