Educating children about death

Educating children about death

The current research assessed the representation of the concept of bereavement and loss by children’s animation studios. A thematic analysis was carried out on six animated children’s films. The portrayal of death in movies, particularly those that target children as the primary audience have been a source of controversial debates over the last couple of years. Death is one of the most sensitive issues that are rarely addressed between children and adults despite being inevitable. Even though animated films tend to utilize fascinating and entertaining characters, loss and bereavement are widely represented as the means of illustrating the reality of life. The findings of the current study, therefore, indicate that the selected animated films present exceptional scenes that explain death and grieving to children. Thus, it is through the films that a better understanding of bereavement and loss is gained among children, which further trigger a more extensive discussion concerning death. Past studies have demonstrated that following the representation of grief and loss in animated films, children try to acquire more about death from their friends or families. The most important discovery is that these films usually serve as the facilitators in introducing the concept of death and grieving into intense discussions between children and adults.

Introduction

Death is one of the most sensitive life’s aspects that are unavoidable but particularly painful and devastating for children. Children unlike adults are not characterized by experience or even adequate knowledge about life-based occurrences and are not fully prepared to handle losses of those they love including pets or even the death of their favorite animated characters in films. According to Phillips, (2016), it is worth noting that, healthy children only obtain a full understanding of the inevitability and permanency of death when they are ten years of age. In this case, most people would question why death and grief are emerging as prominent concepts in children’s animated films even though most children lack a proper understanding of the concept. However, it is worth understanding that in the contemporariness of animated films and the wide representation of bereavement and loss animation studios only focuses on ensuring that death is comprehensible to all children. In other words, contrary to the assertion of some scholars the intention is not to introduce complex concepts or create devastation but rather to highlight the realities in life. Grief differs from one individual to another based on personal experiences or personality. The situations that surround a loss of a loved one are also likely to determine how an individual grieves even among children. For children and families that have experienced such occurrences of death of their loved ones, even in the case of pets will acquire comfort in such films that address the concept of bereavement and loss in addition to its complex aftermath. As noted by Leming & Dickinson (2010) varying from lighthearted to severe situations, these kinds of movies for children below ten years feature different characters dealing with the wreckage of death, but they also acquire comfort and support in the process of building their emotions and learning to explore life despite the gaps. Watching the films normally creates opportunities for families and children to discuss such losses and means of coping. Based, on the assertion of the animation studios that represent such concepts of bereavement and loss, children learn that it is always useful to love and mourn a loss rather than rejecting the experience of loving someone. Based on the experiences of the characters and their ability to overcome losses, children get to learn and understand about coping with losses. The representation of bereavement and loss by children’s animation studios in the 21st century is one that aligns with life’s harsh reality. Besides, the films accurately consider the lack of knowledge and exposure among children. Thus, portraying losses and grieving process in a manner that aligns with their understanding.

The present dissertation offers a detailed thematic analysis and representation of death and bereavement in six selected animated children films, which are Tangled, Frozen, and Wreck-it Ralph, Moana, The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out. In satisfying the assessment of the possible implication of bereavement and loss in animated films on children, there is a necessity to establish how the concepts are represented and how the audience conceive death.

Literature Review

Unarguably, the rapid advancement of technology and particularly concerning media has affected almost every aspect of the modern lifestyle. The case is not different for children as they highly rely on media for entertainment or in learning different concepts about life where bereavement and loss are included. The concept of death has widely been represented in both adult and children films for decades but has become more prevalent in the recent due to the necessity to create awareness while enhancing the understanding of children about life (Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005). It is universally known that humans are amazing creatures and they tend to believe and understand better where there are visual illustrations rather than verbal discussions which explain the wide use of films to enlighten children and adults on different subjects. To be specific, the western society is guided by a globally accepted notion that if an individual can see it, it is without a doubt true. The wide reliance on modern media is mainly driven by the fact that the culture dictates for such occurrences. The acceptance of media portrayal as truth demonstrates an adequate power to the film making corporations and their intended messages. The modern films are mainly characterized by cultural, psychological, and social concepts that lead to the development of reality. The power of contemporary media cannot be underrated considering that most sensitive subjects that are rarely addressed in person such as deaths are widely discussed based on their presentation in films. Most children experience the pain of a loss based on the death of their favorite characters or by watching the characters grief and go through the healing process. Through such representation, children will not only learn that death is irreversible but also that grieving is part of the process that must be experienced following the loss of a loved one. After all, it is the devastating reality of life that the animation studios allow the audience to experience and yet learn about tackling life.

