Dead Serious: Death Presentations in Children's

DEAD SERIOUS: DEATH PRESENTATIONS IN CHILDREN’S ANIMATED MEDIA

MARISSA A. LAMMON

B.A., University of Colorado Colorado Springs, 2016

A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

Department of Communication

2019

ã 2019

MARISSA A. LAMMON

This thesis for the Master of Arts degree by

Marissa A. Lammon

has been approved for the

Department of Communication

Christopher Bell, Chair

Maya Krakoviak

Elizabeth Daniels

08 May 2019

Lammon, Marissa A. (M.A., Communication)

Dead Serious: Death Presentations in Children’s Animated Media

Thesis directed by Associate Professor Christopher Bell.

ABSTRACT

Media have been characterized as violent and graphic while occupying a significant amount of power within Western culture. Previous research has explored the frequency of violence and death in media but fails to explore the different ways death, specifically, can manifest on the screen. Despite acknowledgment by academia that animated platforms occupy immense cultural clout, few researchers have explored death at all within children’s media. The following research examines the different presentations of death during full-length animated films aimed at child audiences, specifically examining explicit and implicit deaths, near-death situations, and death processing time. Such an examination of children’s media provides insight into how culture shapes ideologies and children’s understanding of a very complex philosophical concept.

Keywords: death, animation, children, cognition, media presentations

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION...... 1

Statement of the Problem...... 2

Specific Purpose...... 2

Significance of the Study...... 3

II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE...... 4

Death in Media...... 4

Explicit...... 5

Implicit...... 6

Processing time...... 7

Children’s Death Comprehension...... 8

Cognitive development...... 8

The role of media...... 9

Death in Children’s Media...... 10

Animation...... 10

Death presentations...... 11

III. METHODOLOGY...... 13

Sample...... 13

Design/Procedure...... 15

Measurement...... 15

Death depictions...... 15

Processing time...... 16

IV. RESULTS...... 18

Death Depictions...... 18

Processing Time...... 20 iv

Film Rating...... 21

Production Year...... 22

V. DISCUSSION...... 23

Defying Death...... 23

Double-death and the Afterlife...... 26

Processing Time...... 28

Death Dialogue...... 30

Death of the “Other”...... 33

Cause of Death...... 38

Power/greed...... 39

Nature...... 40

Murder...... 42

Fear...... 44

Death of Different Character Types...... 46

VI. CONCLUSION...... 48

Strengths and Limitations...... 48

Future Research...... 49

Ideal Death Presentation...... 50

Naturally-occurring...... 50

Addressed...... 51

Nonevaluative...... 51

Purposeful...... 51

Wholesome...... 52

VII. REFERENCES...... 54

VIII. APPENDIX...... 61

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE

1. Distribution of Death Depiction...... 18

2. Distribution of Death Depiction by Film...... 19

3. Processing Time per Death Depiction...... 21

4. Percentage of Death Depiction by Film Rating...... 21

5. Percentage of Death Depiction by Production Year...... 22

6. Distribution of Human versus Non-Human Death...... 38

7. Distribution of Natural versus Non-Natural Death...... 42

8. Distribution of Non-Natural Death as Murder or Environmental...... 44

vi CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

“I’ll believe it when I see it” – Western society operates based on the widely accepted premise that if one can see it, it must be true. This mere acceptance of what is presented may seem harmless to passive consumers, but has detrimental effects on the relationship between media and culture. The consumption and acceptance of media as truth allocates significant amounts of power and control to media corporations and their mediated messages. Media are saturated with social, psychological, and cultural messages that contribute to the construction of reality (Hall, 1982; Van Dijk, 1996; Williamson, Croteau, Hoynes & Sasson, 1992). This heightened power does not come without consequences when taking into consideration media presence. From television to newspaper, to social media, the level of consumer interaction with media across various platforms continues to escalate and an insurmountable level of power remains in the hands of media companies and producers.

Considering that media are inescapable aspects of society, media studies research aims to understand the influence media have on consumers. Such explorations have contributed to the unveiling of alarming presentations and their subsequent effect on consumers. Notably, the revelation that media are saturated with presentations of violence and death has been a source of attention and controversy for decades (Cantor & Omdahl, 2009; Gerbner, 1980; Schultz & Huet,

2000). Hundreds of scholars and educators have focused their attention on violence in videogames and have indicated a relationship between media consumption and violent behavior

(Anderson, Carnagey & Eubanks, 2003; Brown & Hamilton-Giachritsis, 2005; Bushman &

Huesmann, 2006; Dominick, 1984; Schutte, Malouff, Post-Gorden & Rodasta, 1988). With newfound insight into how media can shape cognition and behavior, research transitioned to reveal the different ways media messages reflect cultural ideologies and discourses, particularly as it applies to communication surrounding complex concepts (Hall, 1982; Williamson et. al,

1992). Among the most complex and surrounded by cultural taboos, death in media deserves intense research focus.

Death as a philosophical concept is rife with immense complexities, and understanding how death functions involves a heightened level of cognitive ability. Yet, despite their lower cognitive functioning and tendency to learn from their environment, children are exposed to cinematic death more often than their adult counterparts and these presentations shape their understanding of death in the real-world (Bruce, 2001; Coyne & Whitehead, 2008; Everhart &

Aust, 2006; Sedney, 1999; Williamson et. al, 1992). Exploration into death in children’s media began by focusing on how death is dealt with within plotlines, specifically examining how characters cope with the loss of a life (Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005; Sedney, 1999; Sedney,

2002). While the narratives within film are equally valuable in shaping perceptions, audiences are taught from an early age to think in images; therefore, the visual components to media presentations also play an important role in media influence (Arnheim, 1969; Blazhenkova &

Kozhevnkov, 2010; John-Steiner, 1997).

Statement of the Problem

Research has indicated that consumers are exposed to an extensive number of visual deaths throughout their lifetime, notably through the media they consume (Everhart & Aust,

2006). Alarmingly, children are not excluded from these statistics and actually witness hundreds of on-screen deaths before even reaching adolescence (Sedney, 1999). Even more concerning, these deaths appear in media that are directly targeted to them. Death presentations remain virtually unexplored in children’s media research despite the inherent concern regarding children’s inability to fully understand the permanence of death, as well as the potential influence media portrayals present in regard to children’s understanding of the world.

Specific Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the various presentations of death in children’s animated media, as well as the time allocated to processing death presentations. This involves an

exploration into the implications of the visual and temporal presentations of death and near-death situations by addressing the following questions:

RQ1: How is death depicted in children’s animated media?

RQ2: Within children’s animated media, how much time is allotted to processing death

presentations once a death or near-death experience has occurred?

Significance of Study

This study will reduce the gap that exists in media research that explores the severely overlooked concepts of death and dying. By exploring how death is visually or auditorily presented to immature audiences, this study will provide a novelty to academia. A textual analysis of death in children’s media approaches an academically overlooked concern with an understanding that groups of people make sense of the world differently, and that children as a protected class are shown images in media that contribute to their meaning-making processes.

With correlations between media violence and children’s behaviors, cognitions, and personalities, addressing death presentations in media specifically targeted toward children would provide a foundation into the investigation of how viewing the very complex construct of death could influence a developing audience.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

The following includes a compilation of literature surrounding death presentations in media, the cognitive differences in death comprehension among child versus adult audiences, and death depictions in the animated realm of children’s media.

Death in Media

Where violence in media has been thoroughly investigated for decades, research on death presentations has received little concentrated focus – despite the overwhelming abundance of death scenes within American media. In fact, scholars have suggested that death can be considered one of the most common content elements of Western film production and have linked its presence in contemporary media with the cultural functions of violence (Gerbner, 1980;

Schultz & Huet, 2000). Violence, an exemplification of coercive power, involves demonstrations of force and control, and since most deaths on television are violent in nature, death symbolically functions within Western media production as a demonstration of power (Gerbner, 1980). Power, among countless other privileges in Western society, shifts in distribution and perception based on social attitudes and cultural contexts; the distribution of power, how it manifests, and how it is perceived are necessary components to analyzing the purpose of death and violence in media

(Campbell, 2004). Yet, the contributions to specific content in media are inherently related to public perceptions regarding that content, creating a perpetual cycle of media producing and reinforcing audience perceptions.

As a culture that continues to produce and receive financial gain from the production of films saturated with death and violence, the very inclusion and presentation of life-threating scenarios and risks in the movie industry can be seen as a direct reflection of and influence on

American perceptions of death (Shultz & Huet, 2000). Beyond violence and power, death as a concept functions within mass media in a distinct, symbolic way that shapes death functions in real-life (Gerbner, 1980). It has been suggested that death presentations function within society as

a reinforcement of social typing – by presenting death in a violent way, media demonstrate to consumers how death “works” and the appropriateness associated with viewing and communicating about it (Gerbner, 1980). Such claims have yet to be further analyzed directly, given the various different death presentations that exist in media. Death presentations, while apparent in abundance within American media, manifest in different ways, to different audiences, and appeal to different psychological processes.

Explicit. As the most apparent death presentation, explicit deaths are typically marked by sensation and violence that is visually presented to an audience, or in some cases, “hinted at via risk or threat” (Shultz & Huet, 2000, p. 146). These depictions are most combatted by parents and educators and raise the most ethical concerns, as they involve very real, perspicuous visuals regarding violence, gore, and death. Images in particular offer a specific potency to viewers and the use of images to portray violence and death in graphic ways gives death more power when it comes to leaving an impression (Rushdy, 2000). Although narratives capture their own importance in conveying realities of life or dramatic entertainment, images “bring a particular kind of power to the portrayal of death and violence,” and the presentation of death images in explicit ways can reinforce negative feelings and attitudes (Campbell, 2004, p. 71). Adults themselves testify to the fear that explicit mass media death presentations can induce, and children have openly identified media deaths, particularly those of which are realistic, as the most frightening media presentations viewed recently (Cantor & Omdahl, 2009).

Cox, Garrett, and Graham (2005) were the first to define an explicit death as one in which

“the audience sees that the character is definitely dead because the body is shown being physically damaged/killed and/or the dead, motionless body is shown on the screen” (p. 272). In an examination of explicit real-world death depictions distributed through mass media, Campbell

(2004) found that dead bodies featured in media are most often the bodies of dead foreigners (p.

64). Explicit death in Western media, then, operates on the social and cultural representation of

“the Other,” while offering no shield from graphic ends (Feldman, 1994). By presenting a dead

body, whether fully intact or disfigured, death and death experience confront viewers directly while expressing little concern over emotional sensitivity of audience members (Campbell, 2004).

Although it has been identified across the globe that viewers prefer to be shielded from violent images, images of graphic violence and death continue to permeate Western media (Campbell,

2004). The abundance of violent, explicit cinematic deaths indicates that despite the discourse surrounding violence to be predominantly negative, media perpetuate an additional discourse that violence and death are common occurrences. These presentations continue to exist and enter production consistently while perpetuating a dominant discourse, occupying the potential to shape how viewers view death. Notably, the combination of violence and death together can suggest that death most often manifests in violent ways, despite later research revealing equally potent yet visually dissimilar presentations of death.

Implicit. Among the body of research that investigates death and violence in American television programs and full-length films, an important observation emerges that suggests death can be observed without being consciously aware of it (Shultz & Huet, 2000). This observation without awareness exists through implicit presentations of death rooted in assumptions and indirect connections that participating audiences logically form as passive consumers.

Implicit, more elusive media presentations have been found in several different contexts, revealing the unique yet powerful approach to acknowledging different concepts. Researchers have indicated that specific social behaviors, attitudes, or concepts can manifest in different ways on screen and in the real-world, and such a revelation has virtually reconstructed the ways to analyze both people and media (Coyne & Archer, 2004; Coyne & Whitehead, 2008). In regard to social behavior, scholars have identified subtle methods of aggression that are portrayed within plotlines as equally harmful in comparison to physical aggression (Coyne & Whitehead, 2008).

This indirect presentation in particular reaches adolescent audiences in abundance, given their frequent appearances in adolescent television programs, and even appears more often than direct, explicit physical violence (Coyne & Archer, 2004).

The presentation of content in indirect ways has since expanded to include implicit death presentations. Early research initiated this shift by recognizing that death in media is often

“marked by absence” (Sedney, 1999, p. 318). This went on to suggest that cinematic death can be understood and “seen” regardless of any explicit or grotesque visual indicators or any outward acknowledgement that death has taken place (Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005; Schultz & Huet,

2000; Sedney, 1999). In an attempt to operationalize and identify when this type of presentation occurs, Cox, Garrett, and Graham (2005) provided a definition of implicit death as “one in which the audience can only assume that the character is dead based on the fact that they do not appear again in the film and/or that they have encountered something that would presumably result in death” (p. 272). With only one operational definition in place, there exists a recognizable gap in how death can be implicitly presented within media.

Processing time. Despite very different manifestations, death presentations – whether explicit or implicit – occur quickly and go unacknowledged most of the time (Schultz & Huet,

2000; Sobchack, 1974). Although media deaths appear in specific, meaningful ways, these presentations appear and disappear, giving consumers little time to process, examine, and comprehend the death (Sobchack, 1974). Both within plotlines and real-life consumption, death is rarely acknowledged and terminology that does recognize death does so in a round-about way, avoiding any “death terminology” (Schultz & Huet, 2000). Specifically, in children’s media, the deaths of characters are commonly unacknowledged and unaddressed entirely (Sedney, 2002).

Not only do consumers have little time to process an on-screen death, they are encouraged to overlook the occurrence through the framing of death as unacknowledgeable.

This lack of time that is devoted to processing a death presentation has been attributed to the cultural ideology that suggests discussing death in a straightforward manner is taboo (Cox,

Garrett & Graham, 2005; Schultz & Huet, 2000). Death in Western culture has been surrounded by cultural systems that instruct members to view dying as an agony that one must not discuss, but instead, mourn silently (Martinez, 2017). Western culture in particular avoids discussing

death – how one faces it, what it means, or encounters with it – at all, and conversing about the subject makes people very uncomfortable (Frank, 2018). On the rare occasion that death is discussed outside of a medical profession, the language used is very ambiguous and illustrative of uneasiness, filled with words and phrases to explain how someone has “passed away” or “lost their fight” (Aguirre, 2017). In the real-world, the dominant discourse encourages death essentially be wiped from memories and not dealt with hands on, and media portrayals may be perpetuating a similar discourse. As a reflection of dominant social ideologies, the amount of processing time in relation to death presentations is a key component to understanding how death is depicted in media and subsequently understood by consumers.

Children’s Death Comprehension

As a construct, death (and death comprehension) involves irreversibility and nonfunctionality (Brent, Speece, Lin, Dong & Yang, 1996). The understanding that all living things must die and once they do, cannot come back to life or perform any living things is a universality that marks successful comprehension of death (Brent et. al, 1996). However, given the multiple facets involved with death as a construct, successful death comprehension is difficult and varies in distribution. Death comprehension, inundated with complexities and deeply philosophical concepts, exists along a spectrum and is not finite across all consumers. Children, in particular, lack the cognitive abilities often associated with logic and reasoning in order to successfully comprehend death to the full extent.

Cognitive development. Undoubtedly, there are fundamental differences among children and adult audiences in regard to their cognitive abilities, including the ability to understand death- related themes (Baker, Sedney & Gross, 1992). The ability to understand and successfully process media content is dependent on a child’s cognitive capacities and developmental stage (Stasburger,

Jordan & Donnerstein, 2010). Children’s conceptualization of death reasonably correlates with their cognitive development, and an examination of child perceptions reveals a significant difference among the core concepts within death comprehension.

Children and adults view death differently in four key areas involving irreversibility, inevitability, causality, and finality (Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005; Willis, 2002). Children under the age of three have no understanding of death at all and rely on the emotions of those around them to produce any sort of response (Danielson & Bushaw, 1995; Willis, 2002). There is little evidence to demonstrate that children in this cognitive stage benefit at all from watching television, primarily because navigating through on-screen material requires brain maturation and cognitive skills that the infant brain does not have. Instead, the infant brain develops “in response to genetic and environmental cues,” and those under the age of three learn more effectively from human interaction opposed to passive media consumption (Strasburger, 2007, p. 334). The viewing of death on-screen, then, does little in the way of the death comprehension for younger children in the first cognitive stage of development.

As children mature, death comprehension begins to develop, but at a rudimentary level.

Children between the ages of four and six years “see death as a temporary, nonpermanent condition” and do not understand that death is final (Grollman, 1990; Speece & Brent, 1984;

Willis, 2002, p. 223). When asking children directly about their perceptions of death, the majority indicated that “under certain conditions, a dead person might become alive again” and that after a person dies, “they can still do at least some of the things they did when they were alive” (Brent et. al 1996, p. 68). It is not until transitioning out of the preoperational stage of cognitive development around the age of seven that children are better able to understand death as irreversible, permanent, and inevitable (Brent et. al 1996; Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005; Willis,

2002). This leaves nearly a decade of cognitive growth during the first years of life that is necessary as a foundation to successful death comprehension.

The role of media. While children’s cognitive abilities are limited in comparison to adults, their thoughts and impressions are logically derived from information available to them in their environment (Willis, 2002). Since the cultural ideologies surrounding death discourse are restrictive, children rarely discuss death with parents or friends (Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005).

In fact, media as a whole are ranked extremely low by parents in regard to topics that are

“discussed, negotiated, fought over, and regulated” (Strasburger, 2007, p. 334). Despite needing information about death in order to properly respond to loss, bereaved children of all cognitive levels are forced to observe and listen to others in their environment in order to receive answers

(Baker et. al, 1992). After collecting all of the information that they can from observing others, children “are inclined to fill in missing pieces” with fantasy that they absorb from media (Baker,

Sedney & Gross, 1992, p. 106). Young children’s impressions, then, that death is temporary and reversible may be attributed to the presentations of death within children’s media. Given that many children lack a complete understanding of death and that successfully coping with a real- life death involves understanding what death is and what is looks like, children naturally take information that is immediately available to them through the media they consume (Baker,

Sedney & Gross, 1992; Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005).

Death in Children’s Media

Death in media has received little attention from academia, and research regarding death in children’s media is virtually nonexistent. Relevant research, however, does highlight that children are significantly more vulnerable to media effects and that children’s media tend to include adult-related themes (Bruce, 2001; Coyne & Whitehead, 2008; Everhart & Aust, 2006;

Sedney, 2002; Sobchack, 1974).

Animation. When examining children’s media, the animated platform becomes unavoidable; animation has historically been designed “primarily, if not exclusively, for the entertainment of children” (Bruce, 2001, p. 230). Nonetheless, the validity in message construction within this child-targeted media cannot be disputed simply because of the platform.

Where the realistic nature of animation is debated due to the lack of live-action content, children’s animated media actively provide dialogue between reality and fantasy, creating and presenting an “illusion of life” to an audience living in the real-world (Bruce, 2001, p. 235).

These fairytales include cultural heritage and often times “help children develop inner resources”

and even discover their own meaning in life (Sedney, 2002, p. 279). Regardless of the manner in which they are viewed, animated media are produced and designed to not only capture attention and entertain, but to “mold imagination and understanding” (Sedney, 1999, p. 316).

Yet, accompanied with a juvenile target audience, animated media tend to include non- juvenile content. There has been a historical tendency for the animated platform to embed adult- themed messages into shows and movies that purposefully reach children (Bruce, 2001). For decades, children’s animated media have been identified and criticized as the most violent media available (Coyne & Whitehead, 2008). The claim does not go unsupported, as the American

Academy of Pediatrics (2001) has identified the highest proportion of violence in contemporary media within children’s media (Everhart & Aust, 2006).

Parents and educators have since raised concerns on why and how production studios are able to include adult themes in children’s media, and a potential answer can be found in the animated platform itself. Animation allows for the presentation of content that would be otherwise forbidden in different forms, due to the lack of seriousness associated with the platform

(Bruce, 2001). Despite being a sophisticated medium through which messages are constructed, animated media are often disregarded in their ability to invoke mythical consciousness and influence audiences in a very real way (Bruce, 2001). In fact, if children express fear produced by animated media, adult figures mitigate their anxieties through claims that the shows and movies are only “make-believe” and cannot actually happen (Cantor & Omdahl, 2009). Doing so however, ignores the power animated media occupy in shaping perspectives, especially to a developing audience.

Death presentations. Animated media are undeniably rife with violence, and research indicates there may be similar abundancies in death presentations. Scholars propose that young children have witnessed hundreds of violent deaths before reaching adolescence, specifically through media presentations (Everhart & Aust, 2006; Sedney, 1999). Although Western culture denies death as an inevitable aspect of life and avoids the grieving process entirely, the

presentation of death within Western media is a common occurrence that reinforces these ideologies (Sedney, 2002; Willis, 2002). Each time a child witnesses a death on the screen, they are actively absorbing lessons about death and bereavement (Sedney, 2002).

The way in which death is depicted in children’s animated media has yet to be extensively examined in academia. Cox, Garrett and Graham (2005) were the first to investigate death presentations and found that Disney films reflect Western ideologies surrounding death through death presentations that “eclipse the permanence and irreversibility” and most often

“leave deaths emotionally unacknowledged” (Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005, p. 267). These results, in combination with the abundance of death and violence in children’s animated media as well as the cultural clout death presentations serve, elicit a need to further investigate how death in children’s animated media is presented.

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

The present study is a textual analysis that utilizes Deep Reading. Deep Reading involves active engagement with an artifact and elicits critical thinking through uncovering the sense- making and meaning-making processes of others (McKee, 2003; Roberts & Roberts, 2008). This methodology allows the researcher to look at a media text through a contextual, linguistic, and organizational lens. Specifically, the researcher examined the intended audience of the texts as well as the purpose in order to draw conclusions about their creation, the tone and what it communicates, and finally, the purposeful choices by producers in organization and pattern.

Sample

The sample included 45 full-length animated films produced between 1937 and 2018.

The films included in this 81-year time-frame are an illustrative sample of animated films that demonstrate at least one death presentation throughout the duration of the film. The purpose of utilizing an illustrative sample and purposefully selecting the films was to effectively examine death by examining death presentations. A random sample in this setting could produce a number of films that do not contain death and therefore do not contribute to this investigation and analysis.

