Animating the '60s — In Cuba

A cartoon revolution.

A promo still for The Serious Press (1960), courtesy of Cine Cubano

Happy Thursday! Thanks for joining us. Our topic today: the first animation boom on the island of Cuba.

Cuba’s long had a reputation as a society locked in time. Because of America’s brutal embargo, mid-century cars and architecture are still common there. The Cuba of 2024 is more complex than some believe (it has smartphones, current fashion and new vehicles), but remnants of the ‘50s and ‘60s are regular sights.

Here’s the thing, though: Cuba used to be cutting-edge. Havana was a deeply modern place when the revolution overthrew the Batista regime in 1959. It was a hub of mid-century life and design, from the posters to the furniture. This stayed true for years, as shown by an exhibition of Cuban modernism happening right now.

That modernism defined Cuban cartoons during the ‘60s. Shortly after the revolution, Fidel Castro’s government opened a state animation studio in Havana. Given the latest gear and an expensive mid-century building, the artists began to experiment.

Immediately, their work got interesting. As one scholar put it, Cuban animation was “born as an adult.”