In this week I have finished an online article focusing on the anthropomorphic characters and their influence to children, and I have made some notes for my thesis proposal:
Animated Movies with Animals as Major Characters: A study of Its Impact on Children Aged 5-8 Years
P378: children may learn less accurate information about real animals when exposed to unrealistic or anthropomorphized portrayals of animals in media.
-Anthropomorphism may not be suitable for educating children but useful for helping children with social and moral lessons (Mierek, 2010).
-The use of animal characters instead of humans help to make tough themes less intimidating (Burke & Copenhaver, 2004,2002) and avoid any kind of identification of gender or ethnicity that may leave any kind of impact on the minds of children
• ‘The movies are interesting because of their features which have been created with cheerful and colorful nuance, uncanny animation and interesting story’ (hasanah,2019)
• Anthropomorphic animals help children in learning the social and cultural patterns but also help them in acquiring the language.
• Children unknowingly picking up language and sound system presented by animated movies.
• P379: research significance: focusing on the impact of both factual films and anthropomorphism in animated films on children, and the good and bad effects.
• P380 majority of the subject chooses animal character comparing to human character in the animation film.
• P382 most evident reason of anthropomorphic characters in animation is due to their relationship to the fantasy foundation, as animation allows for a level of flexibility that is not achievable in real life.
• p383 animals provide a level of flexibility that strict humanism cannot.
• Children’s stories normally represent contentious issues at the heart of our culture. So children take the, seriously through anthropomorphise characters and learning from them.
• Children’s movie help to develop empathy for others and become less egocentric. They help to foster emotional intelligence and moral growth through the storytelling. They include teaching cultural heritage and other people’s traditions, where they can establish a positive attitude toward diverse cultures.
• It helps to develop children’s imagination and experience.
• P383-p384: the history of animal story can be traced back to the seventeenth century, they gain importance from teaching children language system and understanding the world.
o Peter the rabbit (1902): consequence of disobedience. Potentially leading the right behaviour of children.
• Anthropomorphic stories can challenge children’s capacity to discriminate between fact and fiction.
• Children can learn about love, forgiveness, patience, trust, and acceptance from the Winnie the Pooh books.
• Even if the anthropomorphic characters contain discreetly mental health or undiscovered disorders, children normalise them and dispel the stigmas that today’s society has imposed.
• P385: several episodes of Tom and Jerry eared academy awards for best animated short project, such as Yankee Doodle Mouse (1942), The cat Concerto (1946), Johann Mouse (1952).
• ‘From their sweet conflicts, it is understood that happiness is in sharing happiness.
• P386-p387: research in the last two decades show direct effect on aggressive behaviour (Paik & Comstock, 1994; Wood et al, 1991) due to televisions:
- the negative impact on children when they watch animated movies featuring animals, especially those with violent content. Research shows that exposure to violence in cartoons can increase aggressive behavior in children, making them more likely to display aggressive attitudes or behaviors. This aggression can also extend to real-life interactions with animals, distorting children’s understanding and causing them to view animals through unrealistic, male-centered perspectives.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that children who watch violent cartoons or movies often become tense, angry, and disobedient. Other negative effects include insensitivity to the pain and grief of others, increased susceptibility to violent behavior, health problems, and a lack of empathy. Therefore, the text recommends that parents should be cautious in selecting cartoons for their children to avoid negative impacts on their behavior.
To understand more of how anthropomorphic animals help children to understand the world and meanings behind the story, here is what I have read:
Here are a few of my notes:
P205: “Books that use animals as people can add emotional distance for the reader when the story message is powerful or painful.”
As Anthropomorphic animal characters provide emotional distance, allowing readers (including children) to engage with complex or painful topics in a more approachable way.
P206: foundation of literature: powerful enough text ( as anthropomorphism can be used as a catalyst) no matter between which kinds of characters. Forming issues and solutions in an alternative life…
P207: The Process of Anthropomorphism
-Transmogrification
• anthropomorphism permeates the adult world.
• When we are standing close to the metaphoric fire, the use of animals has long provided intellectual and psychological distance and allowed us to critically explore that which we would not be comfortable exploring directly.