All films have an MPAA rating of G (General audiences) or PG (Parental guidance suggested), indicating a target audience under the age of 13. Previous research has narrowly focused on Disney films given the company’s powerful position in the media realm and the major contributor to children’s animated media; with this in mind, the current sample included films produced by a variety of different companies including: Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar

Animation Studios, Blue Sky Studios, DreamWorks Animations, Illumination, Sullivan Bluth

Studios, 20th Century Fox Animation, Warner Bros. Feature Animation, Focus Features, Netflix, and Sony Pictures Animation in order to extend findings to a broader scope of children’s animated media.

The following 45 films have been previously viewed by the researcher and have been chosen on the basis of their MPAA rating and inclusion of at least one death presentation:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Bambi (1942) The Princess and the Frog (2009)

Charlotte’s Web (1973) Up (2009)

Watership Down (1978) Tangled (2010)

The Secret of NIMH (1982) Despicable Me (2010)

Transformers: The Movie (1986) Rio (2011)

The Little Mermaid (1989) Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Tarzan (1989) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

(2013)

All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) Frozen (2013)

Beauty and the Beast (1991) The Croods (2013)

The Lion King (1994) Turbo (2013)

The Iron Giant (1999) How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

Mulan (1998) Big Hero 6 (2014)

The Prince of Egypt (1998) Book of Life (2014)

Shrek (2001) Storks (2016)

Ice Age (2002) Trolls (2016)

Finding Nemo (2003) Angry Birds (2016)

Brother Bear (2003) Ferdinand (2017)

Shark Tale (2004) Coco (2017)

The Incredibles (2004) Kubo and the Two Strings (2017)

Open Season (2006) Next Gen (2018)

Flushed Away (2006) Duck Duck Goose (2018)

Ratatouille (2007)

Design/Procedure

Films were viewed individually and coded for death depictions and processing time. Each time a death was observed, it was examined and coded as either explicit, implicit, or narrowly avoided. The death scene was documented via a brief description of the imagery and dialogue involved in the death presentation. After death depiction was coded, the coder viewed the death presentation again and coded for processing time with a standard stop-watch. The researcher then analyzed all collected data and proposed a valid interpretation after taking into consideration the images and dialogue within death presentations.

Measurement

It is important to note that from this point forward, all references to death are inclusive of any loss of life. This includes humans, animals, and inanimate objects, so long as they are presented within the film as a living thing. The identification of a character as living takes into consideration the unique universes presented to children through animated media and has been determined on the basis of stylistic choices by producers used to depict the character as alive. All of the following death presentations were coded for if visually or auditorily presented to an audience, including any dreams or fantasies that play out on screen. In instances where the cause of death and actual death occur in separate scenes, only the scene including death was coded.

Death depictions. Death was coded as explicitly presented if the presentation contained at least one of two features: the first derives from previous research that identifies an explicit death through the visual depiction of a body being physically damaged or a dead, motionless body (Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005). This was expanded upon in the current study to include any visible distortion to the original lifeform as well as any whole body or body parts either lifeless, unattached, or physically absent. This also included any shadows of a dead body, posters, images, and reflections. The second feature among an explicit death has been defined as any clear presentation of death as a result of circumstance, either in combination with or in absence of any

physical indicators. This included any visual displays that show a death has occurred, in real time, regardless of the presence of a lifeless or distorted figure.

Death was coded as implicitly presented on the basis of two features, with the first also deriving from previous research. If death is indirectly assumed based on the character’s absence throughout the remainder of the film or their encounter with “something that would presumably result in death,” the implication is indicative of an implicit presentation (Cox, Garrett & Graham,

2005, p. 272). Second, a death that does not, at any point, provide any visual cues but does provide an auditory indication that death has occurred was coded as implicit.

Death in children’s media can also present itself in a combination of explicit and implicit presentations through death that is narrowly avoided. The researcher defined a narrowly avoided death as any visual scenario in which an explicit death would have occurred had an unforeseen, intervention not taken place. In this situation, the audience could presume that had the scene continued without any intervention, the character would have died, and the audience would have access to that death visually.

Processing time. Research has suggested that depending on cognitive stage, children process information differently (Strasburger, 2007). Younger children rely on the responses of those around them in order to process any given scenario and produce a response (Strasburger,

2007; Willis, 2002). This would suggest that younger children would begin processing an on- screen death once a character or other audience member reacts to the death. As children advance through cognitive stages however, they occupy the cognitive skills to begin processing a death and other visual content immediately as it appears on screen (Strasburger, Jordan & Donnerstein,

2010). Ideally, an operationalization for processing time would encompass the different ways children process what they see and hear. However, an inconsistent presence of character response coupled with cultural ideologies surrounding reacting to and discussing death prevents the formation of a definition that appeals to all age groups. With this in mind, the current definition

used takes into consideration the larger number of children within the older age group and in turn highlights how animated films do not consistently allow for effective processing by all children.

For the purpose of this study, the amount of time a viewer is allotted to process a death presentation was determined by the length of time beginning from the presentation of death, to the presentation of new, non-death related content. Non-death related content includes substance that does not correlate with the death and shifts attention to a different, unrelated matter.

References back to the death after non-death content is presented was not included in the processing time, as the break in visual processing shifts viewer attention. In instances of narrowly avoided death presentations, the processing time began once a death-threat presented itself and ended with the appearance of an unpredicted intervention that prevented the death from occurring.

CHAPTER IV

RESULTS

This study examines death presentations in children’s animated media with a focus on the visual and auditory components that comprise a death depiction, as well as processing time allotted for each death presentation. Descriptions of the components to each death presentation can be found in the Appendix. Data for film rating and production year is considered supplementary and was not intended to be addressed in the main body of research prior to commencement of the study; therefore, equal portions of films in these categories was not used and should be taken into consideration when interpreting the quantitative data. A textual analysis of the films also reveals specific themes that the researcher did not account for in identified research questions but contribute to the overall interpretation of death depictions in children’s animated media. The use of a thematic analysis offers a flexible and accessible means by which to examine qualitative data and serves as a valuable tool in determining how numerous aspects of the research topic can be interpreted (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The findings in the present thematic analysis reveal patterns related to the ways in which animated films depict death and these themes are discussed in detail following the results.

Death Depictions

A total of 895 death depictions were observed in the 45 animated films. The majority of deaths (52.62%) were comprised of narrowly avoided depictions (n = 471), followed by 37.88% of explicit depictions (n = 339). Implicit depictions accounted for 9.50% of total deaths (n = 85)

(See Table 1).

Table 1. Distribution of Death Depiction

Death depiction Number of death presentations % of total death presentations Explicit 339 37.88 Implicit 85 9.50 Narrowly avoided 471 52.62

The film with the highest number of death presentations accounted for 8.38% of all deaths and featured 75 death presentations, whereas the film with the lowest number of death presentations accounted for 0.56% of all deaths and included 5 death presentations. The number of explicit depictions per film ranged from 0 to 51 compared to a range of 0 to 15 for implicit depictions and 3 to 34 for narrowly avoided, indicating that every film contained a minimum of 3 narrowly avoided death depictions (See Table 2).

Table 2. Distribution of Death Depiction by Film

Death depiction Film Explicit Implicit Narrowly # of deaths avoided presentations Transformers: The Movie 51 9 15 75 The Incredibles 11 15 34 60 Next Gen 36 1 12 49 Duck Duck Goose 7 2 23 32 The Lion King 14 0 16 30 Kubo and the Two Strings 15 3 12 30 Tarzan 5 2 20 27 The Croods 13 0 13 26 Trolls 10 2 14 26 Watership Down 17 2 6 25 The Secret of NIMH 7 1 16 24 All Dogs Go to Heaven 3 4 17 24 Mulan 6 4 13 23 Up 4 4 15 23 Ice Age 7 3 12 22 Brother Bear 12 0 10 22 Book of Life 10 3 7 20 The Little Mermaid 8 0 11 19 The Prince of Egypt 11 3 5 19 Shrek 12 0 6 18 Bambi 2 3 12 17 Open Season 5 0 12 17 Wreck-It Ralph 12 2 3 17 Kung Fu Panda 3 1 12 16 Frozen 2 0 14 16

Table 2. Distribution of Death Depiction by Film cont.

How to Train Your Dragon 5 0 11 16 2 Finding Nemo 3 2 10 15 The Princess and the Frog 3 2 10 15 Turbo 3 3 9 15 Ratatouille 1 0 13 14 Beauty and the Beast 3 0 10 13 Big Hero 6 1 3 9 13 Ferdinand 3 2 8 13 Flushed Away 5 2 4 11 Rio 3 1 7 11 Storks 1 1 9 11 The Iron Giant 3 0 7 10 Tangled 3 0 7 10 Angry Birds 5 1 4 10 Charlotte’s Web 2 3 3 8 Coco 4 1 3 8 Snow White and the Seven 4 0 3 7 Dwarfs Shark Tale 2 0 4 6 Cloudy with a Chance of 3 0 3 6 Meatballs 2 Despicable Me 0 0 5 5

Processing Time

Processing time across the 895 total deaths ranged from 00:01 to 05:46 with a total average processing time of 12.83 seconds per death presentation. Explicit depictions had the smallest average processing time of 9.77 seconds per explicit death and ranged from 00:01 to

3:10. Implicit depictions ranged from 00:01 to 01:24 with an average processing time of 12.15 seconds per implicit death. Narrowly avoided depictions had the largest range and average processing time, from 00:01 to 5:46 and 15.15 seconds per narrowly avoided death (See Table 3).

Table 3. Processing Time per Death Depiction

Death depiction Range Average Explicit 00:01 – 03:10 9.77 seconds Implicit 00:01 – 01:24 12.15 seconds Narrowly avoided 00:01 – 05:46 15.15 seconds Total 00:01 – 05:46 12.83 seconds

Film Rating

Although G and PG films are both targeted toward children, their ratings reach a different set of children. G-Rated films appeal to a younger age group typically not exceeding the age of six, whereas PG-Rated films are seen as more appealing and “cool” to older children up to the age of twelve when the next engaging rating is PG-13 (Mondello, 2013). There was a total of 15 G-

Rated films and 30 PG-Rated films used in the sample. Targeted at a younger group, G-Rated films included significantly less explicit depictions (28.25%) than PG-Rated films (42.33%).

There were similarities in regard to implicit depictions, with G-Rated films including an average of 8.18% implicit depictions and PG an average of 10.07%. G-Rated films featured a higher percentage of narrowly avoided depictions (63.57%) than PG-Rated films (47.60%). G-Rated films contributed to 30% of total death depictions, whereas PG-Rated films contributed to 70%; however, given that the proportion of films used in each category is unequal, the contribution to overall death presentations is skewed.

Table 4. Percentage of Death Depiction by Film Rating

Film rating Death depiction G-Rated PG-Rated Explicit 28.25 42.33 Implicit 8.18 10.07 Narrowly avoided 63.57 47.60

Production Year

There was little recognizable or consistent change between distribution of death depiction by year, with the understanding that there is an uneven number of films within any given 15-year time frame. Within this sample, two films were produced between 1930 and 1944, no films between 1945 and 1959, one between 1960 and 1974, six between 1975 and 1989, eleven between 1990 and 2004, and twenty-five between 2005 and 2019. The largest percentage of explicit death occurred from 1975-1989 (46.91%), and the smallest occurred from 1930-1944

(25.00%) and 1960-1974 (25.00%). The largest percentage of implicit death occurred from 1960-

1974 (37.50%) and the smallest from 1975-1989 (9.28%). For narrowly avoided death, the largest number occurred from 1930-1944 (62.50%) and the smallest from 1960-1974 (37.50%). In regard to the amount of death depictions across the different time frames, the numbers are inconsistent and do not demonstrate any distinguishable change.

Table 5. Percentage of Death Depiction by Production Year

Production year Death depiction 1930-1944 1945-1959 1960-1974 1975-1989 1990-2004 2005-2019 Explicit 25.00 No data 25.00 46.91 35.29 37.38 Implicit 12.50 No data 37.50 9.28 11.35 8.09 Narrowly avoided 62.50 No data 37.50 43.81 53.36 56.90

CHAPTER V

DISCUSSION

The present study addresses a concrete, measurable research question regarding process time, as well as a more abstract, conceptual research question regarding how death is depicted in children’s animated media. To address the latter, an analysis of the text through a contextual, linguistic, and organizational lens provides insight into production choices and audience reception. Through active engagement with an artifact and meticulous efforts to uncover sense and meaning-making processes of audiences, important conclusions can be drawn about a text and what it communicates. After breaking the surface of the films in this sample, recognizable patterns exist that contribute to the presentation of death as impermanent, fast-paced, and socially constructed. The collection of death depictions and analysis of features within them reveal consistencies regarding how death is presented in animated media and how these presentations correlate with important components to death comprehension. The following thematic analysis contributes to an in-depth discussion surrounding the research topic and provides a method by which to evaluate the research with full clarity.

Defying Death

Aligned with previous research, several animated films include death presentations that are later “undone” by magic or avoid taking place at all through no apparent logical explanation.

Magical forces are often used to elucidate how characters are revived, but there are several instances in which no explanation is ever given and the death presentation – whether undone or avoided – has no logical or rational foundation. Characters can be thrown through four separate levels of drywall and survive or be exposed to excessive amounts of nitrous oxide and gain superpowers (Stewart & Soren, 2013; Walker & Bird, 2004). These encounters that ought to logically result in death are presented in different ways individual to each film, but repetitive circumstances are used across plotlines. A reoccurring scenario in children’s animated media that should presumably result in death but does not is one in which characters are frozen. In Flushed

Away and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, freezing another character is used as a mere detainment strategy where the characters that are frozen in ice can still move their eyes or manage to hop around (Kramer, Lord, Sproxton, Bowers & Fell, 2006; Marsden & Cameron, 2013).

Similarly, Scrat in Ice Age becomes completely frozen in ice, survives the ice age, and 20,000 years later unfreezes and continues living life as he had before (Forte & Wedge, 2002). Excluding the unproven and largely mistrusted practice of cryonics, the notion of freezing a body that can be revived again is not considered a rational possibility (Hendricks, 2015). Yet, children’s animated media present, on several occasions, death-defying scenarios where character lives are never threatened by risks that should logically result in death.

Another form of defying death that is apparent in animated media is the creation of a separate, illogical manner of death. A common element that has been analyzed in preceding studies is the use of a “sleep death” – in these presentations, a character goes to sleep and does not wake up. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first film analyzed to include a sleep death presentation where the main character becomes victim to a magical force able to cause this impossible manner of death. The princess is “murdered” out of jealousy and her body is motionless, but it does not decay or exhibit any signs of death (Appendix, Table 1). Even still, her sleep death is treated by other characters as her demise, with flowers placed in her hands and her body placed in a casket (Appendix, Table 1). This presentation mimics the discourse often used by parents that assures children a person who has died has “gone to sleep” (Heerema, 2018).

Where this particular phrasing is often used as a protection strategy to shield children from the realities of death while simultaneously avoiding the discomfort associated with conversing about it, it has very real implications for how children comprehend death. By creating a scenario for children, to children, in which a sleep death is actually possible and plays out on screen, animated films are solidifying an unrealistic and inaccurate version of death that can become integrated into children’s web of death comprehension.

Furthering the inaccuracies associated with sleep deaths, deaths that occur on screen can be “undone.” After Snow White falls from her fatal encounter, she is magically awoken by the kiss of a prince. Her death in and of itself is illogical, and after dying she is able to live again. The same presentation can be found in Frozen where Anna is transformed into solid ice before her abysmal death is reversed by an act of true love and she regains her life (Appendix, Table 32).

The Beast shares a similar fortunate experience after he dies from a gunshot wound. His eyes roll backward and his hand falls from Belle’s face onto the floor, where he lay lifeless (Appendix,

Table 10). As Belle mourns, a bright orange glow engulfs the Beast’s body and he is lifted into the air as he transforms into a living, breathing prince (Hahn, Trousdale & Wise, 1991). Unlike

Anna and Snow White’s death, the Beast dies a very realistic and practical death; yet, his death is still magically unwritten, and he is able to live again. All three deaths present to audience members unrealistic scenarios and call to question important components to death comprehension.

This presentation directly relates to two of the four key areas in which children struggle to comprehend death – irreversibility and finality. Children under the age of ten cognitively lack the ability to successfully understand the components to death and struggle to comprehend death as permanent (Grollman, 1990; Speece & Brent, 1984; Willis, 2002). Presentations that confirm this belief of impermanent death can make it even more difficult for developing children to understand such a complex concept. Children turn to their media for answers regarding concepts they do not understand or do not have access to in their immediate environment; with this in mind, media that propagate death-defying presentations are providing erroneous examples and circumstances. Rather than serve as a source of accurate, age-appropriate death conception, animated films are reinforcing false beliefs and making death comprehension more challenging and confusing in the short term.

Double-death and the Afterlife

Beyond the four components to death comprehension, death increases in complexity when considering what happens after death. The debate crosses religious and spiritual views – extending from a heaven or hell, the separation of body and soul, to reincarnation. Amidst the debates, the nature of consciousness is speculated by medical professionals and creates a dialogue regarding the uncertainty after human death (Brown, 2017). These conversations are undoubtedly complex and saturated with elevated, deeply philosophical interpretations; it is reasonable to assume that children are not a part of these exchanges. Nonetheless, children still speculate about death and what happens after someone dies and parents struggle with answering the difficult questions, even if religion is an integral part of the child’s life. Religious beliefs that are abstract in nature can be difficult for children to conceptualize and experts recommend frequently checking back with the child to measure their comprehension (Schonfeld & Quackenbush, 2009).

The same strategies can be applied after a child views a death presentation on screen or, on few occasions, an animated film that explains what happens after death.

Among the films analyzed, only two present a form of afterlife and do so through the traditions within the Mexican holiday, Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). In both Book of Life and Coco, characters honor deceased family members that can cross over from the land of the dead to the land of the living. Both films illustrate the core beliefs rooted in the holiday, stressing the importance of family and tradition. Alongside the colorful traditions, the films provide a distinctive presentation of death that can occur in two different ways, at two different times, and have two different meanings. Death in these films can occur twice in a character’s existence – one that happens in the land of the living that results in his/her presence in the land of the dead, and one in the land of the dead that ends his/her existence completely. Once a character dies in the living world, his/her appearance is altered and the body now resembles a skeleton. As a community of skeletons, those in the land of the dead continue operating in similar ways to when they existed in the living world (with a few added abilities) – they can walk, talk, and re-attach

dismembered limbs with ease. The audience is granted access to this alternate world only after a character in the land of the living dies. In Coco, Miguel’s deceased family becomes visible only after he is cursed and begins to slowly transform into a skeleton (Anderson & Unkrich, 2017). In

Book of Life, Manolo is bitten by poisonous snakes and awakens in the land of the dead to meet his deceased family members (Appendix, Table 36). Since the land of the dead is not accessible to characters within plotlines or visible to audience members until a character dies, it is confirmed visually and conceptually that the land of the dead is only accessible through death.

Since death can occur twice, both deaths are coded for and occupy their own unique characteristics in presentation. Death in the land of the living is visually similar to death in the real-world – characters collapse to the ground and their bodies do not move (Appendix Table 36

& 41). These deaths are not fabricated or overly dramatic in their visual presentation and create realistic portrayals of how a dead person might look. This attaches a similarity between death in the film and death in reality that are made to be one in the same, both transpiring in the land of the living. This representative death is considerably dissimilar to the “final death” that occurs in the land of the dead where characters are shaken by forgotten memories and turn to dust that disperses into the sky, or are turned to dust in a dark, gloomy setting surrounded by neglected characters (Appendix, Table 36 & 41). The second death is much more fantasized and symbolic in its construction; the transformation into dust that diffuses into the air makes it visually certain that the character will not revive, as there is no form left for them to live through.

Another example of an observable division between types of death can be found in

Wreck-It Ralph, where characters can die in their own video-game and revive with ease. Felix is crushed by falling brick, holds white roses as funeral music plays, and quickly perks up in full health moments later (Appendix, Table 30). This death is not seen as problematic or concerning, as it always results in the character regaining his/her life. The other form of death is permanent and much like Coco’s and Book of Life’s use of an alternate reality, the final death in Wreck-It

Ralph takes place in an alternate video-game, separate from the character’s ascribed one. Death that occurs in this foreign setting is permanent, frightening, and dark.

The clear antithesis between the two deaths and their presentations demonstrates how death can be portrayed differently in order to convey different meanings. Films such as Coco or

Book of Life convey meaning related to death and the afterlife, and are both clear examples of how death presentations are used in animated media to directly impact a child’s death comprehension. Specifically, films that consciously use death presentations to explain death concepts can provide children with a visual channel to process what death looks like and what it means. These films also bring to light the dialogue that they spark between parents and children, making difficult topics such as death easier for parents to approach (Williams, 2017). Although the death content within Coco and Book of Life is still very abstract in nature and can be “heavy” for younger children, the films attempt to examine morality through visual displays that can aid in death processing and elicit positive dialogue between parents and children surrounding the on- screen deaths (Stein, 2017). Ideally, this same dialogue should exist when observing all films that feature death, especially those that are more problematic in visual and aural representation as well as allotted processing time.

Processing Time

In support of previous findings, death within children’s animated media typically occurs very quickly and little time is given to process once a death has occurred (Table 3). Images appear and disappear almost instantly, especially during battle scenes. How to Train Your Dragon

2 features a battle toward the end of the film that is extremely fast-paced, and any potential death that occurs during the battle is extremely difficult to recognize during the first viewing of the film

(Arnold & DeBlois, 2014). The same can be said for films such as Bambi, Transformers, or All

Dogs Go to Heaven, where gunshots are heard and blasts are seen narrowly missing characters before a new character almost dies less than a second later (Appendix, Table 2, 6 & 7). The death presentations during climax are overlooked given the larger scene happening around them, much

like the forgotten war deaths external to media texts. The vast number of deaths that occur in war are grouped together and often times, numbers and statistics regarding fatalities are given as the only form of death representation (O’Grady, 2018). With a much larger conflict at hand, the battle and its cause become the central focus and death is therefore tossed to the side – any death that occurs amongst the chaos is admirable, but only one small piece to a much larger puzzle.

