Violence in Animated Feature Films: Implications for Children

Abstract

Cartoons and animated films occupy a significant proportion of a child’s viewing time, but may be considered questionable in terms of their content. Although parents prefer such films in order to shield their children from daily problems and potentially harmful images in the media, examination of their content has so far been limited. In this study, violence depicted in popular animated cinema films was analyzed using content analysis, tabulating categories and frequency. Twenty-three animated films from among the 100 highest-grossing feature films of all time were examined. Results indicated that the most violent physical elements were punching and kicking, the most violent verbal elements were taunting and threatening and there were 18 scenes of killing. It is concluded that the frequency of the violence shown in some of the animated films may be disturbing for the healthy mental development of young children.