According to Cox, Garrett & Graham, (2005), contrary to the knowledge of many, most children get to understand about bereavement and loss through the media. Even though death is meant for every human, the society has always shied away from highlighting the reality, especially to children due to their fragile nature and the fact that it usually takes them longer to heal. It is in this case that the media through animated films has utilized its power to compassionately highlight the issue, thus triggering discussions between children and their peers as well as parents. Children’s films are useful when it comes to addressing the issue of death because they have a hopeful, supportive, and comforting perspective on loss and bereavement. It is not easy to explain the remorse, sadness, and confusion that come with death to children after losing an individual who was particularly close to them even if it is a film’s character. The loss of a character in their favorite movie might serve as their first encounter with death, and this is likely to trigger serious questions about what death entails. In this case, the most common and easy way of helping children to comprehend grief and death is through the animated or children targeted movies. Films are well equipped in terms of awareness and familiarity creation as they offer a visual medium, which makes it easier for the young ones to connect with the different characters and their happy and sad situations. For example, The Good Dinosaur is one of the most suitable illustrations on essential lessons that children acquire about grieving and loss (Leming & Dickinson, 2010). The movie similar to another fascinating film which is titled Frozen focuses on grief, emotions as well as conflict when it comes to biding goodbye to a loved one.

Based on Miles, (2014) even though most people believe that addressing the subject of death is inappropriate for children based on their lack of understanding of loss, the films have demonstrated the necessity in allowing children experience life. The films mainly achieve this because they are not solely connected with the loss but include some happy moments as well as celebrating life. The selected films mainly focus on the themes of gratitude, perseverance, and togetherness while inspiring children to not only love but appreciate their loved ones even after death. Psychologically speaking, the ability to understand death helps in enhancing their ability to cope with losses which cannot be avoided in life at any given period. As illustrated through the film Moana, the characters are overwhelmed by grief due to the losses they incur, but through the support of friends, they can move forward.

As demonstrated by Tangled, Frozen, Wreck-it Ralph, Moana, The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out and many more other animated films, most children lack the understanding that death is permanent and that losses are inevitable. The movies are mainly targeted for children who have not fully developed in terms of understanding the issues surrounding death. Children bellow ten years fail to understand that death cannot be avoided or reversed, and most of them only view it as an issue that only affects adults (Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005). Thus, for these children, the gaps of understanding when it comes to death and bereavement usually are filled following fantasy components which are present in animated films. However, even though animated films are useful in educating children about the occurrence of death, some representation might negatively affect their wellness in general. In that, the negative aspects of such representation might be internalized by these children, thus creating unrealistic expectation or perspectives about life. Life is precious, and humans are meant to experience it even though death is certain at the end and this notion has to be communicated to all children respectively to ensure that the message is understood accurately (Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005). In other words, the undesirable premises about death are likely to cause adverse effects on how a child perceives death later in life. Generally, the ability to understand death experiences for children about films depends on their developmental levels and personal experiences. The personal experience is more about their real experiences with loss or what they know about death, which shapes their understanding of loss and bereavement.

On the other hand, it is vital to account for the developmental level of a child when shaping the representation of sensitive subjects such as a death in films. If such incidences are not well explained, they might confuse because children are characterized by limited comprehension of death and grieving. For instance, concerning the animated film, Frozen death is a common theme as the audience get to learn Fifteen minutes into the film. The parents of the princesses get murdered in just a blink. The scene only lasts for about one and a half minute which is likely to leave children confused about what happened as it quickly changes to the happy moment that is not dominated by grief (Miles, 2014). However, this demonstrates that the film did not intend to dwell on the loss. Rather it also reflects the possibility of moving forward even after a loss and catching up with better experiences. Death is certainly not a new theme to most children, and when they come across a loss of a character, they understand vaguely about the repercussions. The part that is likely to confuse them is about how such an incident took place since most films commonly fail to make such deaths visible particularly because they lack the understanding that death is likely to take place in any given situation. The good thing is that children’s animation studios typically focus on creating an accurate understanding of the things that happen post the death of an individual (Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005). In other words, the primary intention of the films is to construct some teachable moments in general that seeks to promote understanding and enhance their ability to grief and cope with loss.