Beyond death that happens during a large, disordered event, deaths that appear on screen are only the central focus for a few seconds before non-death related content is shown. Even deaths that are addressed with a funeral or mourning occupy less than three minutes of screen time before audience members are given new content to focus on (Appendix, Table 17). In all but two of the films, death is presented and subsequently processed by continuing to explain how the death occurred or showing other characters visibly distraught as a result of the death. Up and

Charlotte’s Web utilize a different approach where processing time is essentially reversed, and the audience knows the character will die before they see it happen. Up’s character, Ellie, is presented as decrepit and progressively ill, appearing in the hospital at an old age with declining health. In this instance, the foreshadowing that is visually provided to the audience is a contribution to the amount of time given to process Ellie’s death when it does appear on screen

(Appendix, Table 26). The same foreshadowing appears in Charlotte’s Web when Charlotte explains to a curious Wilbur, “in a while, I’ll be dead,” informing the juvenile audience that her exhaustion is a part of her progressively dying (Barbera, Hanna, Nichols & Takamoto, 1973).

Unlike other animated films analyzed, the two films introduce death before it happens, arguably allowing viewers to process the death in reverse order before it actually appears on screen.

Yet, the use of a textual analysis opposed to content analysis highlights that processing time, whether high or low, is only problematic or beneficial when analyzing the content on screen that the audience is processing. There is no universal number for processing time that suggests optimal death comprehension, as the amount and its effect are highly dependent on the death presentation being viewed. Graphic, disturbing images ought to have less screen time in

comparison to non-explicit, more progressive content. Allotting a larger amount of time (02:17) to process Sitka’s sacrificial death by viewing his funeral and mourning brothers can be a positive direction in helping children comprehend death, whereas allowing almost a minute (0:49) to view a rabbit struggling to breathe, a wire around his throat tightening, blood pouring from his mouth, and his body no longer moving, is a graphic and traumatizing experience for children that lasts far longer than it should (Appendix, Table 4 & 17). From 1937 to 2018, producers have not taken into consideration whether children could benefit from or be harmed by how long specific animated death content appears on screen. Careful consideration needs to be taken when looking at the images and dialogue associated with a death presentation in determining if the presentation should appear at all and for how long – a consideration that this analysis has revealed is dramatically neglected.

Death Dialogue

In addition to the audience processing time of character deaths, characters within plotlines are encouraged to “get over” a death almost immediately as evident through the dialogue present within a death presentation. After discovering his father’s helmet and faced with the reality of his father’s death, Shang creates a small memorial site and stoically walks away in silence (Appendix, Table 12). More explicitly, in Next Gen, Dr. Rice’s body disintegrates and his robot companion comments, “Dr. Rice is dead. I need some time to process this” and less than a second later his solemn expression is replaced with a smile as he shouts, “Okay!” (Bell et. al,

2018). Through their verbal response (or lack of) to death, characters themselves exemplify a prompt recovery both emotionally and mentally.

The dialogue surrounding death that contributes to a death presentation becomes more problematic when murder is introduced and described. Choices in language are revealed in narrowly avoided death scenarios that reinforce the threat visually depicted. In Duck Duck Goose, the malicious cat Banzou frequently threatens the lives of multiple characters, and reinforces his intimidating demeanor and death threats through dialogue as he performs them:

Chi: Get off!

Chao: Let me go!

Banzou: Missing something, Goose? You know, I’ve really enjoyed the hunt. But I much

prefer the torture – the dismemberment… (Cox, Rabins & Jenkins, 2018).

When a threat to a character’s life is presented, images are used in conjunction with dialogue to enhance the threat and essentially eliminate any ambiguity whether or not a life is actually in danger. To be sure that the hyenas are not just trying to intimidate Simba, Scar commands them to commit murder and they shout at the cub from behind, “If you ever come back, we’ll kill ya!”

(Hahn, Allers & Minoff, 1994). In addition to explicit death dialogue to enhance threat, there are also conversations that are more suggestive and implicit. In All Dogs Go to Heaven, Carface instructs Killer to take Charlie outside for his “surprise” to which Killer responds, “you mean… this surprise?” while covering his meal with red hot sauce (Goldman, Pomeroy & Bluth, 1989).

Though their language is cryptic to avoid suspicion, they place emphasis on the word “surprise” while using imagery to demonstrate to the audience that the red hot sauce is suggestive of blood, and the “surprise” is murder. Such a combination illustrates the importance of discourse in death presentations, as the images and dialogue work together to communicate messages.

Beyond murder, language can be used with images to explain death through metaphor – an approach that All Dogs Go to Heaven takes in order to touch on heavy topics like mortality.

After Charlie dies, the receptionist in heaven shows him a watch and explains, “this watch is your life, and it stopped” (Goldman, Pomeroy & Bluth, 1989). Using the function of a watch and time to explain life and death, producers are providing children with a visual representation of mortality and subsequently explaining what that visual medium represents. Given that a watch is a common household item with seemingly no value other than keeping time, it can be argued that the metaphor related to death is not fully comprehendible with the absence of dialogue. Charlie first encounters the watch while in Heaven and is visibly anxious when the watch is not in his possession, but for young children, the complicated metaphor can be difficult to create alone

without the connection explicitly provided for them. Here, language is an important feature to accompany death presentations and aid in death comprehension.

Other films also seemingly understand the importance of language and verbal explanation, and adopt the strategy throughout the film. Charlotte’s Web actually explains death in every instance that it appears on screen. Instead of just eating a fly that lands in her web,

Charlotte explains to Wilbur why she must eat the insect in order to survive:

Charlotte: He’ll make a perfect breakfast for me.

Wilbur: You mean you eat flies?

Charlotte: Well, certainly. I eat anything that gets caught in my web. I have to live, don’t

Wilbur: Why, yes, of course. Do they taste good?

Charlotte: Delicious.

Wilbur: [shutters] Blech.

Charlotte: Of course, I don’t really eat them. I drink their blood. I love blood.

Wilbur: Oh, please don’t say things like that.

Charlotte: Why not? It’s true.

Wilbur: But it’s cruel.

Charlotte: Well, you can’t talk. You have your meals brought to you in a pail. Nobody

feeds me. I live by my wits.

Wilbur: It just seems an odd sort of diet.

Charlotte: Do you realize that if I didn’t eat them, bugs would get so numerous they’d

destroy the earth? Spiders can be very useful.

(Barbera, Hanna, Nichols & Takamoto, 1973).

Touching on complicated concepts such as overpopulation and starvation, Charlotte does not refrain from the truth behind death. Charlotte takes a very matter-of-fact tone when discussing death and relies on logic to support the uncomfortable discussions, but goes beyond what is

needed for an understanding as to why someone dies; rather than simply inform Wilbur and the audience that Charlotte must eat the fly to live and save the species from overpopulation, she goes as far as to describe how she eats the flies, drinking their blood and commenting on good it tastes.

This added descriptor does not contribute to an effective understanding of death and is a graphic addition to a death presentation despite the lack of visual component to correlate with it.

Although the inclusion of a verbal explanation – though still graphic in nature – opposed to simply displaying death can be seen as a helpful addition for children by producers, the elevated language used throughout a film suggests that it may not be reaching children at all.

Charlotte’s Web is saturated with eloquent word choice that children – and even some adults – do not immediately recognize or understand. Charlotte greets Wilbur with “salutations,” and continues to use elevated language throughout the film. Wilbur, too, engages in similar discourse immediately after his first words. After learning to speak, Wilbur excitedly bursts into song with incredibly distinguished diction:

I’m pop with perspicacity, I’m loaded with loquacity. My vocalized veracity is tops

grammatically. Each pit of me is the verbalized epitome. My plethora of patter never

stops… It’s wondrous and mystical. I’m hardly egotistical because of this linguistical

aplomb. But speaking quite pragmatically, my self-esteem emphatically, dramatically

improved since I was dumb. Isn’t it great that I articulate? (Barbera, Hanna, Nichols &

Takamoto, 1973).

Clearly, the words used by characters throughout the film are outside the scope of most children’s vocabulary. Therefore, even though the film makes specific choices in relation to children’s death comprehension by promoting death discussion, the film can arguably be considered too mature for children in its construction and is too intricate for a child’s cognitive level.

Death of the “Other”

Excluding the use of dialogue in regard to appeal, producers rely heavily on visual components of animated films to attract and entertain their target audience. Among the different

visual approaches to constructing narratives, filmmakers will often utilize fantasy elements including different universes. It is not uncommon for animated films to present non-human characters performing human acts or existing in a non-human universe. Films such as Trolls utilize non-human universes in which the characters exist and operate outside of the viewer’s human-filled reality. Other films such as The Iron Giant and Charlotte’s Web present non-human characters in a human universe but present the non-human characters as nearly identical in functioning to their human counterparts. Where the purpose behind the inclusion of non-human characters or non-human universes can be speculated, their presentations are necessary to recognize and consider when analyzing the amount of death as it applies to non-human characters. These characters – despite being non-human – are presented within plotlines as living things and occupy extreme value in their contribution to death comprehension. To disregard their deaths as insignificant or less imperative is to ignore the presentation of the characters themselves that aids in the processing of a character death.

Across all 45 films, there tends to be a skewed ratio in terms of non-human versus human deaths – with non-human occupying over 66% of total deaths (Table 6). Producers are arguably more comfortable with exploiting death both visually and auditorily among characters that are non-human, and make choices regarding dialogue that instill similar values in audience members.

Among the more concerning use of language to convey a distinction between death of human versus non-human characters are those in which murder is graphically described. The Little

Mermaid takes children on an adventure that explores the differences between life under and above the sea, while simultaneously exposing them to the horrific death these human-like sea creatures are subjected to. Not only are children given visual access to the chopping and fileting of several fish that were seen playfully singing and dancing minutes before, they also hear a song in which the chef sings cheerfully the process of “[chopping] off their heads and then [ripping] out their bones” (Musker & Clements, 1989).

The dialogue surrounding murder of non-human characters further provides a loose justification that characters themselves use to warrant the abundance of non-human death.

Producers create a distinct line between the value of life as it applies to human and non-human characters by using images and dialogue to draw direct comparisons between the two lives, with human characters valued to a higher degree. Human characters describe non-human characters as beings that “do not feel human emotion” and “do not love,” and separate themselves from other characters based on their humanness (Marsden & Cameron, 2013). An example can be found in

Charlotte’s Web, after Fern confusingly questions her father on the difference between her life and a young pig’s life:

Fern: I’m little, does that mean you’ll kill me too?

Avery: A little girl is one thing – a runty pig is another.

(Barbera, Hanna, Nichols & Takamoto, 1973).

The clear distinction allows for human characters to exercise maltreatment of non-human characters both within plotlines and death presentations. In universes where non-human characters and human characters co-exist, the death of a non-human character is encouraged to serve a purpose in the protection of the human race. Human characters will often refer to animals or other creatures as a nuisance or threat to human existence and attempt to eradicate the risk through murder. In Secret of NIMH, farmer Fitzgibbons views rats as an irritation and orders an exterminator to use a bulldozer and eliminate them immediately (Goldman, Pomeroy & Bluth,

1982). The hunters in Open Season actively attempt to reduce the population of several species

(Appendix, Table 22). The bulls in Ferdinand exist for the mere entertainment of human characters (Appendix, Table 42).

In instances where non-human characters occupy a more significant threat to the lives of human characters, they are portrayed as evil and manipulative, so that viewers feel a sense of relief when the character is defeated. The infamous villain, Ursula, undoubtedly takes advantage of the young, impressionable Ariel in an attempt to take possession of her soul, King Triton, and

ultimately the entire sea. Her framing as an evil monster against the protagonist throughout the duration of the film allows for a cathartic relief when her graphic death appears on screen – an entire boat drilled straight through her stomach and her bones visible through an electric wave that send her collapsing into the sea (Appendix, Table 9). The narrative, dialogue, and images put forth within the films pave the way for the interpretation and response to the death of characters, which are further set forth to separate human and non-human characters through a singular perspective. After a threat to human characters has been established, the justification to eliminate it is then highlighted through the presentation of death from a human perspective.

Interestingly, the narratives follow through the adventures of non-human characters – whether co-existing with human characters or living in a non-human universe – but the death presentations of non-human characters are told through the perspective of the human characters.

In Ratatouille, Remi exercises his passion for cooking and seeks flavorful foods to eat. After being discovered, the chefs attempt to kill him, shouting “Kill it! Dispose of it!” under the premise that they will lose their restaurant if a rat is found in the kitchen (Lasseter & Bird, 2007).

Raising the stakes, Gaston in Beauty and the Beast suggests to the townspeople that their lives are in danger so long as the beast lives. With the little information they have reflective of a kidnapping and hostage situation, Gaston and the townspeople fear for their safety, exclaiming,

“We’re not safe until he’s dead!” (Hahn, Trousdale & Wise, 1991). Although the audience members have had access to more information and therefore know the Beast is not a threat, the conclusion Gaston and the townspeople come to is reasonably derived from the information they, as human characters within the plotline, have access to. By framing death presentations of non- human characters through the eyes of human characters, producers further provide viewers with a clear division between forms of life and subsequent death.

Beyond the significantly larger amounts of non-human deaths and dialogue surrounding murders of non-human characters, specific stylistic choices in visual presentations are made that present these non-human deaths as humanly as possible. Robots that are decapitated display their

insides that mimic body parts and emit red sparks from their wounds that mimic blood

(Appendix, Table 45). Spectators are visibly nauseous and shield young children’s eyes as paper characters are sliced in half (Appendix, Table 43). Robots can be strangled to death, as if their bodies rely on oxygen and they emit a dark red smoke after being violently killed (Appendix,

Table 6). Where deliberate choices are made to distinguish human versus non-human characters in regard to their value of life, their deaths are extremely and realistically human in appearance.

This ascribes a commonality to non-human and human characters, suggesting that they live and die in nearly identical ways. This is problematic when taking into consideration the distinction made between the value of the different life forms. Through the combination of similar existence yet different value, these death presentations are communicating to young children that two living beings – the same in their most rudimentary functions and existence – can have their life evaluated in polar ways.

The collective contributions to death presentations of non-human characters call to question the value of life for those that can be considered the “Other.” For centuries, media have operated as a “forum for the social construction of reality” and have been considered problematic in their representation of minorities and those deemed “Others” (Fursich, 2010, p. 113). These presentations are often characterized by portrayals where minorities are different than the majority and exhibit abnormal appearance or behavior, creating a ground for defamation across several social minorities including race, gender, religion, and sexuality (Fursich, 2010). Yet, an important observation to note in regard to media representation of minorities is the problematic construction extending beyond “outright stereotypical portrayals,” suggesting that media representation appears in different ways across different platforms (Fursich, 2010). Where animated films tend to stray away from outward discrimination between social categories, the representation and treatment of others can also appear in human characters, as seen through the maltreatment of Hebrews in The Prince of Egypt. Children’s animated films include specific elements present in death presentations that reinforce hegemonic discourse regarding media

representation, suggesting that those who are visually dissimilar to one’s external identity are inherently different and ought to be feared or separated from the larger population. Such presentations have the potential to extend beyond human and non-human characters within animated films, influencing children’s understanding and treatment of social minorities in the real world.

Several media theories have been introduced that argue the effect media have on “passive and easily manipulated” audiences, with a commonality that media have a significant impact on cultural forces (Fursich, 2010, p. 114). Given that representation of the “Other” within children’s animated media is integrated into death presentations, it can be argued that the death presentations of non-human characters, specifically, have the potential to curb adolescent understanding of not how minorities look or behave – but rather, how they live and die as well as their value of life. By pairing representation of the “Other” with death, producers of children’s animated films are touching on two very complex concepts and suggesting to children that these concepts should be understood together, and this mentality can extend to real-world scenarios.

Table 6. Distribution of Human versus Non-Human Death

# of deaths % of total deaths Human 296 33.07 Non-human 599 66.93

Cause of Death

With very real social issues surrounding culture and the treatment of those different from oneself present within children’s animated films, other social constructs are revealed through the inclusion of death motives. The root cause of death within children’s animated media can range from fear to greed or revenge, but is rarely ever naturally occurring. Rather than demonstrate what death most often looks like in the real world, animated films feature death presentations that occur as a result of flawed judgment, and thereby suggest specific character qualities are faulty and dangerous.

Power/greed. Across majority of the films analyzed, death is planned by an antagonist in order to obtain, maintain, or enhance some form of power. This could be presented as ruling over a large group as in The Lion King, or power over a smaller entity for a specific purpose as in

Tangled. Regardless of the presentation, this pursuit of power most often results in the death of those who pose a threat to the pursuit or in several cases, the death of those pursuing. In each of these death presentations, the images and dialogue communicate particular messages concerning death and power centered on flawed characters.

Although specific elements can be unique to individual films and scenes, commonalities are recognizable across films that share similar death motives surrounding power. Almost all films that follow a villain’s pursuit of power over a large group of people conclude with the death of that character after an epic battle. Tensions rise between opposing forces before reaching a violent climax. Fueled by greed and jealousy, Scar fights for the thrown against his nephew until he is overtaken by angry hyenas (Appendix, Table 11). After initiating a war against China, Shan-

Yu engages in battle against a seemingly defenseless Mulan, who uses her wits to send Shan-Yu barreling into a firework stand and exploding (Appendix, Table 12). Through the maltreatment of dragons in an attempt conquer the world, Drago successfully forces his way through Berk before

Toothless sends him and the alpha dragon to their death in the ocean (Appendix, Table 37).

Among each of these films, the pursuit of power inevitably creates tensions between groups that erupts into a battle in which the villain most often perishes.

The scenes leading up to the final fight purposefully highlight the flawed nature of the power-seeker to justify their death at the hands of the protagonist or some fortunate event put forth by the universe. Responsible for the murder of his own brother and attempted murder of his nephew, Scar is ranked number one as the most evil Disney villain (Wilson, 2019). He has a careless attitude and reaps pleasure from the suffering of others – dangling a helpless mouse above his tongue and engulfing a fearful Zazu in his mouth before releasing him (Appendix,

Table 11). Exercising similar lack of remorse or concern for the lives of others, Drago mistreats

the dragon community and even orders the execution of his young ally, Eret (Appendix, Table

37). The visual displays of wickedness increase in intensity through explicit murders in films such as The Secret of NIMH or Watership Down, where villains violently kill the threat to their power. Eager for power over the rat community, The Secret of NIMH’s Jenner exercises a plot to crush Nicodemus, describing murderous intentions and how the debris will “crush his bones.”

(Goldman, Pomeroy & Bluth, 1982). Even more graphic, Watership Down shows dictator, The

General, tearing rival rabbits apart by biting visible holes in their throats and leaving blood pouring down his mouth (Appendix, Table 4). With a range in explicit content from ordered execution to bloody murders, the villains that die in battle after a pursuit of power are portrayed as greedy, selfish, and above all else – evil.

The pursuit of power by an evil being that ultimately dies in a battle against forces of good is a deliberate attempt by producers to communicate messages about power and greed.

When intentions are immoral or corrupt and one seeks excessive power, violent death quickly follows. This idea is further illustrated and integrated into audience thought processes in instances where villain death occurs as a result of nature, or forces of the universe that conveniently develop in favor of the protagonist. Rather than be fatally defeated at the hands of the hero, the villain falls from a cliff and a giant boulder opportunely follows (Appendix, Table 1). This connection suggests that even if the protagonist is unsuccessful in defeating the flawed villain, nature will inevitably step in and finish the job.

Nature. Despite nature’s appearance in the death of greedy characters, any natural manner of death to appear on screen is few and far in between. Of the 45 films analyzed, only 3 contain a visual representation of natural death in which external factors are not involved (Storrs,

2017). In both Up and Charlotte’s Web, death occurs as a result of old age and declining health.

In Up’s short, audio-absent compilation, children follow through Ellie’s life from crazy red hair in childhood to bright silver hair in seniority, all the way to her solemn funeral (Appendix, Table

26). Ellie ages naturally and takes part in different activities as she grows older, until she

succumbs to a declined health at an elderly age; the audience watches Ellie grow older and thereby actually witnesses a naturally occurring death in sequential order, nearly identical to that in which occurs in the real-world. Following a similar narrative yet antithetical presentation,

Charlotte’s Web features a natural death as a result of declining health, but focuses on dialogue to communicate the death rather than imagery. As the film progresses, Charlotte becomes increasingly out of breath during activities and comments frequently on her lack of energy. When questioned, she outwardly tells Wilbur, “In a while, I’ll be dead.” (Barbera, Hanna, Nichols &

Takamoto, 1973). She explains that all living things are “born, live a little while, and … die” and becomes a key example of this philosophy in the film after her singing fades and she peacefully passes away (Barbera, Hanna, Nichols & Takamoto, 1973; Appendix, Table 3). Both deaths utilize different strategies in presentation but portray the realities of death by natural causes.

The only other natural death that appears incorporates fantasy elements into the death presentation. Although Master Oogway is visibly decrepit in his appearance and his death occurs as a result of his old age, he does not die in the same, relatable ways that Charlotte or Ellie do.

Rather than his life simply ending, his body transforms into peach blossoms and floats off into the distance (Appendix, Table 24). This incorporation of fantasy builds on a non-natural element to naturally-caused death and suggests that even death that occurs from natural causes can be, in some ways, non-natural.

With few natural deaths available on screen, children have limited visual and aural access to the most common real-world death, with death by natural causes occupying over 90% of deaths that occur in the United States (Chalabi, 2015; Xu, Murphy, Kochanek & Bastain, 2016).

Children’s animated media however, present a very different version of death statistics – non- natural death as 99.66% of deaths and natural death as a mere 0.33% (Table 7). This creates a narrative that misconstrues the causes of death external to media texts, suggesting to children that death as a result of external factors occurs over 297 times more than natural death. Such a drastically inaccurate presentation of death inhibits children’s ability to recognize and understand

real-world death, given that the displays provided to them via the screen are not indicative of the death they would most likely encounter in reality.

Table 7. Distribution of Natural versus Non-natural Death

Manner of death # of deaths % of total deaths Natural 3 0.33 Non-natural 892 99.66

Murder. Not only do non-natural deaths occur significantly more often and dominate almost all of death presentations, death occurring from external factors is most often a direct result of murder opposed to other, environmental causes. Of the 892 non-natural deaths, 87.08% are caused, intentionally, by another character. At nearly every instance, a character’s life is in danger or is forcibly taken. These murderous intentions play out on screen and often times involve violent weapons – Snow White is nearly stabbed with intentions to remove her heart

(Appendix, Table 1). Nicodemus is murdered with a cement brick and his murderer is killed at the hands of another character’s knife (Appendix, Table 5). The Beast is stabbed in his side with

Gaston’s blade and Koda’s mother is killed by a Kenai’s spear (Appendix, Table 10, 17). Charlie and Itchy are repeatedly shot at with a firearm, as are Remi and Emile (Appendix, Table 7, 23).

