Hollywood or History?

An Inquiry-Based Strategy for Using Cartoons to Teach Topics in Elementary and Secondary Social Studies

Edited by:
Scott L. Roberts, Central Michigan University
Charles J. Elfer, Clayton State University

A volume in the series: Hollywood or History. Editor(s): Scott L. Roberts, Central Michigan University. Charles J. Elfer, Clayton State University.

Published 2025

In response to the limitations associated with teaching through film, we sought to develop practical lesson ideas that might bridge gaps between theory and practice and assist teachers endeavoring to make effective use of film in their classrooms. One of the more interesting sources of visual media many authors in the previous volumes elected to use as the focus of their lesson plans were cartoons. These lesson plans have been some of the more popular in the series and are often easier to adapt for a variety of grade levels. In conducting research for this volume, we learned that cartoons are an often-used media sources in the classroom. They have similar strengths and weaknesses in not only the teaching of history, but other social studies disciplines as well. While in many cases their intended audience is younger children, people of all ages enjoy cartoons. This makes them useful for teaching students at all grade levels, as well as adults, as there will be immediate buy-in if used as a source of analysis for inquiry-based lessons.

As with live action film, we believe cartoons can also serve as a powerful tool in the social studies classroom and if appropriately utilized can foster critical thinking and civic mindedness. The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) framework, adopted by the National Council for the Social Studies in 2013, represents a renewed and formalized emphasis on the perennial social studies goals of deep thinking, reading and writing. The C3 is comprehensive and ambitious. Moreover, we believe that as teachers endeavor to digest and implement the platform in schools and classrooms across the country, the desire for access to structured strategies that lead to more active and rigorous investigation in the social studies classroom will grow increasingly acute. Our hope is that the present volume might play a small role in the larger Hollywood or History? project of supporting practitioners, specifically teachers of preK-12 social studies disciplines, by offering a collection of 19 classroom-ready lesson designed to foster social studies inquiry through the careful use of selected cartoons.

CONTENTS
Introduction to Hollywood or History? Cartoon Edition. SECTION I: PREKINDERGARTEN TO THIRD GRADE. Engaging in Social Action: Kid Activists: Berenstain Bears Don’t Pollute Anymore, Donna Fortune, Meghan A. Kessler, and Lisa K. Pennington. Llama Llama Goes to Job Day: Using Cartoons for Civic and Economic Learning in Elementary Social Studies, Alice M. Sullivan. SECTION II: THIRD TO FIFTH GRADE. One if By Land, Two if by See: Looking at a Primary Source to Better Understand the Midnight Ride, Eric Groce, Damia Gibbions Pyles, and Robin Groce. A Study of Historical Figures and Caricature: Film: An American Tail (1986), Kate Van Haren. SECTION III: FIFTH TO EIGHTH GRADE. Juneteenth, National Independence Day: Black-ish “Juneteenth” (2017) Season 4, Episode 1, Brianne Pitts and Scott L. Roberts. “More Than Meets The Eye”: The Cold War: The Transformers 1984–1986, Jason Allen. Elections: Can Students Learn from Cartoons? Cartoon: Recess The Candidates (1999), Starlynn Nance. An Inquiry-Based Lesson: Investigating SpongeBob’s Bikini Bottom, Nancy B. Sardone. SECTION IV: SIX TO TWELFTH GRADE. “The Cost of Progress” Gain and Loss in a Time of Transition Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), William Gary Cole. Mickey, Moana, and the Appropriation of Indigenous Hawaiian Culture: Hawaiian Holiday (1937), Moana (2016), Kristal Curry. “Is We Not the Supermen?” “Der Fuehrer’s Face” and the Trivialization of the Nazi Regime in WWII, Mark Pearcy. Depictions of Race in Classic Cartoons: An Analysis of Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, Emmett V. Wilson. Gone Country: Life on the World War II Homefront for Evacuee Children: Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Anne Perry. What Did Disney do to Me? Exploring Agents of Socialization, Sara Piotrowski. Defining the Accuracy of Mental Health Perceptions in Inside Out (2015), Monica Cousins Noraian and Katie Lopez. SECTION V: NINTH TO TWELFTH GRADE. Grand Duchess Anastasia or Anna Anderson? The Case of the Stolen Identity Anastasia (1997), Sarah J. Kaka. Water Has Memory: Frozen II and Indigenous Water Rights, Adam J. Schmitt and Julia Enriquez. Can the Simpsons Predict the Future? Lisa’s Wedding (Season 6, Episode 19, 1995), Bart to the Future (Season 11, Episode 17, 2000), Annie McMahon Whitlock. Fractured Fairytales: Identifying Prominent Psychological Disorders in Disney Films, Monica Cousins Noraian and Katie Lopez. About the Contributors.