It is almost every individual across the globe that at a particular time experiences happenings that can be classified as major losses leading to bereavement. People tend to grief differently as the negative effects cause rather varying changes in one’s life. The situation is worse for children, given that they lack the needed understanding of what death entails and how to overcome such traumas. Some scholars note that even though more understanding and awareness of death is gained from watching children’s animated films, which addresses the issue of death most children tend to not enquire about the subject from parents or peers because they find the concept as frightening and confusing (Leming & Dickinson, 2010). In this case, this demonstrates the necessity for the animation studios to focus on addressing the issue sufficiently to ensure that confusion among children is eradicated. It appears that because death is treated as a sensitive subject in society, film makers also focus more on protecting children even though they partially strive to enhance their understanding by explaining the concepts. For example, instead of offering a comprehensive explanation of how some characters die and the reason behind their deaths, some tend to downplay the reality, severity, and emotionality of the situation. Even though the motive of such moves is useful, such approaches hinder the ability of children to understand bereavement and loss fully. In this context, scholars widely agree that animated films play an important role in educating and enhancing the understanding of children about death as their messages are specially shaped to highlight such sensitive realities. Also, they improve their abilities to deal with and overcome losses (Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005). However, the developmental stage and personal experiences normally determine how the audience conceives loss and bereavement concepts.

Method

The current thematic analytical content was acquired from 6 full-length children’s animated films, which include Tangled, Frozen, Wreck-it Ralph, Moana, The Good Dinosaur, and Inside Out. The films were chosen based on the presence of death within the plot, which helped in illustrating more about loss and grieving. All the selected films were released in the last ten years, which makes them highly appropriate and relevant for analysis, considering that they were developed with the 21st-century children in mind. The films selected were created by both Pixar and Disney, which are some of the leading children’s animation studios across the globe. Both studios tend to approach the subject of loss differently with Disney, focusing less on grief while Pixar is not shy to tackle the dark side that comes with bereavement when one is grieving a loss. Random selection was used in selecting the films to avoid biases while at the same time focusing on efficiency, reliability, and accuracy of the acquired outcome.

Data Analysis

Thematic data analysis approach was used in analyzing existing literature from past studies and the selected film’s scripts. Thematic analysis is an approach in which the collected data is classified into related themes to develop related results. The approach was highly effective, considering that the study was mainly focused on the theme of bereavement and loss as represented in animated children’s films.

Analysis

The present study assessed how children’s animation studios represent bereavement and loss concerning six films, which include Tangled, Frozen, Wreck-it Ralph, Moana, The Good Dinosaur, and Inside Out. Based on the examination of the film’s deaths scenes were evident even though rapid shifts into happy moments were taken in the quest of protecting children from emotional destruction that comes with such traumatic incidences. The most interesting findings are that the depiction of emotional changes occurred in all the films, while all of them focused on the death of antagonists. In this case, it is clear that protagonists and antagonists are depicted somewhat unfairly, but the message that revolved across all the scenes is that death is not avoidable and can never be reversed.

Animated children’s films have gained popularity over the last decade due to the rapid development of technology in addition to the prevalence of media reliance by individuals across the globe (Miles, 2014). Even though these films are intended for children, they are widely watched by adults as well. The films are useful in highlighting a wide range of concepts besides providing entertainment, especially by addressing sensitive topics such as bereavement and loss. Movies serve as unusual instruments for starting a conversation between children and adults. With children, particularly those below ten years, films gives them a better understanding of new concepts such as deaths.