Charles Munce thrusts his sharp sword toward Carl, and Prince Hans does the same toward Elsa

(Appendix, Table 26, 32). In a reality where knives are obsolete, Sci-Fi weapons are just as damaging: Decepticons fire weapons at Autobots that leave their bodies utterly destroyed form the blasts, or Mai uses Project 77 to blast at and kill other robots (Appendix, Table 6, 45).

Similarly, Gru is attacked with an arsenal of advanced weaponry (Appendix, Table 28). Without a weapon available on a character’s person, surrounding materials may take its place, as Callaghan frequently looks to his surroundings and barrels shipping containers and cars at his enemies

(Appendix, Table 35). When a character’s life is threatened or taken, it is typically recognizable through the appearance and inclusion of a deadly weapon.

Still, beyond the use of an external weapon, murder is identifiable through other means.

In Watership Down, the General uses his own body parts to murder rival rabbits – ripping them to shreds using his teeth and claws (Appendix, Table 4). Similarly, Sabor chases Kala and Tarzan in an attempt to kill the infant but aims to do so using his own killer assets, as does the tiger in

Storks that comes charging at a mother and baby (Appendix, Table 39). This approach is often taken by animals and is also seen in Ice Age, Finding Nemo, Shark Tale, Flushed Away, Rio,

Angry Birds, Trolls, and Duck Duck Goose. For those human characters that lack a violent weapon either externally or internally, murder is executed through meticulous planning and manipulation. The Evil Queen poisons an apple and manipulates an innocent Snow White into eating it (Appendix, Table 1). Expanding across an entire film’s plotline, Ursula dedicates an extensive amount of time and resources to manipulating Ariel and taking her soul (Appendix,

Table 9). Although these murders are less “hands-on” as it applies to violence, they produce the same result and end a character’s life.

A significantly smaller portion of non-natural death occurs from other external factors

(12.92%). There is the occasional tree tumbling down or a ship overtaken by a powerful wave, but these non-natural deaths occur considerably less often than murder (Appendix, Table 2, 8,

32). This extremely skewed proportion of cause of death creates a reality in which people do not die, but rather, are killed. When examining death in the real world, murder is “an uncommon occurrence” and considered a rare event in relation to the number of deaths each year

(Strasburger, Donnerstein & Bushman, 2014, p. 572). Yet, in animated media, the world is rife with violence and murder and the majority of deaths occur as a result of another’s malintent. The presumptions in cultivation theory highlight violence in particular and suggest that viewing violent media content can change the way in which consumers view the real-world, seeing the world around them as a violent place where lives are in danger (Gerbner, 1980). This potential influence is magnified when the content on screen is not only violent, but saturated with murder.

Table 8. Distribution of Non-natural Death as Murder or Environmental

Cause of non-natural death # of deaths % of non-natural deaths Murder 775 87.08 Environmental 115 12.92

Fear. The inaccuracies associated with manner of death are somewhat alleviated through the inclusion of death as a result of fear. Several of the animated films analyzed touch on the widely accepted psychological notion that human beings fear what they do not know or understand (Brown, 2009; Winters, 2002). Such a fear is often unconscious and has evolutionary merit, relating to the goal of the nervous system and methods of survival (Mobbs, Hagan,

Dalgleish, Silston & Prevost, 2015). Several events throughout history have highlighted the damaging effect that such an anxiety can have on culture and the people within it, and a similar perspective is adopted in children’s animated films. Much like the condemnation of greed and excessive power, fear in children’s animated media is positively associated with death and presentations insinuate fear of the unknown as a fatal flaw.

One film in particular uses the evolutionary roots to display fear of the unknown as a successful survival strategy before shifting perspective. The Croods begins with a narration by character, Eep, who describes how several neighboring families have died, and her family is the last to survive by their cautious efforts of hiding in a cave (Belson, Hartwell, DeMicco &

Sanders, 2013). Eep’s father, Grug, is extremely fearful of anything unfamiliar and consistently urges his family to avoid new people, places, or behaviors. Although his anxious behavior has kept his family safe thus far, his attempts to resist new possibilities are regularly portrayed as an annoyance and a hindrance that at the end of the film, nearly results in the family’s perish (Belson et. al, 2013). The specific inclusion of death from fear at the beginning of the film to narrowly avoided death from fear at the end of the film creates a main idea in which old behaviors are not always applicable to new times. The film therefore shifts from the evolutionary perspective of

anxiety surrounding the unfamiliar as a protective strategy, to a contemporary perspective where fear is more damaging.

Other films such as Shrek and The Iron Giant highlight the deadly nature of fear, specifically as it applies to human characters. These films put forth a narrative in which the human characters are blinded by their fear of the unknown and act upon that fear in violent, deadly ways. Shrek, an isolative ogre, is feared by human characters that charge at him with pitchforks and flaming torches. After entering the castle, Shrek strikes fear in Lord Farquaad’s audience, and the authority orders the knights to “kill the ogre” (Appendix, Table 15). Although

Shrek is not dangerous and merely desires to be left alone, his life is constantly threatened because the townspeople are fearful of his potential capabilities. Confronting this idea directly,

The Iron Giant deals extensively with the death of characters as a result of fear. Since the Giant’s introduction, the military seeks to destroy the metal being, a behavior that the young character,

Hogarth, recognizes stems from their fear of the unknown:

Hogarth: I gotta tell someone. I should call some—No. They’ll panic. People always wig

out and start shooting when they see something big like you.

Giant: Hmm?

Hogarth: Wig out. It means crazy. You know like, uh – [babbles]

Giant: [babbles]

Hogarth: No, no! Don’t do that! That’s the kind of stuff that makes them shoot at you

(Townshed & Bird, 1999).

Since the majority of people do not understand what the Giant is or how he came to existence, their fear overrides any morality toward appreciating the Giant as a living being and instead drives their motivation to eliminate him.

In each of these films, the audience develops an attachment to the characters that are feared given their understanding that the characters are not a threat and are in fact just misunderstood. When that character dies or his/her life is threatened, the connection can then be

made that anxiety surrounding the unknown is a character flaw that can cause an unwarranted death or death risk. Where framing this fear as negative has the potential to positively shape the treatment of other people and situations that are unfamiliar, pairing fear of the unknown with death could also encourage augmented judgment. Fear, especially that of the uncertain, is an emotion that “dethrones [one’s] judgement from its proper seat” and clouds one’s ability to reason (Montaigne, 1572, p. 81). Rather than telling children that fearing the uncertain world is bad, animated films are directly correlating this fear with death of (innocent) others in order to encourage the juvenile audience members to avoid similar decision making. Creating a causal relationship between fear and death provides a dramatic connection to children that a lapse in judgement due to fear can have deadly consequences and such a connection can hence lead toward more conscious awareness and purposeful critical thinking.

Death of Different Character Types

The character portrayals featuring flawed attributes serve an important function in not only the cause of death, but the audience response to death of characters in specific character roles. Previous research has indicated that the character type (protagonist versus antagonist) directly influences the other characters’ reaction to the death, with 100% exemplifying a positive reaction to an antagonist death (Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005, p. 275). Such a reaction directly relates to the purposeful attempts by producers to characterize antagonists as inherently flawed, with specific elements available in the death presentations that present antagonist deaths as justified 100% of the time (Cox, Garrett & Graham, 2005, p. 276). In conjunction with how death of specific characters is addressed internally to a text, the visual construction of death on screen contributes to a similar response in those addressing death externally to the text. In other words, children are conditioned to respond to death in identical ways to the characters responding to death within the film, given the presentation of the deceased character before his/her death.

The analysis of language and imagery used in each death depiction throughout the duration of each film highlights the influence of death presentations on death response. When a

protagonist dies, his/her lifeless body lay elegantly on the floor, or a hand dramatically falls to the ground before surrounding characters burst into tears (Appendix, Table 1, 3, 8, 36 & 37). For protagonists, the death is typically sophisticated visually, with minimal blood or physical distortions. Death of antagonists, however, are presented in much more graphic ways – their bodies are pierced with sharp objects that impale their organs (Appendix, Table 5, 9 & 16). They are eaten alive or explode into flames (Appendix, Table 6, 11, 12, 20, 24, 36, 38, 40 & 44) They fall hundreds of feet from the air to the ground below or turn to dust and disintegrate (Appendix,

Table 1, 10, 26, 28, 38 & 39). They can even be forcibly dragged into the underworld – their fear demonstrated on a tombstone (Appendix, Table 25). As evident through very different death presentations, the way in which a character dies directly correlates with his/her behavior and personality prior to his/her death – a diplomatic, thoughtful character dies in a still, pacified manner whereas an evil or manipulative character dies in brutal, unforgiving ways. This visually connects behavior with death, correlating how one behaves to how one will die.

By utilizing death presentations to constantly reinforce wickedness in antagonists and heroism in protagonists, producers are creating a basis for cause of death and judgment related to it. This raises important ethical concerns regarding whether a person “deserves” to die, and such a dilemma is directly addressed for children. Through the combination of character portrayals and character responses to death, animated films are suggesting to children that a death can be justified based on one’s behavior or treatment of others. This, in conjunction with the juxtaposition between death depictions of protagonists versus antagonists can profoundly contribute to how children view and respond to not only manner of death – but the determination of death as just or unjust.

CHAPTER VI

CONCLUSION

The purpose of this study was to examine how death is depicted in children’s animated media. Through a textual analysis of animated films produced by a variety of different production companies, the study aims to expand media studies research in areas of children’s media and death comprehension. Rather than provide definitive statements regarding the effect of death presentations on children, this analysis reveals specific patterns in stylistic choices involved in death scenes and provides potential interpretations for what messages these presentations may be communicating. The examination of 45 different animated films did reveal patterns associated with death depiction, processing time, manner of death, and social influences on death representation and death comprehension. With the lack of cognitive ability to fully understand death coupled with dependency on media for answers, these patterns may provide children with specific explanations on what death looks like, who dies most often, and what death means in relation to other people. Further, death presentations utilize elements that highlight the morality surrounding death, suggesting that death can be justified depending on the nature of the person that dies. These messages are multifaceted with potential to drastically shape children’s death comprehension, and parents can utilize the messages revealed in this analysis to properly discuss death with children that engage with these animated films.

Strengths and Limitations

This is the second study to examine death depiction in children’s animated films and expands upon the first by focusing on the different ways in which death is presented, including a third and equally valuable category of narrowly avoided deaths. The use of a textual analysis opposed to content analysis highlights the specific patterns among death presentations and takes into consideration the different features used to present death. The study also introduces a novelty to academia by investigating processing time. Additionally, sampling films produced by multiple

companies allows for a better representation of children’s animated media, opposed to previous research that focuses exclusively on Disney films.

The sampling of films also presents as a limitation, in that there is no application of randomized sampling. By utilizing an illustrative sample, the study excludes any progressive animated media that does not include any death presentations. Further, the sample was selected based exclusively on films the researcher has seen and the researcher’s recollection of death presentation. This allows for error in memory to influence sample selection and excludes any films the researcher has not seen. Limitations also arise as it applies to coding. With little research in this area, it becomes extremely difficult to produce valid and reliable operationalizations of the variables introduced. The coding definitions are derived from a limited number of research studies and include the researchers’ biases as far as what constitutes a specific death depiction and when processing time should begin or end. Processing time is also broad in its operationalization in order to encompass a larger range of audience members, and more specific definitions can be used when considering a more targeted age group and how children process information differently based on their cognitive stage.

Future Research

Although this textual analysis provides insight into the different death depictions in children’s animated media and interpretations regarding the messages that these depictions communicate, further research can be done to determine a direct effect between viewing death on screen and death comprehension. As all analysis in this study is speculative and data are interpretively evaluated, future studies could use the findings discussed in the present study to determine whether death presentations in children’s animated media directly impact children’s conceptions of death. The findings from the current study and any potential future studies can not only expand media studies research but can also serve as a catalyst for death discussion at home.

Ideal Death Presentation

With an analysis dedicated to determining how death is presented in children’s animated media and emphasizing the negative portrayals as well as potential impact on consumers, questions arise as to how death in animated media should be portrayed. By examining what themes exist across animated films and how specific media content influence children, a reasonable conclusion can be drawn in regard to an ideal death scenario. As a vulnerable demographic, children should be viewing death on screen that is representative of the death they would most likely encounter in the real world but should be addressed in appropriate ways that do not place value judgments on specific lives. If death is to be included in animated media, it should be purposeful and wholesome in presentation in order to better allow media to function as a valuable teacher to children when other outlets are unavailable.

Naturally-occurring. The researcher affirms that the extremely disproportionate portrayal of death as non-natural and specifically a result of murder is problematic in children’s death comprehension. Presenting death in ways that alienate animated death from real-world death does little to aid in children’s understanding and preparation of real-world death encounters.

Death as a complex concept is difficult to understand and children can struggle with comprehending what death means, how it looks, and how to respond. This difficulty increases when children are exposed to hundreds of on-screen deaths that are in no way representative of reality. Statistics have shown that children are most likely to encounter a naturally-occurring death of others, and seeing natural death on screen could be an outlet for children to process death before it happens in their own lives. Death as it is presented to children should be more accurate in regard to manner of death, given the demographic’s inability to distinguish reality from fantasy and fully comprehend abstract concepts. Including a reasonable and representative number of natural deaths in children’s media can help prepare children for the death that they encounter external to media texts.

Addressed. This preparation would be emphasized and significantly more beneficial if characters respond appropriately to death within plotlines. Currently, there is little response from characters when another character dies, and any response that is shown is inappropriate or suggests death can be evaluated as just or unjust based on character types. By showing characters that respond to death appropriately on screen, animated films would be appealing to all age groups and allowing children in earlier cognitive stages to still process death. This character response to death would need to include recognizable, visual behaviors that younger children can decipher, but can also include positive dialogue between characters about death in order to appeal to older children. Since death is rarely discussed in Western culture, providing a visual medium for death to be dealt with gives children an example of how one can effectively and appropriately grieve after a loss. Whenever a death appears on screen, there should be a reasonable reaction to it – one that encompasses the permanence of the character’s absence and allows other members to respond without Western cultural restrictions.

Nonevaluative. When considering character responses to death, it becomes crucial to recognize the inherent bias producers put forth when killing specific types of characters. One of the most disturbing findings is the powerful presentation of death as evaluative, in which character lives are evaluated differently and their subsequent deaths are determined to be just or unjust. Whether human versus non-human or hero versus villain, death presentations in animated media should be value-free. Presenting a judgement toward death paves the way for enormous moral implications in children’s lives, and an ideal death presentation would show death as universal rather than impel an evaluation. In order to present a death as universal and nonevaluative, the character response should be relatively the same; ideally, characters should respond to death in a way that demonstrates the grieving process and addresses death for what it is – a permanent loss of life.

Purposeful. The discounting of death as permanent in animation and complete disregard in the real-world can be attributed to its uncomfortable nature, and animated media make attempts

to lightheartedly incorporate death to the point that it becomes a comical inclusion. Throughout a film, there may be the occasional death scenario that in reality, serves no purpose and is not integral in any way to plotlines. Instead of killing several members of a community where surrounding friends comment, “there goes Gerry,” death should be purposeful and advance a plot forward. Death is permanent and solemn – to randomly include death in incidental, comical ways ignores the damaging effect real-world death can have on individuals (Stewart & Soren, 2013).

Much like death as naturally occurring and characters responding appropriately, presenting death as purposeful rather than a means to fill space establishes a connection between animated death and real-world death to best prepare children for real-world encounters.

Wholesome. Studies in abundance have examined the implications of violence in media on perceptions and behaviors, and the results have been consistently negative. There is no inexplicable value to portraying death as violent, and there exists no research which suggests explicit deaths that include blood or gore benefit consumers in any way. On the contrary, violence and gore is considered traumatizing or can lead to desensitization toward violence and death in the real-world (Fanti, Vanman, Henrich & Avraamides, 2009; Huesmann & Taylor, 2006).

Animated films, then, should avoid connecting death to violence and violent images including all that contribute to an explicit presentation. Not only would this significantly reduce the possibilities of traumatic response or desensitization, it would also further provide children with a realistic representation of death as most deaths are non-violent.

As a general rule, animated films should approach death and death presentations with the youngest viewer in mind. In order to best include death presentations that allow all viewers to effectively process death and respond appropriately, animated films can modify death depictions to be predominately naturally occurring, addressed but not evaluated by other characters, and wholesome with a lack of violence and gore. Each of these modifications allows for a more positive influence on children and creates a foundation where media can serve as valuable and informative teachers rather than inaccurate entertainment outlets.

Media occupy a dominant position in Western culture and serve to reinforce dominant ideologies. Far too often, media consumers remain passive and incognizant to the influence media presentations have on cognition, behavior, and overall understanding of the world. In a culture where parents and educators aim to protect vulnerable audiences from manipulation and inappropriate content, media surpass intervention and directly reach adolescents. There is an undeniable need to further explore how media communicate to this developing demographic, ideally to bring about transition and pull consumers away from the passive acceptance of all that media present.

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APPENDIX

Codebook: death type, description, and processing time for each film by year.

Table 1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly The henchman approaches Snow White from behind with a knife in his 00:25 avoided hand. He raises it above his head as she cowers below. He drops to his knees uttering, “I can’t do it.” Narrowly The seven dwarves have their axes and clubs above their heads and are 00:04 avoided about to swing at Snow White, who lay underneath a sheet. They stop once they realize it is a woman. Explicit There is a skeleton of a human body in the Queen’s cave that is 00:12 positioned with arms extended outward of a jail cell, reaching for a bucket of water. The Queen laughs, shouts, “Thirsty? Have a drink!” and kicks the jar at the skeleton, causing the bones to scatter. Explicit Snow White falls to the ground after having bitten the poisoned apple. 00:06 Narrowly The Queen attempts to drop a boulder and crush the dwarfs. A 00:04 avoided lightning strike prevents the Queen’s attempts. Explicit Lightning strikes the top of the mountain and the Queen falls from the 00:06 cliff, with a giant boulder immediately behind her. Vultures begin to circle. Explicit Snow White’s body lay in a glass coffin with her name engraved on 00:25 the side.

Table 2. Bambi (1937)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Bambi, his mother, and his father run into the forest. There is a 00:03 avoided gunshot and the sound of birds crowing. Narrowly There is a gunshot as Bambi and his mom race through the snow. 00:01 avoided Implicit There is a loud gunshot (distinguishable than the ones that fired but did 01:16 not hit a target). Bambi’s mother is no longer behind him. He calls for her as he searches through the forest, but there is no response. Explicit A bird anxiously flies into the skies to avoid a hunter. There is a gun- 00:05 shot and the bird’s body falls to the ground. Narrowly The animals run into the forest. There is a gunshot and bullet that 00:05 avoided enters the ground along the path they are on, just missing the rabbits and chipmunks. Implicit There is a gunshot, animals scattering, and birds flying into the air. 00:01 Immediately after the gunshot, bird feathers fall to the ground. Narrowly There is a gunshot, and a bullet breaks a tree branch just over a 00:01 avoided squirrel. Implicit A chipmunk attempts to escape gunfire and jumps into a burrow. A 00:01 gunshot is heard and the bullet enters the same burrow. Narrowly Chipmunks attempt to jump into the burrow and are nearly hit by the 00:01 avoided gunfire. Narrowly There is a gunshot and a tree next to Bambi is hit. 00:01 avoided Narrowly A pack of dogs chase Faline into the forest, until she is stranded on a 01:05 avoided rock. They continue trying to reach her, until Bambi enters and fights them off. Explicit As Bambi climbs up a rocky hill, boulders tumble down and crush the 00:05 pile of dogs. Their barking stops. Narrowly A squirrel exits a tree that becomes engulfed in flames. 00:04 avoided Narrowly Bambi stands and walks away, just as flames take over the area. 00:03 avoided Narrowly A burning tree branch falls from above. Bambi and his father jump 00:02 avoided away. Narrowly A burning tree falls and almost crushes Bambi before he jumps 00:03 avoided forward. Narrowly A burning tree falls and almost crushes both Bambi and his father, 00:03 avoided before they jump down the waterfall.

Table 3. Charlotte’s Web (1973)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit A mother bird feeds her baby a worm as it wiggles inside her beak. 00:02 The worm disappears inside the baby bird’s mouth. Narrowly Fern’s father grabs the runt pig with one hand and holds an axe in his 00:53 avoided other hand, intending to kill the small pig on the basis that he will be “trouble.” Fern convinces her father to spare the pig’s life and let her keep it. Implicit A fly gets caught in Charlotte’s web. She wraps further and says, 00:49 “he’ll make a perfect breakfast for me.” She explains to Wilbur why she eats the flies. Implicit A fly is caught in Charlotte’s web. She wraps it in more web and tells 00:07 Wilbur she will eat it when he is asleep. Implicit A hornet gets caught in Charlotte’s web. She makes her way up the 00:06 web to wrap it. The hornet is not visible in following scenes. Narrowly A cat pounces toward Templeton. He avoids the cat’s claws and hides. 00:03 avoided Narrowly A moth becomes caught in Charlotte’s web. Charlotte is about to suck 00:15 avoided the moth’s blood when Wilbur convinces her to let the moth free. Explicit Charlotte’s body begins to slump and her singing fades. She is 03:10 unresponsive to Wilbur’s calls. Note: This film introduces death before it happens, presenting Charlotte as weak and aware of her upcoming death. In this instance, processing time is coded as beginning when Charlotte tells Wilbur, “in a while, I’ll be dead” and ends with her visible death on screen.

