Cartoon Network, Disney And Warner Brothers Alleged To Exploit Korean Animators

Cartoon Network, Disney and Warner Bros. are getting roasted for their bad business practices.

It appears that not only do Cartoon Network, Disney, and Warner Brothers outsource American jobs to Asian countries, but it is also claimed that they exploit animators in Asian countries like Korea.

A community-run X account sharing information about the animation industry, Animation Workers Ignited, claims to have received information from a Korean animator exposing exploitive labor practices by Cartoon Network, Disney, and Warner Brothers.

Animation Workers Ignited posted on X: “(Translated from Korean with Google Translate) “Hello, I am a Korean who has quit my job as an animator and is currently making a living in another field. In the past, I worked as a fairy tale artist [Edit - Later corrected by the anonymous animator: The part that was translated as 'Fairy tale' is 'inbetween'. The Korean '동화가' is correct in English as 'Inbetween animator'.] under contract for animation at Cartoon Network, Disney, and Warner Brothers.”

“I was paid less than the minimum wage, and it was not enough to make a living, which caused my stomach and mental illness to worsen.”

“I earned an average of 500,000 won a month. This was far from enough to make ends meet, so I worked part-time at a convenience store, and I couldn't fully focus on my work. I often ate poor-quality food like hot dogs or cup ramen for lunch, and around the second or third year,”

At the current exchange rate, 500,000 Korean Won is $368.95. It should also be noted that the current minimum wage in South Korea is 9,860 KRW per hour, which would work out to be around 7,888,000 KRW per month, assuming an 8-hour, 5-day work week.

The complaint by the anonymous Korean animator went on to state that: “I would vomit frequently. As my mental illness worsened, I had suicidal thoughts and visited the emergency room or a psychiatric hospital many times.”

“During this difficult time, I witnessed some of the fandoms of my work sharing illegally uploaded animations on Twitter. I asked my Twitter followers to post an anonymous appeal on my behalf.”

“Fortunately, the fan who saw the appeal regretted his mistake, but I felt serious doubts about my work.”

“I wasn't very good at it, but even my seniors who were good at it suffered from excessive workload. Especially when I was working on a Disney production, the animators were given so much work that they had to draw all day long, but they didn't even get the minimum wage.”

The anonymous Korean animator explained he had no other option but to quit, or he wouldn’t have survived: “I quit being an animator and moved to another industry to survive. It wasn't a matter of giving up on my dream, it was a way of survival. When I was an animator, my life seemed to have no future.”

“That's why I really hate the scene where Disney's animation studio outsources animation work to Korea. They have no intention of shedding light on the kind of labor exploitation that Korean animators are subjected to.”

“I hope my experience was helpful.” -Anonymous animation worker (Translated with Google Translate)

It is reportedly not only Korean animators that are being exploited. Arica Tuesday, an animator from California who used to work for Disney TV Animation, claimed on X that: “Disney TV Animation was the worst job in animation I ever had. I was there 13 hours a day. They exploit people like no other. If you won’t work weekends for no extra pay, they will hire someone who will. It can also be a lot worse depending on what creator you work with.”

In the comments, please let us know what you think about Cartoon Network, Disney, and Warner Brothers’ alleged exploitative labor practices.

by Jack Dunn

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