Moreover, this gives them the opportunity to experience the feelings of the characters such as sadness, confusion, and happiness in general. Children’s animated movies are generally characterized by love and losses as well, which enables them to unspool human life experiences in different ways. In other words, they can offer an amazing springboard for discussions about all types of emotions that includes the most sensitive and complex ones such as isolation and confusion which are generally linked with the death of a loved one. Especially for children, the media normally offers safe starts for conversations with their friends and peers. It is rather easier for children to open up about what their favorite characters are going through due to loss rather than talking about their grieves. Children might fail to understand whether there are bereaving due to an incurred major loss, and thus, it becomes comforting and knowledge shaping to relate with the feeling and experiences of their fictional characters. Regardless of how other children animation studios such as Disney tackle the concept of death, they infrequently focus on grief.

On the other hand, Pixar movies are popular for tackling the darkest concepts, including death and bereavement. Pixar normally explores loss from different dimensions to highlight reality subjects. Most of the films are fascinating and sorrowful at the same time, entertaining by allowing the audience to connect with the character’s feelings and experiences.

Concerning Inside out, the theme of loss and bereavement is well highlighted to increase awareness and familiarity about death among children. The message of the animated film is mainly meant for individuals with an experience of loss or the ones that have gone through traumatic transitions. From a glance, Inside out similar to any other animated film is meant for children as it incorporates beautiful animation and fascinating characters but from a more profound view demonstrates more sensitive themes such as grief, loss, and death. It is worth noting that existential concept is also integrated, which allows adults to see the subjects from an innocent view in thought-provoking, reflective, and captivating way. The emotions of bereavement and loss are painful and unique since they are likely to adversely affect an individual’s way of life. Every person struggles with such emotions in times of losses, but the situation is even more difficult for children due to the involved uncertainties and lack of adequate knowledge on what death entails or its implications. Children are seldom conscious of most things, including emotional changes or the thought that they are likely to be affected by varying emotions which are hosted in their precious bodies. Inside Out does an amazing job in creating awareness and familiarity about the concept of loss and grieving. The story is narrated from a person view of the main character. Riley an eleven-year-old portrays different emotions such as Anger, Disgust, fear, happiness, and sadness. It is obvious that humans normally encounter a wider range of emotions far from the five and those that have experienced grief have proved it. The film director and the development team successfully identified and created some emotional characters as part of exploring the part of psychology. The integration of different emotions among the characters helps depict interactions with one another as they occur in Riley’s mind. The approach is useful in framing the emotional juggling event, thus illustrating how emotions are likely to influence an individual’s reactions, perception, and actions.

Based on the portraying of loss in Inside Out, it is rather apparent that the director intended to send the message that being sad is not bad and memories can at times be a source of joy or sadness which is not wrong. This is depicted by the phrase JOY: And… We’re out. That’s what I’m. The statement clearly illustrates that even with all the other emotions, happiness will be experienced at a given time in life because human are meant to experience different emotions, but that should not affect how they view life. It is from the integration of such emotions that the actions of Riley can be projected.

On the other hand, in the film Frozen, the princess’s parents were killed at sea. Elsa is struggling with letting go and the ability to embrace her unique self by accepting her exceptional gifts and living unlimitedly. Due to her intense struggle with fear and expectation, she ends up shutting people out, which also affect her relationship with her sister Anna. The movie focused on evoking the specific emotional response from the audience in the quest of demonstrating how some people struggle with loss and bereavement. Elsa does not isolate herself and shut her sister because she does not love her, but simply because she is afraid to open up on everything that has been going on.

On the other hand, support is illustrated an important aspect of recovering from a loss as indicated by the statement ”She’s my sister; she would never.” Anna defends herself even even though she has been nothing but mean against her. The bond helps them to overcome the loss and grief and ultimately live a life that is full of joy even with the rather sad memories. Through the illustration, children can not only understand the implication of death but also familiarize with bereavement and coping with losses. The aspect of death is not one that is dwelled on as the movie quickly switches to happy moments. The approach is intended to protect children who hold minimal knowledge about death but illustrate the inevitability of loss and possibility of moving forward even after such major losses of loved ones.