Table 4. Watership Down (1978)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit Predators each take turn killing the rabbits. The once brown rabbits 00:09 turn red and are lifeless on the ground. Implicit As Fiver looks to the field, it becomes covered in blood. 00:18 Narrowly A rabbit attacks another, biting it in the neck after shouting, “it’s you 00:01 avoided who will be killed!” A rabbit steps in and stops the attack from continuing. Narrowly Fiver falls into the water and does not surface. Bubbles appear. Hazel 00:03 avoided grabs him from the water. Explicit There is a dead, bloody animal in the road. 00:27 Narrowly A rabbit steps into the road near the dead animal. A car rushes by and 00:01 avoided the rabbit jumps out of the way before being ran over. Explicit A bird from above snatches a rabbit. There is rabbit fur floating in the 00:11 wind. Explicit Big Wig is caught in a wire trap. He struggles to breathe. Blood begins 00:49 to pour from his mouth. The rabbits break the wire free, but Big Wig is not breathing and does not move. He is presumed dead by the other rabbits. Narrowly With blood still pouring from his mouth, Big Wig coughs and 02:09 avoided awakens.

Table 4. Watership Down (1978) cont.

Narrowly A cat chases after Hazel and another rabbit. The cat’s owner orders it 00:19 avoided to stop. Explicit The burrow is filled, and rabbits die. Dead bodies of rabbits block exits 00:29 as other rabbits attempt to escape but are unsuccessful. A rabbit’s eyes close. There are dead bodies that fly through the air when trees are uprooted. Explicit A bird grabs a butterfly from the air and eats it. 00:01 Explicit A bird eats a bug flying near him. 00:01 Explicit Two rabbits begin biting and scratching another rabbit. It begins to 00:08 bleed and the narrator comments, “he was lucky to die.” Explicit A train runs over rabbits. 00:02 Explicit Two rival rabbits jump onto a rabbit and attack it. The rabbit is 00:05 motionless on the ground when Big Wig approaches. Explicit The bird eats a fish, pecking at it and pulling it apart before tossing it 00:08 down its throat. Explicit The bird eats a bee flying near him. 00:01 Explicit The general attacks another rabbit, biting him in the throat. The bloody 00:06 rabbit hangs from the general’s mouth. The dead, bloody rabbit lies on the ground, with a visible chunk taken from its throat. Narrowly The cat pounces toward a rabbit. Hazel pounds on the dog’s cage and 00:01 avoided the rabbit moves. Explicit The dog grabs a rabbit by the mouth and rips it to shreds. The rabbit’s 00:02 bloody body is tossed onto the ground with a visible hole in it. Explicit The dog grabs a rabbit by the mouth and begins to toss it back and 00:02 forth. The dog tosses the lifeless body. Explicit The dog climbs up a hill with a dead, bloody rabbit body in its mouth. 00:03 Implicit The dog and the general collide. The narrator says, “his body was 00:06 never found.” Explicit Hazel falls to the ground. His breathing becomes heavy. He stops 00:12 breathing and his spirit exits his body.

Table 5. The Secret of NIMH (1982)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Mr. Ages falls backward into a large, deep well but lands safely in a 00:06 avoided basket that he uses to reel himself back upward. Narrowly The cat attempts to bite Jeremy. Jeremy sneezes in the cat’s face. 00:03 avoided Narrowly The cat pounces on Mrs. Brisby but runs into log branch. 00:05 avoided Narrowly The cat snaps his jaws at Mrs. Brisby. She escapes and avoids its sharp 00:01 avoided teeth. Narrowly The cat jumps at Mrs. Brisby in the water, she escapes by holding onto 00:02 avoided a string that hoists her into the air. Narrowly The cat snaps at Mrs. Brisby while climbing a tree. He misses as she 00:01 avoided jumps out of the way.

Table 5. The Secret of NIMH (1982) cont.

Narrowly The cat jumps toward Mrs. Brisby on tree. She jumps out of the way 00:01 avoided and he falls from the branch. Narrowly A tractor approaches Mrs. Brisby’s home where Timothy lay asleep. 00:44 avoided Debris falls from the ceiling in his room as the machine approaches. Auntie Shrew tears a valve on the machine and it stops before reaching the home. Explicit Mrs. Brisby steps on a bone and it falls to a pile of animal bones, with 00:08 skulls clearly visible in the pile. Narrowly A spider approaches Mrs. Brisby from behind. The owl crushes it 00:18 avoided before it reaches her. Explicit A claw comes crushing down onto a spider, squishing it flat. There is a 00:05 loud squishing sound as the insides seep out of the dead insect. Explicit A moth flutters around the owl. The owl snaps its beak onto the moth, 00:01 crushing and eating it. The moth’s wing falls off as the owl bites. Narrowly A rat chases Mrs. Brisby with a weapon that sparks lightning. He 00:09 avoided swings it at Mrs. Brisby but she jumps out of the way. Explicit A group of mice struggle to hold onto a rope and fall through a shaft as 00:07 their cries grow louder and the narrator comments, “the mice were blown away, sucked down dark air shafts to their deaths” Narrowly A large piece of cement falls from the ceiling and lands just next to the 00:02 avoided boat that Mrs. Brisby, Justin, and Nicodemus are on. Implicit After Jenner cuts the ropes, debris flies and tumbles on top of 00:02 Nicodemus. He falls off the edge and the debris immediately after. Narrowly A burning candle blocks Mrs. Brisby’s daughter in a hole. The house 00:03 avoided tumbles and a bucket of water extinguishes the flame. Explicit Justin discovers Nicodemus’ body, crushed under the weight of wood. 00:02 The only part of his body visible is a hand that hangs among the rumble. Narrowly Jenner swings his sword at Justin. The blade nicks his arm and blood 00:01 avoided falls. Narrowly Jenner swings his sword at Justin’s head. Justin ducks and the blade 00:01 avoided slams into the rock just above his head. Narrowly Jenner raises his sword above his head and is about to thrust 00:02 avoided downward onto Justin’s body, before Justin kicks a log in Jenner’s path. Narrowly Jenner raises his sword above his head once again to attack Justin from 00:05 avoided above a cliff. Sullivan throws his knife from behind and hits Jenner. Explicit Sullivan throws his knife, which becomes lodged into Jenner’s back. 00:05 Jenner falls and his now lifeless body lands on the ground. Explicit Immediately after saving Justin and killing Jenner, Sullivan collapses 00:01 to the ground and dies from his injuries that occurred earlier in battle. Narrowly Mrs. Brisby’s house begins to sink into the mud with all the children 02:55 avoided inside. The stone emits magical powers and the cinderblock raises from the mud.

Table 6. Transformers: The Movie (1986)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit A robot on Lithone is seen being sucked into Unicron. 00:01 Explicit Robots and debris are sent upward toward Unicron. There is no clear 00:02 way to decipher how many robots die in the process. Explicit A robot on Lithone is crushed by debris. 00:01 Explicit A robot is sucked upward toward Unicron. 00:01 Explicit A robot behind is sucked upward toward Unicron 00:01 Explicit A small ship that attempts to escape the chaos is sent barreling 00:01 downward. Explicit Megatron transforms into a weapon. Starscream fires a weapon at the 00:02 Autobots. Purple smoke emits from Brawn’s body and he falls to the ground. Narrowly Prowl fires back at the decepticons. One of the blasts nearly hits a bot, 00:02 avoided but he ducks below and avoids the blast. Explicit A decepticon fires a weapon at Prowl. His eyes turn red and red smoke 00:06 emits from his mouth before he falls to the ground. Explicit Decepticons fire at two remaining characters on the ship. They both 00:05 fall to the ground with broken body parts and smoke emitting from their bodies. Rachet dies. Implicit Iron hide survives the attack, grabs onto Megatron and cries, “No!” 00:01 Megatron aims his weapon toward Ironhide and fires a blast. Narrowly Decepticons fire at Hot Rod and Daniel. Hot Rod grabs Daniel to 00:06 avoided protect him. The rock they just escaped from crashes to the ground. Narrowly A decepticon aims a tank at Hot Rod. Kup intervenes and aims the 00:06 avoided tank upward and the blast just misses Hot Rod. Explicit The blast from the tank is redirected and hits a decepticon. His body 00:05 falls to the ground, hitting rocks on the way. Narrowly Decepticons fire at the Autobots from above. Nexus jumps out of the 00:02 avoided way and the blast destroys the wall. Narrowly Two characters run across a platform, avoiding consistent blasts from 00:13 avoided above. Narrowly Starscream’s foot becomes caught. Two platforms close in, threatening 00:08 avoided to crush the robot. He blasts off, injuring his foot. Explicit An insecticon’s head is crushed. 00:01 Explicit An insecticon falls to the ground, with its stomach and legs upright. 00:01 Explicit Arcee carries a dead Wheeljack’s body across the floor. 00:01 Explicit Arcee places Wheeljack next to Windcharger, both of their bodies 00:02 lying on the floor. Explicit An enemy bot crushes a Dinobot. 00:01 Explicit A Dinobot is crushed by debris. 00:02 Explicit Prime fires at decepticons. They fall to the ground. 00:01 Explicit Prime fires at two decepticons. The steaming body falls to the ground. 00:01 Explicit Prime fires at a decepticon. The steaming body falls to the ground. 00:01 Narrowly Megatron fires a large blast at Prime. Prime moves his arm slightly and 00:01 avoided the beam goes just below his arm. Explicit The light in Prime’s eyes fade. His body turns black and grey. His 00:17 head falls to the side. Daniel weeps over the dead body. Implicit A wounded Skywarp is thrown from the ship. 00:05

Table 6. Transformers: The Movie (1986) cont.

Implicit A wounded Thundercracker is thrown from the ship. 00:05 Implicit A wounded Shrapnel is thrown from the ship. 00:05 Implicit A wounded Kickback is thrown from the ship. 00:05 Implicit A wounded Bombshell is thrown from the ship. 00:05 Implicit Starscream tosses Megatron out of the ship. He screams as he falls. 00:07 Explicit Galvatron fires at Starscream. Starscream’s body turns black and 00:11 crumbles into pieces and his crown tumbles down the stairs. His dusted remains are smoking. Explicit Two bots are overtaken by Unicron. There is a small explosion of their 00:03 ship. Narrowly Arcee, Hot Rod, and Daniel dodge blasts from above. 00:06 avoided Narrowly Decepticons fire at dinobots and Blur. Grimlock fights back and the 00:03 avoided decepticon ship is destroyed. Explicit A decepticon ship explodes. 00:01 Explicit A large fish robot eats a smaller fish robot 00:03 Explicit A large fish robot eats a smaller fish robot 00:03 Explicit A large fish robot eats a smaller fish robot 00:03 Explicit A large fish robot eats a smaller fish robot 00:03 Narrowly Hot rod is tangled in vines and being attacked by fish. He frees himself 00:14 avoided by cutting through the vines and the fish, killing a total of 6. Explicit Hot Rod slices a fish that attacks him. 00:01 Explicit Hot Rod slices a fish in half. 00:01 Explicit Hot Rod uses a blade to slice the fish in half. 00:01 Explicit Hot Rod slices a fish in half. 00:01 Explicit Hot Rod slices a fish in half. 00:01 Explicit Hot Rod slices a fish in half. 00:01 Narrowly Kup is caught by a squid. Hot Rod frees him. 00:04 avoided Explicit Arblus is tossed into sharkticon-infested waters. The sharkticons 00:02 attack. Implicit Kranix is sentenced to death by Sharkticons. 00:02 Explicit Remains are scattered along the floor of a jail cell. 00:01 Explicit Sharkticons attack a robot that is tossed into the water after being 00:03 found “innocent.” The bot screams as it is attacked. Explicit Kup and Hot Rod are being attacked. Disoriented, one sharkticon kills 00:01 another by scratching along its face and ripping it open Explicit Kup crushes a sharkticon. 00:01 Explicit Kup crushes a second sharkticon. 00:01 Implicit A dinobot crushes the leader. His body squirms under the large door as 00:03 dinobots walk across. Explicit A dinobot steps on sharkticons and crushes one. 00:01 Explicit Kup and Hot Rod are surrounded by dead sharkticon bodies. 00:03 Narrowly Arcee, Rush, and Daniel are being attacked by decepticons. They 00:15 avoided transform into cars to escape. Explicit Ultra Magnus is shot and falls to the ground. His body explodes. 00:01 Narrowly Hot Rod and Kup fall into the skarkticon waters. They transform and 01:20 avoided escape the skarkticons and fight their way free. Explicit Hot Rod and Kup destroy the sharkticons. There are remains on the 00:03 floor. 67

Table 6. Transformers: The Movie (1986) cont.

Explicit A decepticon is tossed into boiling acid. He screams on the way down. 00:01 Explicit A decepticon is tossed into boiling acid. There are screams. 00:05 Explicit A decepticon is tossed into boiling acid. 00:05 Explicit The deceptions struggle to stay above the acid before turning red and 00:03 burning. Narrowly Spike is dropped above the acid container. Daniel covers the lid. 00:15 avoided Narrowly Galvatron chokes Hot Rod while commenting on how easy it is to kill 00:12 avoided autoboots. The matrix frees Hot Rod. Explicit Dirge attempts to defeat Unicron. There is an explosion. 00:03 Explicit Thrust attempts to defeat Unicron. There is an explosion. 00:03 Explicit Ramjet attempts to defeat Unicron. There is an explosion. 00:03 Explicit Unitron is decapitated. His head floats away from his body before his 00:09 body explodes. There are red sparks and body parts floating through space. Note: All robotic characters in this film are coded as living things.

Table 7. All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Two dogs are underground when the tunnel becomes flooded and 00:03 avoided they must out-run the rushing waters. Narrowly Two gunshots fire and the sparks appear next to both dogs, with the 00:02 avoided bullets narrowly missing them both. Narrowly There is a gunshot and a spark that barrels into the ground where 00:01 avoided Itchy stands. He is forced to jump backward to avoid being shot. Narrowly There is a gunshot and bullet that fires into the ground, misses Itchy, 00:01 avoided and hits the metal object he was holding. Narrowly A bullet fires at Charlie and misses him behind by inches, hitting the 00:01 avoided ground in front of him and causing mud to fly. Narrowly A gun fires at both dogs as they attempt to crawl below a fence. 00:01 avoided Charlie and Itchy duck below the range of the bullet, and it shatters the fence leaving a large gaping hole where Itchy’s body was just moments before. Narrowly There is a sound of gunshots and a red spark that misses Itchy. 00:01 avoided Narrowly There are gunshots and red sparks in the distance, with bullets 00:05 avoided moving in Charlie and Itchy’s direction. They make their way up a hill as the bullets follow but miss, leaving three extremely large holes along the path. Explicit Bones and raw meat fall from a net above. 00:02 Implicit Carface removes the emergency break from a car atop a hill, with 00:10 Charlie blindfolded at the bottom. The car begins to roll down, barreling through the barricade where Charlie stood and falling into the water. In the next scene, Charlie arrives at “The Great Hall of Judgement,” what looks like heaven. Explicit A cat has a fish carcass in its mouth. 00:04

Table 7. All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) cont.

Narrowly Carface has Killer tied up, hanging upside down, and begins to lower 00:45 avoided him into a pool of hungry piranhas. As Killer screams and becomes closer to the water, the Piranhas begin to bite on his ears until Carface pulls Killer back up. Implicit After his watch (indicative of his life) breaks, Charlie is sucked into a 00:38 volcano where he emerges from lava into, presumably, Hell. (Dream) Narrowly Carface fires a machine gun at Charlie. The bullets rapid fire and hit 00:03 avoided him multiple times, also shattering the apple bins directly behind him. Charlie is uninjured, and he attributes this to the clock. Narrowly Carface continues to fire his machine gun toward Charlie and Anne 00:02 avoided Marie, with bullets flying near a marketplace and almost hitting a market worker, just before jumps out of the way. Narrowly Carface and Killer chase after Charlie, firing bullets in all directions 00:04 avoided and miss Charlie and Anne Marie as they jump across tables of fruit and vegetables. Explicit A group of rats bring Charlie and Anne Marie into a cave, where they 00:10 are surrounded by a hill made of animal bones and skulls. Narrowly A giant crocodile circles Charlie and Anne Marie and begins to climb 00:42 avoided up the hill made of bones, crushing them as he walks. He places Charlie, along with the cage, into his mouth and attempts to bite down. His mouth completely closes, and Charlie lets out a howl. The crocodile sticks out his tongue and removes Charlie from his mouth. Narrowly Carface sticks out a single, sharp claw and attempts to stab Itchy. 00:06 avoided Itchy moves slightly to the right and manages to avoid the blow. Narrowly One dog chokes Charlie above a cliff that hangs over the piranhas. 00:02 avoided Charlie punches the dog and rises to his feet. Narrowly Carface ties Charlie to an anchor and beings to lower it into the water. 00:38 avoided The crocodile bursts into the boat and disrupts Carface’s plan. Charlie continues to sink and the crocodile bites the ropes, releasing him. Narrowly A fire sparks in the water and encircles Anne Marie, resting on a box. 00:31 avoided She falls off the box and into the water. Charlie jumps into the water, brings Anne Marie to the surface, and places her on a log. Implicit After Carface enters the water, the crocodile approaches him while 00:10 remarking, “delicious…” He continues to chase him, gets closer, and at the last moment, opens his mouth. Implicit Charlie’s clock stops ticking, and blackness fills the water. 00:07

Table 8. Tarzan (1989)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Tarzan’s parents escape a boat engulfed in flames before it sinks. 00:39 avoided Explicit A leopard chases an infant gorilla to a dead end where the baby is 00:02 snatched up by the leopard’s mouth. Implicit The baby gorilla’s screams slowly fade. 00 05 Explicit There are bodies on the floor with bloody pawprints surrounding 00:10 them. Narrowly A leopard hangs above Kala and baby Tarzan and attempts to pounce 01:35 avoided them. There is an ongoing chase for Tarzan. The leopard becomes entangled in ropes and is unable to pursue Kala and Tarzan. Narrowly Tarzan is almost stepped on by an adult elephant after attempting to 00:09 avoided impress Turk and his friends. (His friends on the side watching mumble, “He’s dead”) Narrowly A baby gorilla gets caught in an elephant stampede and is nearly 00:04 avoided crushed before Kerchak jumps in, grabs the baby gorilla, and jumps back to the side. Narrowly Tarzan falls into a lake and alligators/crocodiles approach him. They 00:06 avoided snap their jaws attempting to eat him and he avoids by hopping on their backs. Narrowly A snake chases Tarzan through the trees, but it becomes tangled from 00:06 avoided sharp turns. The snake snaps its jaws repeatedly just inches from Tarzan’s face. Narrowly A leopard jumps at Tarzan from inside the bushes and begins to chase 01:51 avoided him. Kerchak grabs the leopard and they begin to battle. Kerchack falls to the ground. Tarzan and the leopard violently battle and both fall into the rubble. Explicit Tarzan emerges with the spear in hand. He grabs the leopard’s lifeless 00:20 body and displays it above his head, shouting as the gorillas approach with cheers. Implicit There is a gun shot in the distance and birds scatter. 00:04 Narrowly Tarzan hides in the bushes and Clayton fires his rifle at Tarzan, with 00:02 avoided the bullet destroying the bamboo branch just inches from Tarzan’s face. Narrowly Clayton’s rifle is inches from Tarzan’s throat as Tarzan hides in the 00:02 avoided bushes. Narrowly A single leaf falls from above and Clayton fires his rifle twice into the 00:06 avoided skies, leaving two holes in the tree-line. Tarzan is contorted around the holes, indicating that the bullets landed perfectly between his body parts. Narrowly Jane attempts to escape an angry pack of baboons by jumping out of 00:04 avoided the trees. She closes her eyes and leaps forward off a cliff when suddenly Tarzan grabs her by her dress, saving her from falling. Narrowly Jane hangs from a single vine. As the baboons close in on her, the 00:03 avoided vine breaks and she begins to fall. Tarzan grabs her by the foot.

Table 8. Tarzan (1989) cont.

Narrowly Clayton loads his rifle, says, “I think this one would be better off 00:18 avoided stuffed,” points it at Kerchak, and cocks his weapon. He is interrupted by Tarzan and his friends, who knock the rifle out of Clayton’s hands. Narrowly Clayton shoots his rifle at Tarzan. The bullet grazes his arm. 00:01 avoided Narrowly Clayton shoots at Tarzan and narrowly misses him three times. 00:04 avoided Narrowly Clayton attacks Tarzan with a machete, swinging it at him repeatedly 00:12 avoided and relentlessly. Clayton thrusts the machete toward Tarzan where it misses and becomes logged into the tree right next to Tarzan’s face. Explicit Clayton falls quickly from the trees while screaming and attempting 00:11 to untangle a vine wrapped around his neck. The vine around Clayton’s neck tightens, the screaming stops, his machete drops to the ground, and a shadow of his hanging body is cast upon the trees. Explicit Kerchak’s eyes close and his arm falls in slow motion from Tarzan’s 00:40 shoulder to the ground. Tarzan embraces Kerchak’s lifeless body while the other gorillas, Jane, and the Professor watch in sadness.

Table 9. The Little Mermaid (1989)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit Flounder is frightened by human skeletal remains. He swims near a 00:03 skull. Narrowly A shark swims after Ariel and Flounder, snapping its jaws repeatedly, 00:50 avoided inches from them. They avoid the shark’s bites by swimming away. The shark becomes caught in an anchor and can no longer chase them. Explicit Ursula grabs a shrimp and throws it into her mouth. She chews and 00:02 there is a swallowing noise. Narrowly The ship crashes and the crew fall into the water. Eric grabs each of 00:10 avoided them from the water onto a lifeboat. Narrowly A burning post falls down toward Eric. He jumps out of the way 00:02 avoided before it hits the ground where he was standing. Narrowly Eric grabs Max and tosses him off the boat. 00:26 avoided Narrowly The boat explodes into flames. Eric is unconscious and begins to sink 00:31 avoided below the surface. Ariel grabs him and brings him to shore. Explicit Sea creatures inside vials are tossed into Ursula’s cauldron. 00:01 Explicit In the kitchen, Sebastian sees a dead fish carcass cut in half and 00:06 stuffed crab shells. Explicit The chef carries a bowl of dead fish. He uses his cleaver to chop the 00:57 head. He sings while chopping the fish and ripping out the bones. There is a shadow of him tearing the insides of the fish out with a fork. Narrowly The chef throws Sebastian in the boiling pot of water. Sebastian 00:03 avoided jumps out. Narrowly The chef chases after Sebastian, tossing his cleaver and mallet at the 00:27 avoided crab. Explicit Ursula tosses a butterfly into her cauldron. The cauldron erupts 00:01 slightly. Narrowly Ursula aims the triton at Eric and tells Ariel, “say goodbye to your 00:03 avoided prince.” Ariel pulls Ursula by the hair and her blast is misdirected. Explicit Ursula accidentally zaps the eels with the triton. There is a spark and 00:07 small remains of the eels float into Ursula’s hands. Narrowly Ursula fires blasts from the triton at Ariel. She dodges them. 00:03 avoided Narrowly Ursula aims the triton at Ariel for a final blast. Eric uses the ship to 00:05 avoided stop her. Explicit Eric pierces Ursula’s abdomen with the staff of the ship. Ursula lets 00:15 out a cry and her body is jolted with electricity. Her bones are visible through her body. She and the ship sink below the water. Narrowly The chef raises his knife and attempts to chop Sebastian. Sebastian 00:15 avoided cuts a rope and a pole hits the chef.

