Saturday Morning Cartoons: Susie Carmichael

I'm constantly nostalgic for Saturday Morning Cartoons as an institution. I'm not around kids who would engage in such a Saturday morning activity anymore so I don't even know if TV milestones from my youth such as TGIF or One Saturday Morning even have any cultural relevance anymore. Regardless, I've decided to turn said nostalgia into a weekly segment deconstructing cartoon characters from my childhood each Saturday morning to take care of that jones and to revisit fond figures from years past.

Who better to start with than feminist of color and egalitarian Susie Carmichael?






Susie Carmichael played a pivotal role in the Nickelodeon series Rugrats, which originally aired from 1991-1994. Susie's introduction came in 1993 and she served as a foil character to the relentlessly tyrannical and manipulative Angelica. Angelica and Susie were older than the babies and were able to articulate themselves to the adults. However unlike Angelica, Susie used her postion of privilege in a kind and inclusive way, always looking out for the well-being of the babies and for the completion of whatever task was at hand.

Susie was the only primary character of color on the show, and was the youngest of four children in the Carmichael family. Her father was a head writer of one of the babies' favorite television programs, "Dummi Bears," and her mother was represented as having filled multiple career roles, including chef, pilot, and doctor. Perhaps this caree range is far-fetched, but it is still depicting women as beng capable of succeeding in male dominated work spheres. So it makes sense that Susie would have such an empowered and inclusive perspective and approach on life.

Thinking back Susie is the only black cartoon character I can really remember from my own childhood. Since then there have been more animated representations of African Americans in both a mixed race and predominantly black environments (The Proud Family, Little Bill, Vince of Recess) but it's interesting to think of Susie as one of the premiere representations that American youth had exposure to through cartoons. Especially in light of Disney introducing its FIRST black princess in their upcoming "The Princess and the Frog."

The issue of progress aside, speaking from strictly an exposure standpoint, Susie Carmichael's influence and relevance seems to have been before its time, in a good way.