The Good Dinosaur is one of the most popular animated children films of all times as it focuses on a narrative about overcoming one’s fears. The film mainly communicates on the theme of loss. The film is centered on the implication of major destructions in the world where dinosaurs are extinct. The animation film studios known as Pixar are popular for not shying away from rather sensitive and dark themes such as death. Even though the themes break the emotions and hearts of the audience in unthinkable ways, the intention is to educate about real life-based situations. The film is grounded on the aspects of bereavement and loss. The theme is apparent in the scene where Arlo cries in the expression of grief due to the loss of his family, and after opening up to his friend Spot, he learns that his parents are dead too. Arlo struggles with loss and even blames his friend for it but later regrets his actions. In that he notes ”I blamed him for what happened to you, but it wasn’t his fault. So I got to help him.” The film focuses on the process of bereavement and what the sad feeling can cause an individual’s actions, thoughts, and perspectives towards life. Both characters are represented in grieving moments of their respective families, which help demonstrate the concept of death and grief in a relatable way. The film, therefore, highlights that being sad is never a bad thing because it normally helps in the end but having a supportive groups such as peers can be crucial in dealing with loss. The film explains that death is certain and grieving can be particularly painful as the period is characterized by confusion and isolation. The film is not only useful in enhancing the understanding of the viewers about loss but also highlights the need to opening up and preserving both good and bad memories as part of coping.

The emotions of children are changeable in some cases because they are unpredictable, but that does not mean that they are not as heartbreaking as the emotions of adults. Pixar, as the animation studio for the films, offers children the opportunity to experience more than just entertainment that is normally offered by standard children’s film. The developers achieve this by creating suspense and pressure which is dominated by sorrow and dread by using relatable characters and real situations to demonstrate to children life is not generally bad because it is associated with some good situations as well. About Wreck-It Ralph, the theme of death is apparent within the video gaming context. The film mainly focuses on the themes of loss, guilt, and grief. This is indicated by the phrase ”it becomes kind of hard to love your job when no one seems to like you for doing it.” The statement demonstrates that Chiron feels useless and out of place as modern games are constantly replacing everything that he was used to winning. In this context, a moment of loss is demonstrated as dying outside the game means that the characters cannot revive their lives. Moana is one of Disney’s animated films that demonstrate the highest peak of the aspect of death. Moana is shielded from the world as the way of protecting her, but she is inspired by her grandmother to explore. However, the death of her grandmother shatters her, but she moves on although through a challenging journey in the quest of discovering her abilities and accomplishing a heroic venture that saves both her family and the entire community. The film does not, however, dwell on the grieving side of loss as Moana quickly moves forward an approach which focuses on protecting the innocence of children who understands nothing about grief in general.

Based on the film Tangled, grieving is a process that is always tangled. The film asserts on losses and sorrow, thus illustrating that losing a certain relationship due to the death of an individual will affect the wellness of an individual as well as their responses. Pixar demonstrates that grief is a parasite that eats off an individual, thus, affecting their energy and participation in different grounds. However, irrespective of the sadness that loss brings people can still explore and experience all the good things in life by embracing change. Even though the narrative is about a dark subject that is very sensitive being death, humor is well incorporated while ensuring that fear is not created among the viewers. The director understands that the target of the message is mainly children, and thus, how the message is delivered is crucial in determining how they perceive death, bereavement, and life in general. In other words, the film is both existing and sad, which helps in communicating the reality of life, which is both bitter and sweet. The concept is illustrated by the opening scene where the narrator states that ”this is the story of how I died. Don’t worry; this is a very fun story. And the truth is, it isn’t even mine. This is the story of a girl named Rapunzel.” Even though the subject is dark, the narrator eases the tension by making the story less complex. The simplified tale helps the audience in understanding the severity of death as well as the implication. In other words, the director considers the experiences of the audience and their development to ensure that the message is successfully delivered.

All the above children animated films tackle the concept of bereavement and loss from a different dimension, but the main objective is to ensure that the audience understands what loss entails. Based on the illustration of the films, death is one of the most sensitive topics in the contemporariness of society today, given that not most people are willing to address the subject. Even though it is definite that every person must die most people shies away from such discussions on the ground of protecting their children. On the other hand, children find the topic as scary and therefore avoid it unless they are talking about the experiences and feelings of their favorite fictional characters. It is thus, clear that death is not something that can be ignored, and it is rather bold for the animated films to focus on shaping the message specifically for children. However, it is clear that for children to fully understand what loss entails the films must be willing to venture fully on creating awareness and familiarity rather than protection. Children are fragile since their psychology is not as stable and thus the content that is targeted for them must be sensitive as well, but that does not mean shutting then from understanding about real life situations that they will encounter later on in life. The popularity of loss as one of the themes in animated films has been crucial in explaining the occurrence and implication of deaths. The films create more opportunities for thorough discussions in addition to highlighting that death can affect everyone contrary to what children believe that it is meant for adults.

