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Children’s films are full of death

LONDON — What do Anna and Elsa’s parents, Simba’s dad and Paddington’s uncle have in common? They’ve all been killed off early in the films. What’s interesting is that these films — Frozen, The Lion King and Paddington — are meant for children. But it’s not so surprising as one might expect. A study by the British Journal of Medicine has found that children’s animated films contain more deaths and murders than films for adults.

Paddington Bear is missing his uncle.

Paddington Bear is missing his uncle.

LONDON — What do Anna and Elsa’s parents, Simba’s dad and Paddington’s uncle have in common? They’ve all been killed off early in the films. What’s interesting is that these films — Frozen, The Lion King and Paddington — are meant for children. But it’s not so surprising as one might expect. A study by the British Journal of Medicine has found that children’s animated films contain more deaths and murders than films for adults.

Researchers from University College London and the University of Ottawa analysed 45 top-grossing children’s animated films through the years — from Snow White to Frozen — and discovered they contained two-and-a-half times as many deaths as the most successful movies for adults from the same year.

More importantly, two-thirds of children’s animations contained an on-screen death of an important character (becoming an event that moves the plot), compared with half of the films for adults. Animal attacks and falls (intentional or not) were common causes of death in the former, while in the latter, characters tended to die from illnesses, gunshot wounds and car crashes.

In children’s animations, deaths were also more likely to occur earlier in the film. Notable early on-screen deaths picked out by the researchers include Nemo’s mother being eaten by a barracuda (four minutes and three seconds into Finding Nemo) and Tarzan’s parents being killed by a leopard four minutes and eight seconds into Tarzan.

The researchers suggested that parents might consider watching such films with their children “in the event that the children need emotional support after witnessing the inevitable horrors that will unfold”. Watching films where parents died (an event five times more likely to occur in children’s animations) could be particularly traumatic for young viewers, they said.

However, films could sometimes help children gain a deeper understanding of death and bereavement. The Lion King, for instance, shows the main character going through a complex grieving process and eventually coming to accept his father’s death, even forgiving his father’s murderer. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

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