Table 10. Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit A flock of birds flies overhead when suddenly one is shot with an 00:05 arrow. It falls to the ground and Lafou places the carcass in a bag. Narrowly Wolves chase Maurice. He locks them behind the gate. One wolf 00:30 avoided grabs Maurice’s foot and attempts to drag him through the bars but is unsuccessful. Narrowly Wolves appear from the trees and begin to chase Belle on her horse. 00:59 avoided Belle falls off her horse and attempts to fight the wolves off with a stick. A wolf drags bell to the ground by her cape, another wolf jumps into the air toward her before the Beast intervenes and grabs the wolf. Narrowly The wolves gang up on the Beast, biting him on the shoulder and 00:49 avoided back. After successfully scaring them off, the Beast faints and falls to the ground, scratched and bloody. Belle carries him back to the castle. Narrowly Maurice lay unconscious in the snow. Belle brings him back to their 00:04 avoided home. Narrowly A machine approaches Belle and Maurice, on the path to run directly 00:10 avoided into them. Maurice shouts, “Belle, look out!” and pushes them both out of the way before the machine crashes where they were initially standing and explodes. Narrowly Three men throw their knives at the dog (foot stool), who closes the 00:03 avoided door just before the knives reach him, leaving the weapons lodged into the door frame. Narrowly Gaston pulls back his arrow and aims it at the beast. He fires and the 00:09 avoided arrow hits the Beast in the back. Narrowly Injured, the Beast lay on the edge of the tower and Gaston 01:01 avoided approaches him with a ceramic weapon. The Beast dodges the attack. Gaston continues to pursue the Beast, swinging the weapon at him along the edge of the tower. Narrowly The Beast grabs Gaston by the throat and hangs him over the edge of 00:20 avoided the tower. After Gaston pleads for his life, the Beast brings him back to safety. Narrowly Gaston stabs the Beast in the side. Blood pours from the wound and 00:08 avoided off Gaston’s knife. The Beast begins to fall backward, but Belle pulls him forward to safety. Explicit After stabbing the Beast, Gaston falls backward off the tower. He 00:08 looks below him, screaming on his way down. Explicit The Beast’s eyes roll backward and close. His hand falls from 01:42 Belle’s face onto the ground. Belle cries over top the Beast’s body.

Table 11. The Lion King (1994)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Scar picks up a mouse and hangs it above his mouth with his tongue 00:27 avoided outstretched, ready to eat it until Zazu arrives and the mouse escapes. Narrowly Scar catches Zazu in his mouth and leaves him there as to eat him, 00:08 avoided until Mufasa arrives and Scar releases him. Explicit Simba and Nala arrive at the Elephant grave yard and are surrounded 00:06 by the bones of several dead animals. Narrowly Hyenas grab Zazu and attempt to cook him in the “bird boiler,” but 00:08 avoided Zazu shoots into the air. Narrowly Hyenas chase Simba and Nala. Nala becomes stuck at the bottom of 00:21 avoided a hill. Shenzi snaps her jaws attempting to bite Nala, until Simba strikes his paw and scratches Shenzi’s face. Narrowly Hyenas corner Simba and Nala and attempt to attack until Mufasa 00:14 avoided intervenes. Narrowly Simba gets caught in a wildebeest stampede. He attempts to hold 00:03 avoided onto a tree, but the branch begins to break, and Simba is lunged into the air. Mufasa enters the stampede and saves Simba before he falls. Explicit A wildebeest is hit and falls, continually stomped on by surrounding 00:02 wildebeests. Narrowly Mufasa falls into the stampede and is unseen until he manages to 00:11 avoided jump out of the chaos and onto the cliff that he then attempts to climb. Explicit Scar digs his claws into Mufasa’s paws and aggressively releases 02:32 them, shoving Mufasa off the cliff into the stampede of wildebeests. Mufasa screams as he falls backward. Simba stumbles across Mufasa’s body. He pushes on the body, attempting to wake his father. He cries for help and then nestles next to Mufasa, placing the lifeless arm around him. Narrowly Hyenas chase Simba after orders from Scar to kill him. He manages 00:25 avoided to escape them in a field of thorn bushes. Narrowly Simba lay unconscious in the desert, with vultures surrounding him 00:16 avoided and attempting to feed on his body. Timon and Pumbaa scare the vultures away. Explicit Timon holds up a bug. In the next scene, the bug is gone and Timon 00:02 licks his fingers saying, “tastes like chicken.” Bug remains are visible in his mouth. Explicit Pumbaa sucks a worm through his lips until it disappears as he 00:02 swallows and says, “slimy yet satisfying” Explicit Timon eats a red bug by biting it in half and then tossing the second 00:05 half into his mouth. Explicit Pumbaa talks to Simba with a mouth full of live bugs in his mouth. 00:02 Some fall out and some are eaten. Explicit Timon grabs a small blue bug from a log, squishes it between his 00:01 fingers, and says, “oo, the little green-filled kind” before tossing the bug into his mouth. Explicit Simba grabs a red insect and slurps it into his mouth, swallowing it 00:05 whole and repeating, “slimy yet satisfying” Explicit Zazu is trapped in the bones of a deceased animal. 00:09

Table 11. The Lion King (1994) cont.

Explicit Scar uses the skull of a dead animal as a puppet as Zazu sings. 00:01 Narrowly Nala chases after Pumbaa, Pumbaa becomes stuck under a log. 00:29 avoided Simba jumps over and begins to fight with Nala before she reaches Pumbaa. Explicit Simba nears his home and passes by several animal carcasses. There 00:23 are bones of dead animals surrounding the valley ahead of and behind him. Explicit Simba, Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa hide behind a rock and log, there 00:02 are dead animal bones immediately in front of them. Narrowly Hyenas close in on Timon and Pumbaa with their tongues hanging. 00:12 avoided They chase them out of the canyon. Narrowly Scar and the hyenas approach Simba. As Simba backs up, he 00:35 avoided stumbles and falls toward the edge of the rock. A fire starts below and he struggles to hang on. Scar admits that he killed Mufasa and Simba pounces Scar. Narrowly Hyenas attack Simba. The lionesses as well as Timon and Pumbaa 00:07 avoided jump in the battle to fight off the hyenas. Narrowly A hyena attempts to attack Simba. Tafiki hits it with his staff. The 00:11 avoided hyenas direct their attention to Tafiki, and he fights them off with his staff. Narrowly Hyenas chase Timon into the cage where Zazu is kept. They close in 00:29 avoided on them both with tongues hanging from their mouths. Pumbaa enters and charges the hyenas. There is a commotion inside the cave and both hyenas run out. Narrowly Scar attacks Simba, biting him on his neck repeatedly and thrusting 00:36 avoided his claws to Simba’s face. Simba falls to the ground and as Scar comes in for his final pounce, Simba uses his legs to push Scar off and over the rock. Explicit Hyenas approach scar in a corner. There is a shadow cast upon the 00:02 rock behind him that shows several hyenas attacking Scar until he falls.

Table 12. Mulan (1998)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly One of the Hun members swings his sword at a guard and misses. 00:02 avoided He swings the sword again and hits just below the guard’s feet, breaking the ladder. Implicit Shan-Yu asks, “How many men does it take to deliver a message?” 00:02 to which a member replies, “one” as he raises his bow and arrow in the direction that the two scouts are running. The screen turns black. Explicit The troops come across a terrorized town and as they glance 00:08 overtop a hill, they see hundreds of lifeless bodies spread out all over the ground. Implicit The general’s helmet is found among the debris and bodies. Shang 00:57 places the helmet atop his sword at the edge of the mountain and walks away. Implicit Mulan places the doll belonging to a little girl in the village at the 00:12 same memorial site as the general. Narrowly The troops are ambushed by the Huns with arrows towering down 00:29 avoided onto them. One arrow hits Shang in the shoulder. Explicit The troops fire cannons at the Huns. The group of Huns on the 00:02 mountains are either hit by the cannons directly or jump off of the mountain. Explicit The troops fire more cannons at the Huns on the mountain. There is 00:06 a large explosion and the Huns on the mountain are no longer visible. Narrowly The extensively large group of Huns comes barreling down the 01:38 avoided mountain with swords in hand toward the troops but are interrupted by the avalanche. Narrowly Shan-Yu approaches Mulan and aims his sword at her. His first 00:05 avoided attempt is thwarted by the cannon. His second attempt strikes Mulan in the chest. Explicit An avalanche engulfs the Huns. Men are thrown off of their horses 00:14 and buried into the snow. Explicit Mushu lifts a man from the snow by his hair during the avalanche. 00:01 Once he realizes it is not Mulan, he shoves the man back into the snow and ice. Narrowly Mushu pulls Mulan’s cricket from the snow and calls him a “lucky 00:02 avoided bug.” Narrowly Mulan and Shang are on top of the horse falling down the 00:13 avoided mountain. They fire the bow and arrow back toward the top of the mountain where Yao catches the arrow and the troops pull them to safety. Narrowly The six men attempt to pull Mulan and Shang back up the mountain 00:04 avoided but struggle to keep their footing. They come closer to the edge, nearly falling over themselves until Chien-Po grabs them all and begins to step backward.

Table 12. Mulan (1998) cont.

Narrowly Shang pulls a sword and approaches Mulan. As troops attempt to 00:21 avoided intervene, the Emperor’s counsel says, “you know the law.” Shang raises his sword above his head as Mulan stretches out her neck. He then drops the sword in front of her and dismisses the event as, “a life for a life.” Narrowly The Huns emerge from the Dragon costume and charge Shang, 00:02 avoided swinging their swords directly at him, but Shang blocks each blow with his own sword. Narrowly Shan-Yu, angry at the emperor’s refusal to bow, raises his sword 00:02 avoided above his head and quickly lowers it in the emperor’s direction, shouting, “then you will kneel in pieces.” Shang enters and blocks the sword with his own. Narrowly Shan-Yu holds his sword at Shang’s throat. Mulan throws her shoe 00:02 avoided at Shan-Yu and directs his attention to her. Narrowly Shan-Yu swings his sword at Mulan, missing her and tearing down 00:06 avoided a pillar. Implicit The two men at the fireworks tower jump from the building after 00:02 encountering Mushu. There is no indication that the men land safely but there is a visible large distance between the tower and the ground below. Narrowly Shan-Yu approaches Mulan on the roof with his sword in hand. He 00:16 avoided lunges toward her and she diverts the attack by trapping his sword in her fan. Explicit Shan-Yu is hit by a firework and forced into the firework tower 00:13 where there is a huge explosion and flames. Shang-Yu’s sword lands on the ground with smoke surrounding it.

Table 13. The Prince of Egypt (1998)

Death Type Description Processing Time Implicit Two Egyptian men enter a woman’s home. They raise their swords 00:01 above a baby carriage. The mother is outside her home, sobbing. Narrowly Alligators and hippos snap their jaws at the basket holding Moses. 00:07 avoided Narrowly The basket gets caught among oars on a ship. Moses in the basket is 00:06 avoided nearly ran over by the ship but shifts direction from the waves. Narrowly The nose of the statue falls down the ladders. Moses jumps from its 00:12 avoided path at the last moment. Explicit A woman is trampled on by men climbing up stairs. (Dream). 00:01 Explicit Moses falls from the edge of a cliff along with newborn babies. 00:04 There is red surrounding him. (Dream). Explicit Moses finds paintings on the walls that show men tossing babies 00:55 into the water for alligators to eat them. Pharaoh explains to Moses that the Hebrews could have overthrown and that sacrifices must be made. Pharaoh describes the babies as “only slaves.” Explicit Moses jumps on a guard that is beating an old man. The guard falls 00:09 to his death. His lifeless body is on the ground, surrounded by spectators. Narrowly Moses becomes buried in sand from a sand storm. A camel tugs on 00:14 avoided his hair and pulls him to the surface. Explicit There is a shadow upon the wall of Moses’ snake eating the other 00:03 two snakes. Explicit A cow falls dead among a field of other deceased cows. 00:01 Explicit A dead lamb is laying on the ground. Its blood is used to mark the 00:16 doors. Explicit A beam of light enters a building where a mother and two sons are 00:06 sleeping. The oldest son stops breathing. Implicit The beam of light enters a home. The candle is extinguished. 00:04 Explicit A young boy enters a building carrying a pot. The beam of light 00:02 follows him and his hand falls, visible in the doorway. Implicit The beam of light encompasses the city. A clearer beacon (soul) 00:09 comes from the castle into the sky. Explicit Rameses carries his son’s body. He covers it with a sheet. Rameses 01:11 holds his child’s body in his hands as he weeps. Narrowly Rameses and his army charge the Hebrews. Fire from above 00:31 avoided prevents them from proceeding. Explicit Water comes down from above as the seas begin to close. The men 00:32 are overtaken by the water.

Table 14. The Iron Giant (1999)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Hogarth is almost crushed by The Iron Giant. He outruns the giant 00:04 avoided footsteps and the Giant misses Hogarth’s body when walking past him. Narrowly Towers come crashing down near Hogarth. He runs to the left to 00:02 avoided avoid the right one and to the right to avoid the left one. Explicit There is a gunshot. Two hunters kill a deer. The deer’s body is 00:29 lifeless on the ground. The Iron Giant attempts to grab the body and Hogarth shouts at him not to, because the animal is dead. Narrowly The Iron Giant fires a weapon at Hogarth. Hogarth bends down and 00:03 avoided the blast misses him. Narrowly The Iron Giant fires a weapon at Hogarth. Dean jumps and moves 00:01 avoided Hogarth out of the way. Narrowly Two kids hang from the top of a building. They begin falling when 00:15 avoided the Iron Giant jumps in and catches them. Explicit Tanks fires at the Iron Giant. He blasts at four tanks at the ground. 00:01 Narrowly The Iron Giant is ready to blast a battleship. Hogarth interrupts him 00:05 avoided and the blast misses the ship. Narrowly Kent Mansley orders the missile be fired. The army launches the 02:08 avoided missile and the general points out that everyone in the town is going to die. The Iron Giant launches himself into space to redirect the missile away from town. Explicit The Iron Giant flies toward the missile. The missile turns around 00:21 and heads for the Iron Giant. There is an explosion in space that is visible from earth. Note: The Iron Giant is coded as a living thing. He requires nourishment, seeks interpersonal relationships, and operates independently. Hogarth describes the Iron Giant as having a soul and assures him that souls do not die.

Table 15. Shrek (2001)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit Shrek places an eye-ball into his drink. He has a jar of eye-balls on 00:03 the table. Explicit There is a display of Shrek’s meal, with a dead slug on the plate. 00:01 Explicit The dwarfs place Snow White on Shrek’s table. He responds, “dead 00:10 broad off the table.” Narrowly Guards approach Shrek with weapons after Lord Farquaad instructs 00:20 avoided them to “kill the ogre.” Shrek breaks the barrel of liquid behind him and the men fall. Explicit There are the leg bones of a knight in the castle. 00:03 Explicit There are human skeletal remains hanging overtop a bridge in the 00:04 castle. Explicit There are human skeletal remains in the castle. Donkey runs into 00:04 the remains and the skull is removed from the rest of the body. Narrowly The dragon blows fire at Donkey. He runs out of the way. 00:01 avoided Explicit There are two human skeletal remains. 00:03 Narrowly The dragon chases Donkey, continually throwing fire at him. She 00:41 avoided opens her jaws and attempts to bite him, but Shrek grabs her by the tail. Narrowly The dragon traps Donkey on a single rock formation. He 00:25 avoided compliments the dragon. Flattered, she decides not to harm him. Explicit There are human skeletal remains against the wall, with a burnt rim. 00:02 Shrek comments on how the past knights “burst into flames.” Narrowly The dragon breathes fire toward Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona. She 01:33 avoided chases after them throughout the castle. Shrek jumps out of the way of the fire, places the sword in between the Dragon’s chains, and helps them all narrowly escape the Dragon’s fire as it burns the bridge. The dragon attempts to fly after them but is held back by the chains. Explicit A bird explodes. Its feathers scatter and its feet remain on the 00:04 branches with smoke emitting from them. Narrowly A man fires an arrow at Fiona. It barrels toward her face and hits a 00:02 avoided tree. Explicit Fiona traps flies in a spider web. Shrek eats the bundle of flies. 00:14 Explicit Shrek roasts dead rats over a fire. Shrek and Fiona eat the roasted 00:29 rats. Explicit The Dragon bursts into the castle and grabs Lord Farquaad. He 00:14 screams and she closes her jaws. She burps and Lord Farquaad’s crown falls out.

Table 16. Ice Age (2002)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Chunks of sharp ice nearly impale Scrat. 00:16 avoided Narrowly Scrat becomes squished between two sheets of ice. His eyes widen 00:04 avoided and he pops out of the entrapment. Narrowly The rhinos run at Sid, threatening to break his neck. Sid hides 00:13 avoided behind Manny. Narrowly The rhino charges at Sid. Manny throws the rhino out of the way. 00:14 avoided Narrowly A tiger pounces a man, but the man blocks the attack with a spear. 00:01 avoided Narrowly Diego approaches the sleeping baby. The mother grabs the baby 00:06 avoided and hits Diego with a stick. Narrowly Diego pursues the mother and child to the edge of a waterfall. He 00:47 avoided closes in and the mother jumps from the edge. Narrowly The men throw spears at the tigers, two spears land near them in the 00:02 avoided ground. Implicit After leaving her baby along the edge of the water with Manny, the 00:15 mother closes her eyes and lays on the rock. She disappears. Sid says, “she’s gone.” Narrowly The baby slips from his wrappings and begins to fall from the cliff. 00:05 avoided Sid grabs the baby by his feet. Explicit A dodo bird falls into a burning pit. There is steam that rises and a 00:04 fellow dodo bird says, “don’t fall in… if you do, you will definitely burn and die.” Explicit A group of dodo birds fall off the edge of a cliff. A nearby bird 00:03 says, “there goes our last female.” Explicit Three dodo birds fall into the burning pit. 00:02 Explicit A group of dodo birds piled on top of one another fall off the edge 00:03 of the cliff. Explicit There is the frozen body of a fish. 00:08 Explicit There is the frozen body of a dinosaur. 00:03 Explicit There are several frozen bodies leading through the evolution of a 00:11 sloth. Implicit Men trap a baby mammoth and its mother into a corner with their 00:04 spears. Men from above hold rocks directly above the mother and baby. (Wall animation). Narrowly Diego hangs from the edge of a cliff with a pool of lava down 00:19 avoided below. Manny goes back to save Diego. Narrowly A tiger leaps into the den where Sid hid the baby. Sid grabs the 00:02 avoided baby and the tiger becomes stuck in the hole. Narrowly The tiger pack corners Manny. Soto attempts a final blow, but 00:03 avoided Diego jumps in front of Manny to protect him. Implicit Soto is tossed into a rock. The sharp icicles hanging above shake. 00:02 They fall, Soto looks up in fear, and there is a sound of ice impaling an object.

Table 17. Brother Bear (2003)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly A stampede of caribou barrel toward Kenai and his brothers. Kenai 00:20 avoided out-runs the animals and they all hide behind canoes. Explicit Kenai empties dead fish into a basket. 00:05 Narrowly Denahi begins to fall through a crack in the glacier. Kenai pulls him 00:09 avoided up. Narrowly The bear approaches Kenai and Denahi. Sitka cracks the ice and the 00:15 avoided bear falls. Explicit Sitka cracks the ice and he and the bear fall. Denahi and Kenai 02:17 discover Sitka’s clothing at the bottom of the glacier in the water. There is a funeral service with Sitka’s totem wrapped around the clothing. Explicit The bear approaches Kenai. Kenai raises his spear. The bear lets 02:10 out a loud cry. The bear’s body is on top of Kenai. Images of deceased living things, including Sitka, appear in the lights. The bear’s body disappears. Narrowly Denahi raises his spear at Kenai. Denahi stumbles and Kenai runs 00:03 avoided away. Narrowly Koda shouts, “Look out!” A spear lands next to Kenai. 00:03 avoided Narrowly Denahi charges Kenai with a spear. Kenai steps on the ground and 00:05 avoided causes steam to rise and separate him from Denahi. Narrowly Denahi moves a log bridge, attempting to make Kenai fall. Kenai 00:02 avoided jumps up the log and to the other edge. Explicit A large bear tosses a fish into the air and eats it. 00:01 Explicit Two bear each eat a fish. 00:01 Explicit A bear stacks dead fish on the edge of the river. 00:07 Explicit Bears emerge from the water with fish in their mouths. A cub 00:06 places a dead fish on the head of another cub. Explicit Fish fall from the air and bears catch them in their mouths as they 00:03 fall. Explicit A bear hands a dead fish to a female bear. 00:05 Explicit Bear cubs play with fish carcasses on the edge of the river. The 00:01 heads and bodies of the fish are separated. Explicit Koda pulls a fish skeleton out of his mouth 00:02 Explicit A dead fish lands in Kenai’s hands. Koda holds the fish. The crowd 00:06 cheers. Narrowly Denahi aims his spear at Kenai. Kenai holds Denahi back. 00:04 avoided Narrowly Denahi raises a smaller spear at Kenai. Koda jumps on Denahi. 00:05 avoided Narrowly Denahi aims his spear at Kenai. Sitka and the spirits transform him 00:02 avoided back into a man.