Discussion

The objective of this report was to conduct an in-depth thematic analysis on how children’s animation studios represent the theme of loss and bereavement in addition to its implication on the understanding of death and grief among children. Based on a thematic analysis of 6 selected films from Disney and Pixar studios, several trends that are similar and different were observed. Pixar tends to focus more on the process of grief, while Disney does not provide an approach that is centered on protecting the innocence of children and their perception about life. Sadness, fear, and joy are some of the dominant emotions that were highlighted across films as they relate to bereavement and loss.

Concerning contemporary media, the connection between non-human characters and the human audience is crucial in tackling different concepts from diverse dimensions. There are certain aspects that are incorporated in children’s animated films that make them more fascinating when compared to normal fairy tale stories. Humans can directly connect with the feelings and experiences of the fictional characters, even though their world is different. The fact that the films are set in a world that resembles that of human shows that the presentation is effective in explaining real life experiences. Contrary to the past, children’s films have today embraced a culture of awareness and familiarity creation, especially when dealing with sensitive subjects, which help in eradicating fear. It is not surprising as to why most individuals and particularly parents find it rather hand to talk to their children about the subject of loss. Most of them are driven by the need to protect the wellness of their children based on their inability to comprehend difficult situations. Children are fragile, and such information might break them or shape an adverse view about how they experience or perceive life. In this context, the message has to be uniquely designed to address their needs based on their limitations in terms of knowledge. As people tend to grief children differently might not even understand that they are grieving and thus, the use of fictional characters helps in understanding their feelings as well as acknowledging both sadness and happiness as part of real life which is challenging but necessary to understand. In this context, the concept of loss has widely been covered in animated films as the means of increasing awareness.

Even though modern animation studios that create content for children have begun to touch on the concept of bereavement and loss widely, they are also highlighting that grieving because of major life losses is a universal experience. The films have made it rather clear that grieving is not set for a particular group of people but everyone. This rejects the common notion among children that death is only a problem for adults. Most of the animated fictional characters are kids, which help children to connect with their experiences and feelings. For instance, in the film, The Good Dinosaur the concept of loss is a common experience is indicated. Both of the leading characters grieve of the loss of their parent, which connects them as they suffer from the same problem. Parental death is a concept that resonates in most of the selected films, including Frozen, which in turn helps children experiencing loss of parental relationships to cope. It is well known that divorce, separation, or death leads to broken family units which affect how a child thinks reacts or feel. In this case, the films are not necessarily focused on children experiencing parental loss in terms of death but also those whose family relationships have been broken. Grieving is part of mourning the loss of close relationships of things such as loved ones or a pet. It is a necessary process towards healing, and the films demonstrate the possibilities of living a happy life even after a major loss. By dealing with the subject of loss, it becomes rather clear that joy, fear, and sadness are some of the dominant emotions in an individual’s life.

Loss and bereavement scenes are particularly therapeutic and educative to the audience. For one, children with experiences of a loss can easily connect to such occurrences by learning that the sadness is shared by others, and it is something that one can successfully overcome with time. Also, those that know minimal or nothing about death can get to learn about what it entails and its effects on those that incur the loss. The animated figures are usually selected in a manner that the wider population can feel represented in one way or another. The representation of different feelings or emotions, as illustrated in the film Inside Out helps the audience in accounting for their experiences even though the fictional characters are non-humans. The representation helps them in assimilating and figuring out about their personal feelings given that children are curios beings who like to explore on different aspects, even those that might appear scary at first. The increased acceptance that loss is a shared experience has been crucial in creating opportunities for discussions among individuals about the inevitability and unchangeable nature of death. Even though the complexity of the subject might only result in a vague understanding of the issue, it is apparent that it helps children to identify with different experiences and acknowledge their feelings. In additions, the films encourage children to appreciate their loved ones even after death by preserving their memories. Moana is inspired by her grandmother to explore, and even after she dies, she relies on her for encouragement and in the end, she heroically achieves unimaginable things.

