Disney's Western-centric skew revealed by map of where popular animated movies are set

Just four of the 124 films are located in South America and only seven in Africa

Martin Vargic's map shows the heavy concentration of animated movies set in North America and Europe (Halycon Maps)

Ever wondered where your favourite animated movies are set? Well today’s your lucky day, as a Slovakian designer has mapped it all out for you in one cool, handy infographic.

Martin Vargic, known for his Map of the Internet and Map of Stereotypes projects on Halycon Maps, has pinned the 124 most popular films of the genre onto a world map, and the results are illuminating - click here for a big picture.

There is a notably heavy concentration of movies in Europe and North America, clearly showing how Western-centric cinema remains. Just four of the most popular animated films of all-time have been set in South America and one of those, Rio 2, is a sequel.

Only seven are based on African soil and most draw on common perceptions of the continent – The Lion King, Madagascar, Tarzan and The Wild for example.

Just four movies are set in South America and only seven in Africa (Halycon Maps)

Australasia also fares badly, with four films set down under, while Asia boasts a relatively small proportion for its size with eighteen, including Mulan, The Jungle Book, Big Hero 6, Kung Fu Panda and Aladdin.

(Halycon Maps)

In stark contrast, at least 50 animated movies are set in North America and close to 40 in Europe. Disney Pixar has just eleven films based outside these two continents – scroll down for the full list.

Disney is making moves to address the skewed representation of countries in its films, with the first Latina princess, Elena of Avalor announced in January and another, Moana from Oceana revealed last October.

Each location mapped was either explicitly stated or shown in the movies, such as in Madagascar, derived from evidence within them, as in Frozen and The Lion King, or taken from the original work in which the movie was based, as in Snow White and Pinocchio.

Vargic researched the films in detail by reading fan theories and studying where various animal species are geographically distributed. He did not include movies set in radically different worlds such as Treasure Planet and Wreck-It Ralph.

Where is your favourite animated movie set?

1. 101 Dalmatians – English countryside

2. A Bug’s Life – Texas/Mexico border

3. A Goofy Movie – New York

4. Akira – Tokyo

5. Aladdin – Jordan River

6. Alice in Wonderland – English countryside

7. Anastasia – St.Petersburg

8. Antz – New York

9. Arthur Christmas – North Pole

10. Atlantis: The Lost Empire – Atlantic Ocean

11. Bambi – Western US/Canada border

12. Beauty and the Beast – middle France

13. Bee Movie – New York

14. Beowulf – South Sweden (Götaland)

15. Big Hero 6 – Tokyo

16. Bolt – Los Angeles and New York

17. Brave – Scotland

18. Brother Bear – Alaska

19. Cars – Arizona/Nevada

20. Cars 2 – London(and numerous other locations)

21. Cinderella – South France

22. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – Bermuda

23. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – Bermuda

24. Coraline – Ashland, Oregon

25. Corpse Bride – Rural France(possibly England)

26. Despicable Me – Albukerque, New Mexico (and numerous other locations)

27. DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp – North California coast (and numerous other locations)

28. Dumbo – Florida

29. El Dorado – South Mexico

30. The Emperor’s New Groove -Peru

31. Epic – Connecticut

32. Ernest and Celestine – Belgium

33. Finding Nemo – Sydney, Australia

34. Fantastic Mr.Fox – North England

35. Flushed Away – London, UK

36. From Up on the Poppy Hill – Tokyo

37. Frozen – South Norway

38. Happy Feet – Near Adelie Land, Antarctica

39. Happy Feet 2 – Near Adelie Land, Antarctica

40. Hercules – Greece

41. Home on the Range – Nevada

42. Hotel Transylvania – Romania(Transylvania)

43. How to Train Your Dragon – Hebrides

44. The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Paris

45. Chicken Little – US Midwest

46. Chicken Run – Northwest England

47. Ice Age – Alaska

48. James and the Giant Peach – Chiefly New York

49. Kung Fu Panda – Rural south China

50. Kung Fu Panda 2 – South China coast

51. Lady and the Tramp – New England

52. Lilo and Stitch – Kauai, Hawaii

53. Lion King – East African Rift

54. The Little Mermaid – Danish Virgin Islands

55. Madagascar – New York and Madagascar

56. Madagascar 2 – Near the Nyiragongo volcano

57. Madagascar 3 – Monaco (and other locations)

58. Mary and Max – Melbourne

59. Megamind – Michigan

60. Meet the Robinsons – South Canada

61. Millenium Actress – South Japan

62. Monsters vs Aliens – San Francisco

63. Mulan – Beijing, North China

64. My Neighbor Totoro – Tokyo

65. Over the Hedge – East Oregon

66. The Owls of Ga’hoole – South Australia / Tasmania

67. ParaNorman – Massachusetts

68. Persepolis – Tehran, Iran

69. Pinocchio – Collodi, Italy

70. Peter Pan – US Midwest

71. Planes – Ohio

72. Pocahontas – Virginia

73. Polar Express – North Pole

74. Ponyo – Tokyo, Japan

75. Princess and the Frog

76. Prince of Egypt – Sinai Peninsula, Egypt

77. Princess Mononoke – North Japan

78. Puss in Boots – Andalusia, Spain

79. Rango – Nevada

80. Ratatouille – Paris, France

81. Rio – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

82. Rio 2 – Amazon Rainforest, Brazil

83. Rise of the Guardians – North Pole

84. Robin Hood – Sherwood Forest, England

85. Romeo and Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss

86. Shark Bait – Near Dominican Republic

87. Shark Tale – Bahamas

88. Shrek – Germany

89. Sleeping Beauty – France

90. Snow White – Germany

91. Song of the Sea – Ireland

92. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut – Colorado

93. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron – Dakota region

94. Spirited Away – Japan

95. Surf’s Up – French Polynesia

96. Tangled – Bodensee, Germany

97. Tarzan – Gabon

98. Teacher’s Pet – Florida

99. The Adventures of Tintin – Morocco (and other locations)

100. The Incredibles – Chicago

101. The Iron Giant – Maine

102. The Jungle Book – Middle India

103. The Great Mouse Detective – London

104. The Illusionist – North Scotland

105. The Rescuers – US South Coast

106. The Rescuers Down Under – Australian outback

107. The Secret World of Arrietty – Japan

108. The Simpsons Movie – Oregon and Alaska

109. The Smurfs – New York

110. The Smurfs 2 – Paris

111. The Wild – New York and Mozambique coast

112. The Wind Rises – Tokyo, Japan

113. Tokyo Godfathers – Tokyo, Japan

114. Toy Story – Ohio

115. Triplets of Belleville – France and New York(in an alternate universe)

116. Turbo – Los Angeles

117. Up – Angel Falls, Venezuela

118. Yogi Bear – Yellowstone Park, Wyoming

119. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit – English countryside

120. Waltz with Bashir – Lebanon

121. Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Los Angeles

122. Winnie the Pooh – South England