Table 18. Finding Nemo (2003)

Death Type Description Processing Time Implicit Coral dives down to protect her eggs. The shark speeds toward 01:00 her. Marlin calls for her and she does not answer. He cries. She no longer appears. Implicit The cave once filled with hundreds of eggs is now empty. 00:14 Explicit Chum comments, “I seem to have misplaced my friend,” and a 00:02 fish skeleton hangs from his mouth. He sucks it back up. Narrowly Bruce smells blood and becomes hungry for fish. He chases 01:34 avoided after Marlin and Dory shouting, “I’m having fish tonight!” They escape through a small hole that Bruce cannot fit and launch a piece of metal into Bruce’s mouth. Explicit In a photo, Darla is holding a dead, upside down fish in a bag. 00:10 Others in the tank comment, “she wouldn’t stop shaking the bag.” Narrowly An angler fish chases after Dory and Marlin, snapping its jaws at 01:25 avoided Marlin as he swims away. Dory reads the mask and Marlin places it on the angler fish, attaching it to a rock. Narrowly Dory is unconscious on top of a jellyfish after being stung. 00:30 avoided Marlin goes back into the jellyfish field and rescues her. The turtles grab them. Narrowly The pebble blocking the fan comes loose and Nemo falls closer 00:32 avoided to a rotating fan. The other fish in the tank use a piece of tank grass to pull him out. Narrowly Pigeons chase after a crab. The crab distracts them and jumps 00:05 avoided into the water. Narrowly A pelican grabs Marlin and Dory from the water and attempts to 00:43 avoided swallow them. Marlin holds both of them up inside the pelican’s throat. Nigel hits Gerald in the back and the fish fly out. Narrowly Nemo and Dory flop along the dock, with pigeons surrounding 01:04 avoided them. Marlin jumps into the air and the pigeons attack, pulling on his and Dory’s fins. Nigel grabs Marlin and Dory and fills his beak with water. The pigeons chase him but become caught in a sail. Narrowly Gill and Marlin are on the dentists’ tool table, struggling to 00:07 avoided breathe. Gill tosses Nemo down the drain. Narrowly Struggling to breathe, the dentist places Gill back into the fish 00:04 avoided tank. Narrowly Dory places a small crab above the water’s surface. Pigeons 00:04 avoided approach and she brings him back underwater before they reach him. Narrowly A school of fish and Dory become caught in a rising fishing net. 02:08 avoided Marlin and Nemo instruct all of the fish to swim down. The net breaks and they escape.

Table 19. Shark Tale (2004)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Don Lino pulls a shrimp from a cocktail glass and orders Lenny 01:18 avoided to eat it. The shrimp begs for its life and Lino insists Lenny eat it. Lenny refuses and sets all of the shrimp in the glass free. Narrowly Frankie swims after Oscar. An anchor falls and hits Frankie. 00:11 avoided Explicit Frankie is hit by an anchor. He lets out a final breath. Lenny 00:32 cries and mourns over Frankie’s dead body. Explicit A shark eats a fish that looks like Oscar. (Videogame). 00:02 Narrowly Lino chases after Oscar. He snaps his jaws. Lino gets caught in a 00:10 avoided porthole. Narrowly Lino escapes the porthole and chases after Oscar. He snaps his 01:20 avoided jaws and just misses Oscar’s tale. Oscar traps Lino in the Whale Wash.

Table 20. The Incredibles (2004)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Police and a man exchange fire from their cars, both avoid the 00:04 avoided other’s bullets. Narrowly Mr. Incredible approaches an old lady in the street at high 00:04 avoided speeds. He slams on the brakes and stops the car before it hits her. Narrowly A thief cocks his pistol and aims it at Mr. Incredible. Elastigirl 00:01 avoided punches the thief and he falls to the ground. Narrowly A man jumps from the top of a building. Mr. Incredible leaps 00:08 avoided into the air, grabs the man, and they crash into one of the floors of the building. Narrowly Mr. Incredible places his ear against a wall and hears a ticking. 00:02 avoided He steps back and the wall explodes. Narrowly Bomb-Voyage places a bomb on Buddy’s cape. Mr. Incredible 00:18 avoided removes the bomb before it explodes. Narrowly A train approaches a broken bridge. Using his strength, Mr. 00:27 avoided Incredible stops the train just before it falls down through the broken tracks. Narrowly Mr. Incredible, Frozone, and their group of unconscious rescues 00:04 avoided escape a burning building just before it collapses. Narrowly A cop fires his pistol at Frozone. Frozone freezes the officer. 00:11 avoided The bullet that the officer fired at Frozone is visibly frozen in the air. Narrowly The robot attacks Mr. Incredible but misses and scratches his 00:02 avoided arm. Narrowly The robot attempts to crush Mr. Incredible. He jumps out of the 00:01 avoided way in time.

Table 20. The Incredibles (2004) cont.

Narrowly The robot thrusts its mechanical arm at Mr. Incredible and 00:01 avoided misses his face, becoming stuck into the wall of rock behind him. Narrowly The robot pushes Mr. Incredible closer to the lava, almost 00:13 avoided pushing him in before Mr. Incredible flips the robot into the lava. Narrowly The robot twists its sharp bladed arms and closes in on Mr. 00:06 avoided Incredible. He hops from one rock to another, avoiding the lava underneath. Implicit Thunderhead’s cape is caught in a missile and he shoots up into 00:01 the sky. Implicit Stratogale flies next to a plane in front of a turbine and is 00:01 thrusted backward as Edna narrates, “cape caught in a jet turbine.” The plane makes loud error noises and passengers look through the window with shocked expressions. Implicit Metaman’s cape becomes caught in an elevator. 00:01 Implicit Dynaguy’s cape tightens during his takeoff. 00:01 Explicit Splashdown is “sucked into a vortex,” his body twisting through 00:01 the tornado. Narrowly The robot twists its bladed hands and brings them inches from 00:09 avoided Mr. Incredible’s throat. Syndrome calls off the robot. Narrowly Syndrome drops a bomb into the water, which lands just in front 00:06 avoided of Mr. Incredible. He swims out of the way to avoid the explosion. Explicit Mr. Incredible becomes face to face with skeletal remains. They 00:22 are identified as the superhero, Gaserbeam. Narrowly Lava walls close in on Mr. Incredible. He jumps out of the way. 00:07 avoided Implicit A screen in Syndrome’s lab goes through several superheroes, a 00:01 picture of Universal Man is displayed on screen with “TERMINATED” across his photo. Implicit A picture of Psycwave is displayed on screen with 00:01 “TERMINATED” across her photo. Implicit A picture of Everseer is displayed on screen with 00:01 “TERMINATED” across his photo. Implicit A picture of Macroburst is displayed on screen with 00:01 “TERMINATED” across the prototype robot and then his photo. Implicit A picture of Phylange is displayed on screen with 00:01 “TERMINATED” across his photo. Implicit A picture of Blazestone is displayed on screen with 00:01 “TERMINATED” across her photo. Implicit A picture of Downburst is displayed on screen with 00:01 “TERMINATED” across his photo. Implicit A picture of Hyper Shock is displayed on screen with 00:01 “TERMINATED” across the prototype robot and then his photo. Implicit A picture of Apogee is displayed on screen with 00:01 “TERMINATED” across her photo.

Table 20. The Incredibles (2004) cont.

Implicit A picture of Gazerbeam is displayed on screen with 00:02 “TERMINATED” across his photo. Implicit A picture of Gamma Jack is displayed on screen with 00:01 “TERMINATED” across his photo Narrowly Missiles target Helen’s aircraft. They hit the plane and there is 01:34 avoided an explosion. She covers Violet and Dash and they survive the explosion. Narrowly Violet, Helen, and Dash are free-falling from the wreckage, 00:14 avoided about to hit the water at full-speed. Helen transforms into a parachute and brings them safely to the water. Narrowly Plane debris comes crashing down toward the water. Helen 00:03 avoided pushes the children under the water out of the way and the debris falls where they previously were floating. Narrowly Fire from the rocket launch bursts through the cave. Dash and 00:13 avoided Violet run out of the cave and avoid the flames in time. Narrowly Guards pursue Dash. He out-runs them. 00:34 avoided Narrowly Dash falls from the cliff. He lands on a guard’s velocipod. 00:05 avoided Explicit A guard crashes into a rock wall on his velocipod. There is a 00:03 huge explosion and flaming parts from the machine fall. Explicit Dash launches into a palm tree that boomerangs backward 00:01 toward the guards chasing him. One guard’s velocipod slices through the trunk. The other guard is hit by the falling tree. Him and his velocipod explode as a result. Explicit The velocipod of a guard chasing Dash touches the ground and 00:02 causes the guard to lose control of the machine. It tumbles violently through the forest before bursting into flames. Dash looks back at the explosion with a smile. Explicit One of the three guards chasing Dash crashes into a rock 00:02 formation and there is a giant explosion as the rock crashes down. Explicit Two guards crash their velocipods together at full speed. There 00:03 is an explosion and debris that falls into the water above Dash. Narrowly A guard shoots his rifle repeatedly at Violet. The bullets miss 00:06 avoided her. Narrowly A guard aims his rifle at Violet as she hides in the water. Dash 00:01 avoided jumps on him before he shoots. Narrowly The guard cocks his weapon and begins to shoot at Dash. Violet 00:11 avoided jumps in front of Dash with a forcefield that deflects each bullet as the guard continues to shoot. Explicit A guard crashes into Violet’s forcefield and is launched into a 00:02 nearby tree where he and his velocipod explode. Explicit Mr. Incredible throws an abandoned velocipod at a guard in the 00:05 sky. There is immediately an explosion when the two collide.

Table 20. The Incredibles (2004) cont.

Explicit A helicopter crashes from above and bursts into flames outside 00:03 Frozone’s window. Narrowly The robot throws a semi-truck into the air. It barrels toward a 00:03 avoided woman and her baby. Syndrome stops the truck just before it reaches the woman. Narrowly The robot smashes the van attempting to crush Violet and Dash. 00:01 avoided They run out of the way. Narrowly The robot attempts to smash Dash. Violet uses a forcefield to 00:06 avoided stop the blow. Narrowly After Violet’s forcefield is destroyed, the robot again attempts to 00:02 avoided smash the kids. Mr. Incredible holds the robot in place and the children escape. Narrowly The robot shoots lasers at Dash. He dodges them as he runs 00:13 avoided away, with the lasers hitting nearby cars and causing them to explode. Narrowly The robot approaches Helen, Dash, Frozone, and Violet. Helen 00:15 avoided activates the robot’s arm and Mr. Incredible launches it into the robot, destroying it. Narrowly Jack-Jack free-falls from the sky. Bob throws Helen and she 00:07 avoided catches the baby. Explicit Syndrome is thrown near the plane’s turbine. He looks back in 00:04 fear as his cape becomes entangled in the turbine. He is thrusted backward, and the plane explodes. Narrowly The plane crashes down onto the family, leaving a large 00:05 avoided explosion and black clouds from the impact. They are uninjured because of Violet’s forcefield.

Table 21. Flushed Away (2006)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit A fly lands on a sausage. The Toad’s tongue snatches it up. The 00:01 fly screams. Explicit A fly flies by the toad. The Toad uses its tongue to catch it. The 00:03 fly is in between The Toad’s lips and shouts, “help me!” before it is sucked into the Toad’s mouth and there is a crunching noise. Part of the fly’s body hangs. Explicit A fly pops out of The Toad’s mouth, shouts, “Run away! He’s a 00:03 mad man!” and The Toad catches it back into its mouth to eat it. Narrowly Spike pins Roddy down and holds a sharp pointed tool above his 00:07 avoided head. The boats gain distance and Spike is thrown off the boat. Explicit A fly lands on a pipe. Le Frog and The Toad fight over it. Le 00:02 Frog grabs the fly with his tongue. The fly gives out a small cry. Explicit Two slugs split a meal. One slug slurps up the other. 00:03 Implicit Roddy unknowingly eats maggots, thinking they were a box of 00:22 rice. He flings the living creatures on his spoon off the boat and comments on how, “that explains why it all ran to one side when I put the salt in.” Implicit A fly is tossed into the air. All of the frogs extend their tongues 00:10 to catch the fly. The fly is caught in each tongue and unable to escape. Narrowly Roddy falls from the boat. Rita catches and holds onto him. 00:02 avoided Narrowly Roddy and Rita fall toward the rapids. They both release the 00:12 avoided parachute and float upward. Narrowly A huge wave of water comes from the floodgates, ready to 01:01 avoided engulf the city. Liquid nitrogen freezes the water before it reaches anyone.

Table 22. Open Season (2006)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly While attempting to pursue Elliot, Shaw nearly barrels his car 00:01 avoided into a mother and her child. They jump out of the way. Narrowly Shaw raises his rifle and aims the crosshairs at Boog and Elliot. 00:05 avoided Gordy intervenes and aims the rifle upward. Narrowly Shaw fires his rifle at Boog and Elliot. They duck and the bullet 00:01 avoided blows a large hole into the tree. Narrowly Shaw fires his rifle at Boog and Elliot. They dodge the bullet. 00:03 avoided Narrowly Shaw fires repeatedly at Boog and Elliot. They dodge each 00:07 avoided bullet. He aims his rifle with the animals visible through the crosshairs. Everyone begins to fall down a waterfall and Shaw loses his aim. Explicit There is a stuffed rabbit on Shaw’s end table. 00:01 Explicit A deer head falls from the wall. 00:01 Explicit A rabbit head falls and the eyes fall out. 00:03 Explicit There are dead animal parts on display on Shaw’s wall. 00:14 Explicit There are animal hides hanging in the lower level of Shaw’s 00:03 house. Narrowly Hunters fire at the animals. The animals hold up shields to 00:01 avoided dodge the bullets. Narrowly A hunter holds his rifle at the porcupine. Giselle kicks the 00:02 avoided hunter. Narrowly Two hunters hold their rifles at a group of rabbits. The squirrels 00:04 avoided above throw nuts at the men. Narrowly Shaw aims his rifle at Boog. Elliot knocks the rifle out of 00:05 avoided Shaw’s hands. Narrowly Shaw grabs a knife from his pocket and begins attacking Boog. 00:10 avoided He swings the knife and Boog dodges the attack. The knife takes a small area of fur off Boog’s chest. Narrowly Shaw points his rifle at Boog. Elliot jumps in the way of the 00:10 avoided gun. Narrowly Elliot is motionless on the ground after jumping in the way of a 00:18 avoided firing rifle. Elliot wakes up and expresses that he feels “lightheaded,” as the bullet hit his other antler and it falls to the ground.

Table 23. Ratatouille (2007)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Remi’s dad almost bites into an apple that is revealed to be 00:06 avoided poisoned. Narrowly The old lady fires a shotgun at Remi and Emile. They jump out 00:04 avoided of the way. Narrowly The old lady fires her shotgun at Emile nine times. He jumps out 00:10 avoided of the way. Narrowly The old lady aims a shotgun at Emile. The gun, out of ammo, 00:02 avoided fails to fire. Narrowly The old lady fires the shotgun into the ceiling where Remi and 00:04 avoided Emile are at. They escape into a hole that was created by the shotgun. Narrowly The old lady aims poison gas at Remi. He escapes out of the 00:06 avoided window. Narrowly The old lady fires the shotgun at Remi as he tries to reach for the 00:02 avoided boat. It misses him. She fires a second round that also misses Remi. Narrowly The old lady fires the shotgun at Remi and creates a gaping hole 00:01 avoided in the spatula he is holding. Narrowly Overtaken by the strong current in the sewage, Remi struggles to 00:22 avoided stay above water. He nearly drowns but manages to get afloat on a book. Narrowly A woman aims a pistol at a man. There is a gun-shot. The man 00:05 avoided restrains the woman, releasing the pistol from her grip and onto the floor. Narrowly Remi is placed into the oven by an unknowing employee. He 00:06 avoided escapes through a small space just before the oven is closed. Narrowly An employee swings a cleaver at Remi. He runs out of the way. 00:01 avoided Narrowly Linguini holds Remi above rushing water. He changes his mind 00:12 avoided and chooses not to throw him into the water. Explicit There are dead rats hanging by their necks in rat traps, on 00:38 display at a store.

Table 24. Kung Fu Panda

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit In Po’s fantasy, an ambush of attackers close in on him. He 00:05 fights back and the bodies of the attackers fall into water and do not emerge. Narrowly The guards shoot ballistae at Tai Ling. They each land inches 00:06 avoided from his limbs. Narrowly Two guards fire one ballista at Tai Lung. He dodges the weapon. 00:01 avoided Narrowly Tai Lung returns fire at the two guards. The ballista lands 00:01 avoided between them. Narrowly Guards fire arrows at Tai Lung and remove the chain of his 00:13 avoided platform, sending it to the ground to crash. Tai Lung jumps up to safety. Narrowly A guard swings a sharp halberd at Tai Lung. He jumps out of the 00:01 avoided way. Narrowly Boulders crash down from above, destroying the walkway. Tai 00:39 avoided Lung begins to fall. He jumps from rock to rock to avoid crashing down. Implicit There is an explosion. A guard’s horn lands on the ground. 00:08 Explicit Oogway’s body turns to peach blossoms. The blossoms float off 00:22 into the sky. Narrowly Tigress begins to fall. Crane dives down to save her. 00:05 avoided Narrowly Tai Lung throws a large chunk of the ground at Shifu. Shifu 00:02 avoided breaks it into smaller pieces before it can reach him. Narrowly Tai Lung throws a sharp blade at Shifu. Shifu dodges the blade 00:01 avoided and it lands deep into the pillar behind him. Narrowly Tai Lung throws an arsenal of sharp weapons at Shifu. He 00:03 avoided dodges each one. Narrowly Tai Lung throws a knife at Shifu. Shifu brushes the knife along 00:06 avoided his hands and throws it into the ground. Narrowly Tai Lung begins choking Shifu. Shifu’s voice lightens and his 00:25 avoided eyes begin to roll backward. Po arrives and diverts Tai Lung’s attention. Explicit Po performs the “finger hold” on Tai Lung. There is an 00:09 explosion that extends beyond the city. Tai Lung no longer appears.

Table 25. The Princess and the Frog (2009)

Death Type Description Processing Time Implicit Tiana’s father is no longer seen. She kisses a photo of him on 00:02 her dresser. Narrowly A man swings his sword at the two frogs. He misses and slices a 00:01 avoided giraffe sculpture in half. Explicit Tiana tosses a leach in the air and it is eaten by a fish. 00:01 Narrowly A bird attempts to eat the frogs, stabbing its beak toward them, 00:11 avoided but missing and stabbing it into the ground. Narrowly A group of crocodiles snap their jaws at the frogs. Tiana escapes 00:13 avoided underwater and finds Naveen on a tree trunk. Narrowly A group of crocodiles approach Naveen. Tiana pulls him up. 00:09 avoided Narrowly Louis jumps off a boat and passengers fire bullets at him from 00:02 avoided aboard. Narrowly A fisherman throws knives at Tiana that land around her limbs 00:03 avoided and into a tree. Narrowly A large man attempts to smash Naveen with a club. He jumps 00:12 avoided out of the way. Narrowly A fisherman attempts to shoot Naveen. He jumps out of the way 00:04 avoided several times and the man hits his friend in the head instead. Narrowly The large man attempts to crush Naveen and Tiana. They both 00:02 avoided jump out of the way. Narrowly The shadow man places a needle toward a heart on a voodoo 00:03 avoided doll of Big Daddy. Naveen jumps on Lawrence and removes the talisman. Implicit Ray is on the ground and the shadow man raises his foot above 00:03 Ray. There is a crunching sound. Explicit Beings from “the other side” appear and drag the shadow man 00:09 into the mouth of a monster. He disappears and the mouth closes. His face appears on a grave. Explicit Ray lay on the ground, unable to move. His close his eyes and 01:37 his light fades. Friends hold a memorial service, carrying his body in a leaf across the Bayou and watching it float off until it disappears in the distance. A star appears next to Ray’s proclaimed love.

Table 26. Up (2009)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit Charles Munce displays a skeleton of an animal to a crowd that 00:01 he refers to as, “the monster of Paradise Falls.” Implicit After decorating a room for a new baby, Ellie and Carl are in a 00:06 doctor’s office (with a baby poster in the background) as the doctor talks and Ellie sobs. Implicit Ellie falls while climbing a hill. The music becomes solemn. She 00:45 is in the hospital and hands her adventure book to Carl. Carl appears at a funeral. Implicit Carl fantasizes about lowering Russel down from the house. In 00:02 his fantasy, he struggles and accidentally loses his grip on the line. He stares down, shocked, while Russel screams in the background. Narrowly Russel slides toward the open door of the house in the middle of 00:03 avoided the storm. The door closes and he crashes into it. Narrowly Carl hangs from the water hose on his house, approaching a 00:08 avoided cliff. Russel grabs his foot and is able is to pull him back to ground. Explicit The Spirit of Adventure has several animal skeletons on display. 00:26 Munce discusses how he killed one of the animals. A dog chews on the animal bones. Explicit The skeleton of a bird is on display in Munce’s dining room. 00:05 Implicit Munce describes the thieving explorers he has encountered. 00:07 Each time that he names one, he knocks a helmet and goggles from a large pile off a table, presumably the helmets of said explorers. Narrowly Munce ties Russel to a chair and opens the plane’s hatchet. 00:17 avoided Russel begins to fall down. Carl grabs the chair at the last moment. Narrowly Russel releases himself from a chair but falls backwards off the 00:10 avoided house in the process. He grabs hold of the water hose and avoids falling. He breathes heavily and watches the chair fall below him. Narrowly Dogs fire darts at Russel. They land in the water hose he is 00:05 avoided holding. Narrowly Munce approaches Carl from behind with a sword raised above 00:03 avoided his head. Doug bites Munce. Narrowly Munce swings his sword at Carl. Carl blocks each blow with his 00:12 avoided walker. Narrowly Munce raises his sword above his head at Carl. His back cracks 00:02 avoided and he is unable to finish the swing. Narrowly Munce holds his sword to Carl’s throat, asking “any last 00:04 avoided words?” Carl spits out his dentures, which hit Munce in the face. Narrowly Munce aggressively swings his sword at Carl. Carl jumps out of 00:07 avoided the way and Munce’s sword hits the animal bones on display. Narrowly Munce raises his sword above his head at Carl. The plane shifts 00:05 avoided direction and both Carl and Munce and lunged backward.