Animated fictional characters serve as metaphors with human abilities and emotions, which helps children in understanding about real-life situations. The animated films developers create the characters with the hope that their experiences resonate with the individuals who have dealt or coped with the loss of those close to them. Also, such moments are rather interesting because they are relevant when it comes to the issue of grief. Children mostly experience diverse kinds of losses because their experiences are different while their development is rather fragile. The films serve as essential tools for shaping their view about life by demonstrating visually what life entails. Humans believe that by seeing it becomes easier to believe, which illustrates why the films are effective in educating children about death as well as familiarizing them with the experiences of loss which are likely to affect almost every aspect of their lives. Based on the films analyzed above, it is evident that it is possible for animated films to effectively represent the loss and death occurrences for children in a way that they can relate and understand. The movies have been exceptionally designed to address the emotional needs of the audience to create awareness and familiarity that loss can take place in varying shapes and can affect everyone. Also, the films rely on the use of family or friends ties to demonstrate the severity of any kind of loss. The loss of close individuals tends to create conflicting emotions, which in turn help children to connect with the feelings of the fictional characters. However, even though the loss is being widely addressed in children’s film, the producers are still conscious when it comes to protecting the wellness of children. As a sensitive issue, it is not certain on how each child would conceive or interpret death and life in general, and thus considering that they are not fully developed is critical. Thus, animated films are successfully depicting that children need to experience life as it is without harming their innocence.

Reflexivity

Unarguably, rapid changes in the contemporariness of the society today have led to notable coverage of sensitive topics such as loss and bereavement in children’s animated films in the last couple of years when compared to the past. Death has always been portrayed as reversible in most fictional or magic films. However, in all the selected movies, death was demonstrated as something that is not only permanent but one that yields pain and devastation on the affected persons. The idea is rather inspiring, given that it helps children in understanding that death is permanent because this is a notion that is widely contested by kids. The ability to see their favorite fictional character experience sadness and grief due to unavoidable losses normally serve as an effective approach in helping children to develop a rather concrete understanding of loss and grieving. However, based on the fact that most films fail to highlight the reason why death has to take place leading to the loss of a certain person, the irreversibility of death might upset them if they are not given the aid they require. In this case, based on the lack of knowledge among children when compared to adults, it is important for parents to offer the required guidance to ensure that the concept of death is interpreted correctly by children. The films demonstrated that both good and bad people do not get a second chance to live after death has struck. This, therefore, provides a fair representation, thus showing that death can affect each person without favor. However, the grieving process was represented rather differently across all the films with some moving forward without much bereavement while others are devastated something that affects their emotions, reaction and how they relate with others in general. It is obvious that animation studios have evolved in the representation of sensitive topics such as loss and bereavement.

Conclusion

In summing up, about the thematic analysis of 6 animation films, the study concludes that the representation of loss and bereavement by animation studios is crucial in educating children about death. However, the study noted that there is inadequacy when it comes to highlighting the grieving process. Most films tend to focus on death, which rapidly shifts, thus avoiding offering details on how bereavement affects different characters, including their emotions and reaction. The approach is mainly guided by the fact that the society is highly sensitive and mainly shies away from dark concepts, particularly those that highlight death in the quest of protecting children. In other words, animation films can operate as both useful and negative tools for informing children. In that, while the intension is to create awareness and familiarity about the harsh realities of life, in most cases, children might be affected adversely by such scenes. The representation is one that however accounts for the emotional and developmental needs of children by only highlighting the things that they can comprehend without putting pressure on them. In that, even though the understanding of children about death might be vague, some of the most basic aspects about grieving and implications of loss are successfully highlighted. As noted before, young children below ten years lack the cognitive capacity to comprehend complex subjects such as those regarding death and such scenes might lead to confusion and fear. In this case, most animated films tend to incorporate moral implications that help children to understand better while creating opportunities for children and parents to engage in thorough discussions about loss and grieving.