Table 26. Up (2009) cont.

Narrowly Carl falls onto a plane window. The window opens and the 00:04 avoided animal bones fall below. Carl hangs on to the window and pulls himself back inside the plane. Narrowly The dogs’ planes crash. They begin to fall and their parachutes 00:03 avoided deploy. Narrowly In an attempt to capture Carl, Munce reaches out and loses his 00:04 avoided balance. He falls slightly and re-grabs the ladder in time. Narrowly Carl’s house begins to fall off the plane with Russel inside. Carl 00:18 avoided holds onto the water hose to keep the house from falling. Explicit Munce lunges out of the window and his foot becomes 00:05 entangled in balloons. The balloons pop and Munce falls to his death.

Table 27. Despicable Me (2010)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly A child falls from the pyramid and shoots into the sky. He lands 00:16 avoided on his father. Narrowly Sharp blades wrap around the building and almost slice Gru. He 00:02 avoided jumps out of the way. Narrowly Missiles are fired at Gru. He jumps over them and they explode 00:20 avoided the door where Gru was initially standing. Narrowly Margo falls from the shuttle. She catches herself on the wire. 00:04 avoided Narrowly After the wire breaks, Gru and Margo begin to fall. The minions 00:07 avoided band together and catch them.

Table 28. Tangled (2010)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Guards shoot arrows at Flynn. They land into a tree stump near 00:02 avoided him. Narrowly Guards shoot arrows at Flynn. The arrows miss his body and 00:04 avoided land in trees. Explicit Inside a tunnel, there is a human skeleton against the wall, with 00:09 a sword pierced in between the ribs. Narrowly A guard swings his sword at Flynn’s head, and Flynn ducks out 00:06 avoided of the way. Other guards continue to swing their swords at Flynn. Narrowly The brothers both swing their swords at Flynn as he swings by. 00:01 avoided They miss. Narrowly A giant boulder comes crashing down toward Flynn and 00:09 avoided Rapunzel’s path. They escape being crushed by entering a small cave. Narrowly The boulder blocks the entrance to the cave, and it begins to fill 02:20 avoided with water. The water reaches the top of the cave and Rapunzel and Flynn become fully submerged. Rapunzel sings and her hair lights up, indicating a possible exit route below the surface. Flynn removes the rocks and they exit into a river. Narrowly The guards begin walking Flynn to the execution room. Thugs 00:35 avoided from the Snuggly Duckling knock the guards unconscious to save Flynn. Explicit Mother Gothel falls from the tower. Her body disappears into 00:06 dust. Explicit Mother Gothel stabs Flynn in his side with a knife. He succumbs 01:37 to his injuries and dies in Rapunzel’s arms. Rapunzel mourns over his body.

Table 29. Rio (2011)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit A guard throws a pencil that pierces a fly and sticks into the 00:02 wall. The fly’s wings fall off after being impaled. Explicit A frog catches a firefly with its tongue and eats it. 00:02 Explicit A snake eats a frog, closing its mouth over the frog’s entire 00:01 body. Narrowly Nigel brings a monkey into the sky and drops him. He catches 00:22 avoided him inches from the ground. Narrowly Blu and Jewel tumble down a cliff. They land on a paraglider. 00:08 avoided Narrowly Blu and Jewel free fall about to crash onto the beach. Blu shouts, 00:03 avoided “we’re gonna die!” and the two land on a man paragliding. Narrowly Nigel squeezes a small bird. Its face and body pop through 00:27 avoided Nigel’s claws as he asks, “if I bite down on your head, will it go pop?” Narrowly Luis pounces on Blu and Jewel with an aggressive face. He pulls 00:11 avoided back, laughs, says “I could’ve ripped your throats out, but I didn’t.” Narrowly Blu is tossed near a spinning blade. He moves just above it, 00:04 avoided slicing off a small part of his feathers. Narrowly Luis is shoved face first into the spinning blade. He is protected 00:02 avoided by his face mask, which is sliced in half and falls off. Implicit Nigel approaches the jet turbine. He screams as he gets closer. 00:03 There is a sound of blades spinning and bird feathers appear coming out of the turbine.

Table 30. Wreck it Ralph (2012)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit Ralph breaks the roof and the ceiling comes towering down onto 00:04 Felix. He falls. His hands hold a white rose and there is funeral music playing. Explicit A cy-bug grabs a combat player and carries him off into the air 00:01 as the he screams. Explicit The Hero’s Duty team begins attacking cy-bugs. Three of them 00:02 explode. Explicit The first-person shooter of the game shoots and kills two cy- 00:01 bugs. Explicit Cy-bugs approach Ralph, other members of the team shoot and 00:01 kill them. Narrowly A cy-bug shoots at Ralph. He runs out of the way. 00:03 avoided Explicit The cy-bugs travel into the beacon and are zapped dead upon 00:13 reaching it. Narrowly The soldiers in Hero’s Duty shoot their weapons at Felix. He 00:05 avoided jumps away. Implicit The cy-bug falls into green goop. The mix bubbles as the bug 00:05 sinks. Explicit Calhoun’s husband is eaten alive by a cy-bug. 00:05 Explicit In King Candy’s alternate ending, Vanellope is sucked into the 00:03 vortex where her and her game spiral into darkness. Explicit Calhoun shoots at cy-bugs and they break apart into smaller 00:04 pieces. Implicit A cy-bug jumps in front of King Candy’s path. The bug opens 00:02 its mouth and King Candy gets closer and closer. Explicit Calhoun shoots two cy-bugs and they explode. 00:02 Narrowly Ralph falls toward the Diet Cola pit along with the Mentos. 00:50 avoided Vanellope uses her race car to jump into the air and save him. Explicit The cy-bugs approach the beacon and begin to zap dead. 00:21 Explicit King Candy (Turbo) enters the beacon. There is a spark and he 00:03 disappears. Note: All game characters in this film are coded as living things.

Table 31. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit Surveillance footage shows a cheese spider using its tongue to 00:01 grab a man and pull him into its mouth. The man is no longer seen. Narrowly A cheese spider grabs Brent with its mouth and attempts to eat 00:03 avoided him. He escapes by shooting out of his chicken uniform. Narrowly A taco monster chases Barb. Flint knocks Barb out of the way, 00:08 avoided just as the taco snaps its mouth shut. Explicit A butter frog uses its tongue to grab a mosquito and eat it. 00:04 Narrowly Flint’s friends are tied up and lowering into a pit of grinders to 01:57 avoided be turned into food bars. Steve activates Flint’s party box and Flint is able to take the remote from Chester V right as the grinders begin to grind Brent’s sandals. Explicit A cheese spider grabs Chester V and eats him. The spider spits 00:10 out Chester’s vest and it flattens, proving nothing left of Chester.

Table 32. Frozen (2013)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Elsa accidentally hits Anna with a blast of her powers. Anna 02:09 avoided falls, unconscious. She is described as “ice cold.” The trolls save her by removing all magic from her memories. Explicit The king and queen board a ship. The ship becomes engulfed in 01:26 a large wave and is taken underwater. The pictures are draped with curtains. There is a funeral. Anna and Elsa mourn their parents’ death in separate rooms. Narrowly A wolf attempts to jump onto the sled at Kristoff. He kicks it 00:01 avoided off. Narrowly A wolf jumps at Kristoff. Anna hits the wolf with a guitar. 00:01 avoided Narrowly Kristoff falls off the sled and has two wolves on either side of 00:09 avoided him. Anna throws a piece of wood on fire and knocks the two wolves out of the path. Narrowly Sven, Kristoff and Anna approach a cliff. Kristoff unhooks the 00:19 avoided sled from Sven, and they jump across the gap. The sled explodes below. Narrowly Kristoff begins to slide down the cliff. Anna uses a hatchet to 00:13 avoided pull him up. Narrowly A man fires an arrow at Elsa. She casts a shield of ice and the 00:04 avoided arrow is frozen in front of her face. Narrowly Hans hangs from the ice staircase. The men pull him to safety. 00:08 avoided Narrowly A man aims his crossbow at Elsa. Hans intervenes and the arrow 00:04 avoided is shot upward. Narrowly The ice chandelier falls from directly above Elsa. She runs out 00:04 avoided of the way and falls unconscious. Narrowly Elsa is sentenced to execution. As the guards go in to take her, 00:27 avoided she escapes by breaking her bonds. Narrowly A ship begins to crash and almost crushes Kristoff. He and Sven 00:08 avoided manage to out-run the falling ship. Narrowly Hans stands behind Elsa as she weeps on the ground. He raises 00:16 avoided his sword and thrusts it down toward her. Anna jumps in front of Elsa and blocks the attack before turning to ice. The ice breaks Hans’ sword. Explicit With a frozen heart, Anna completely turns into solid ice. 01:05 Narrowly Olaf begins to melt. Elsa uses her powers to return him to his 00:08 avoided normal state and provides a flurry cloud to keep him perpetually frozen. Note: Olaf is unaffected by scenarios that would normally result in death (being impaled with ice through the chest, decapitation) and is only coded for death and near-death scenarios that involve melting.

Table 33. The Croods (2013)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit A family is “squashed by a mammoth.” 00:01 Explicit A family is “swallowed by and sand snake.” 00:02 Explicit A giant mosquito impales an entire family and flies off. 00:01 Explicit A family turns blue and falls to the ground, dying from 00:02 “common cold.” Flies begin to circle their dead bodies. Narrowly A bear owl begins to chase the Croods. The family hides in a 00:06 avoided cave. Narrowly The bear owl chases the Croods. Grug throws the family on top 00:15 avoided of a mammoth to escape the monster. Narrowly The bear owl snaps its jaws at Thunk and Grug on the 00:06 avoided mammoth. They steer the mammoth into the wall to crush the bear owl. Narrowly The bear owl chases after Grug and Eep. They escape into the 00:17 avoided cave in time. Explicit There are images of death along the cave walls. 00:05 Narrowly A large chunk of rock begins to fall down toward the cave where 00:11 avoided the Croods are running. Grug notices the danger and throws a rock to trip Thunk and stop the family from entering the cave and getting crushed. Narrowly The bear owl chases after the Croods. They jump from the edge 00:18 avoided of the cliff. Narrowly The Croods escape the macawnivore on the legs of a mammoth. 00:11 avoided Narrowly The macawnivore returns and approaches the Croods. When 00:10 avoided darkness approaches, the macawnivore runs away. Explicit The piranhakeets cluster together and entangle a ground whale. 00:04 When they leave, there are skeletal remains of the animal that fall to the ground. Narrowly Eep is in the line of fire of the piranhakeets. They approach her 00:37 avoided at high speed and Guy lights a fire. The fire creates a shield and the piranhakeets pass. Explicit A crack in the earth forms and a mammoth falls through it. 00:02 Explicit The Croods tear apart a scorpion and eat it. They eat the limbs 00:27 and insides. Narrowly A turkeyfish grabs a trip gerbil and brings it to its mouth. The 00:05 avoided trip gerbil closes its eyes and the turkeyfish becomes distracted. Explicit The turkeyfish falls to the ground. It is now featherless and 00:33 sitting over a fire. Inside of the now dead turkeyfish, the Croods ravage the animal, ripping the meat off the bones. There are shadows of the bones breaking. Explicit Skeletal remains fall from the edge of a cliff. 00:02 Narrowly Guy begins to slip through the log and fall. Grug pulls him back 00:16 avoided up. Explicit A mosquito is engulfed by a flower. 00:01 Explicit Belt plays a song using the bones of a dead animal 00:01

100

Table 33. The Croods (2013) cont.

Narrowly Chunky tries to attack Grug and Guy but cannot reach them and 00:10 avoided falls back. Explicit Grug and Chunky use an animal carcass to reach the other side. 00:03 Narrowly The animal bones become caught on a rock. The flames and 01:50 avoided explosion approach Grug, Chunky, and the animals. Grug pushes everyone off. The Croods believe he might be dead, but he responds to their calls.

Table 34. Turbo (2013)

Death Type Description Processing Time Implicit A crow snatches a snail up and flies off. A watching snail 00:04 comments, “well, that’s a shame.” Explicit A kid crushes a beetle with the wheel of his bike. There is a 00:01 crunching noise. Implicit A crow flies over the snails and grabs one before flying off. The 00:04 snail screams as it is carried off. The snails nearby sigh. Narrowly The lawnmower approaches Turbo. Other snails shoot him out 00:03 avoided of the way with a garden hose. Narrowly Turbo is launched into oncoming traffic. The momentum sends 00:03 avoided him flying through the air, avoiding the cars. Implicit A crow snatches a snail in the audience and flies off. A snail 00:04 comments, “well, there goes Gerry.” Narrowly A kid attempts to crush Turbo with his bike wheel. Blue paths 00:06 avoided indicate Turbo has raced out of the way. Narrowly The kid tries a second attempt at crushing Turbo with his bike 00:10 avoided wheel. Turbo races out of the way. Narrowly The kid tries his hardest to drive over Turbo. They race around 00:38 avoided the yard and Turbo lands on the bike wheel, causing the kid to lose control and crash. Narrowly A crow grabs Chet and carries him off. Two crows fight over 01:13 avoided Chet and he falls toward the ground, caught by a third crow. Turbo races after them. The crows attempt to eat Chet, but Turbo knocks him out of the way. Narrowly A crow catches Turbo in its mouth. Turbo speeds around while 00:16 avoided in the crow’s mouth before being spat out. Explicit A crow is hit by a passing car. 00:01 Explicit A bug lands on the car’s windshield and splatters. The driver 00:03 activates the windshield wipers to remove the bug’s remains. Narrowly Guy Gagne closes in on Turbo against the wall. Turbo stays 00:09 avoided inside of the car’s rim to avoid being smashed. Narrowly Gagne attempts to smash Turbo with his foot. He misses the first 00:11 avoided few times and on the last attempt, Turbo performs a “tuck and roll” and escapes the foot.

101

Table 35. Big Hero 6 (2014)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit Tadashi enters the burning building to rescue Professor 01:24 Callaghan. Shortly after he enters, there is an explosion that knocks Hiro off his feet, and the building becomes even further engulfed in flames. (Tadashi’s death) Implicit Tadashi enters the building to rescue Professor Callaghan. 01:24 Neither exit. The explosion takes place. There is a candlelit vigil with both Tadashi and Callaghan’s photos. (Callaghan’s death) Narrowly The micro-bots push both Hiro and Baymax out of the building 00:06 avoided window. Baymax wraps his arms around Hiro to protect him from the fall. Narrowly A masked man uses micro-bots to throw a large shipping 00:09 avoided container at Hiro and the crew. Baymax stops the shipping container from crushing them right before it reaches Wasabi, and holds it above his head so everyone can escape. Narrowly The masked man throws a car at the crew. They drive out of the 00:02 avoided way. Narrowly Hiro almost falls from the moving car, his face inches from the 00:02 avoided pavement as Baymax holds him up. Narrowly The crew crashes the car into a lake. The car sinks to the bottom. 00:25 avoided Baymax removes his armor and floats everyone up to safety. Implicit Abigail enters a transporter and shortly after, the portal explodes 00:20 and “the pilot is gone.” (Security tapes) Narrowly Callaghan throws a huge piece of concrete at the crew. Baymax 00:08 avoided takes the blow and saves everyone. Narrowly The masked man forms a giant hammer and attempts to pummel 00:03 avoided the crew with it. Baymax intervenes. Narrowly Baymax attacks Callaghan and shoots a cannon at him. His fire 00:01 avoided misses and leaves a hole in the wall behind where Callaghan stood. Narrowly Callaghan falls from his micro-bot tower, with his portal 00:03 avoided machine following behind. Baymax catches Callaghan and moves him from harm. Implicit Baymax fires Hiro and Abigail through the portal. He drifts 00:30 below them, and the portal explodes. Note: Baymax is coded as a living thing. He occupies his own memory and consciousness, able to adapt to his environmental changes including understanding Tadashi’s death. His “low battery” setting mimics living, intoxicated behavior. These characteristics separate him from other robots in the film that are clearly controlled via a remote and cannot communicate or function within society as an independent entity.

102

Table 36. Book of Life (2014)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit A monster eats a goat. All that is left is the skeleton of the goat. 00:04 Explicit A skeleton in the land of the forgotten turns to dust. 00:02 Implicit Manolo approaches the grave of his mother. There is an image 01:10 of her on the stone and Manolo recalls her presence when she was alive. His family members assure him that she is still “here.” Explicit There is a sign of a pig being boiled in a pot above the butcher’s 00:01 building. Narrowly Maria releases the pigs from their pen, before the butcher can 00:15 avoided kill them. Narrowly Carlos Sanchez throws a sword at the mariachis; it goes through 00:01 avoided the door and the edge of the sword stops inches from one of the mariachi’s face. Narrowly Manolo aims his sword at the bull. He sees Maria in the 00:20 avoided reflection of his sword and places it into the ground, exclaiming, “killing the bull is wrong!” Narrowly A poisonous snake tries to bite Manolo. Maria pushes him out of 00:02 avoided the way. Explicit Maria is bitten by a poisonous snake. She falls and Manolo 01:07 cradles her body. He carries her body crying for help. He hands the body over to her father. Explicit Manolo is bitten by two poisonous snakes. He falls to the 00:10 ground. Explicit Carmelo Sanchez recalls his death – He is hit and killed by the 00:01 bull. Explicit George Sanchez recalls his death and is pummeled by a bull in 00:01 the recall. Explicit Luis Sanchez recalls his death fighting three bulls. They all 00:02 charge him. Narrowly Manolo attempts to meet with La Muerte. To get there, he must 00:03 avoided pass judgment, and giant stone sword is thrusted down onto Manolo. The section of the sword set to hit Manolo breaks apart, with the explanation given that Manolo’s heart is “pure and courageous.” Explicit A skeleton in the land of the forgotten turns to dust. 00:02 Implicit Carlos Sanchez jumps into the air ready to fight a bandit. A 00:02 candle’s flame extinguishes. Carlos appears in the land of the remembered. Implicit Manolo’s grandmother appears with the other Sanchezes in the 00:06 land of the dead. Surprised, everyone asks what she’s doing there, and she responds, “Eh. Cholesterol.” Narrowly Jacal swings his weapons at Manolo and Maria. They dance out 00:07 avoided of the way. Explicit Jacal ignites the bombs on his chest. Manolo traps him under a 00:13 bell. There is an explosion.

103

Table 36. Book of Life (2014) cont.

Narrowly Trapped under the bell with Jacal, Manolo is caught in the 00:23 avoided explosion. He survives because Joaquin placed the metal on Manolo, preventing harm. Note: Death in the land of the living and death in the land of the forgotten are both coded for. Characters that are first introduced as human beings and then later seen in the land of the dead are coded as implicit.

104

Table 37. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Eret is almost hit by a falling chunk of ice. He jumps out of the 00:03 avoided way. Explicit Dragons burn down a building, breathing fire toward several 00:13 people. He comments, “I was the only one to make it out that day.” (Memory) Narrowly Stoick throws a sharp weapon at a dragon interacting with 00:01 avoided Hiccup as a child. The weapon lands in front of the dragon. (Memory). Narrowly A dragon breathes fire directly at Drago. He uses a shield to 00:04 avoided block the fire. Narrowly Drago instructs his men to “get rid” of Eret. The men approach 00:09 avoided Eret with weapons in hand. A man throws a sharp weapon. A dragon blocks the attack. Narrowly Ruffnut begins to fall. Fishlegs and Snotlout save her. 00:03 avoided Narrowly Drago raises his spear at Valka. Stoick intervenes. 00:01 avoided Explicit Drago’s black alpha dragon uses its spears to stab Valka’s white 00:13 alpha dragon. The white dragon falls to the ground and does not move. Narrowly Valka begins to fall. Stoick jumps and grabs her. 00:03 avoided Narrowly Toothless, controlled by the black alpha, closes in on Hiccup. 00:11 avoided He is about to fire at him and Stoick jumps in the way of the blast. Explicit Stoick jumps in the way of Toothless’ blast to save Hiccup. His 01:47 body is motionless and covered with bits of ice. Valka checks his pulse and she and Hiccup begin to cry. Dragon riders approach and mourn near Stoick’s body. Narrowly The alpha shoots ice at Toothless and Hiccup. They dodge the 00:02 avoided ice. Narrowly Hiccup begins on a path to crash. Toothless dives down and 00:08 avoided catches him. Narrowly The alpha shoots ice at Toothless and Hiccup. Toothless jumps 00:34 avoided in and shields Hiccup. Toothless breaks the ice entrapping them. Explicit Drago, atop the black alpha’s back, crashes into the water with 00:01 the dragon. Drago does not surface. Explicit Drago, atop the black alpha’s back, crashes into the water with 00:01 the dragon. The dragon does not surface.

105

Table 38. Angry Birds (2016)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly Chuck is almost crushed by a falling bird house. He out-runs the 00:02 avoided debris. Explicit A bird is sling-shot into the pigs’ town. It hits a house with 00:02 several birds inside. The pigs crash down with the building. Explicit The owl crashes into buildings. There is an explosion 00:01 Narrowly The pigs throw TNT at birds down below. The birds run out of 00:05 avoided the way. Explicit Two pigs in helicopters crash into one another. 00:01 Narrowly The pigs attempt to boil and eat the bird eggs. Red reverses the 00:21 avoided machine. Implicit Red hits the pig operating the boiler. The pig falls from the 00:01 castle. Explicit Pigs approach Bomb. There is an explosion. 00:05 Narrowly The pig steals the stray egg from Red and begins to heat it under 00:53 avoided a candle. Red pounces on the pig and steals the egg back. Explicit The pig and Red are surrounded by TNT. Red ignites the room 00:15 loaded with TNT. There is an explosion that destroys the entire city.

106

Table 39. Storks (2016)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly A stork drops a baby and it begins falling from the sky. The 00:15 avoided stork speeds up to grab the baby and shield it before hitting the ground. Narrowly Tulip falls out of the plane and hangs from the edge. Just as she 00:06 avoided loses her grip, Junior grabs her and pulls her back to safety. Narrowly A mother uses a shield to block flaming arrows from hitting her 00:01 avoided and her baby. Narrowly A mother uses a shield to block sharp weapons from hitting her 00:01 avoided and her baby. Narrowly A tiger approaches a mother and baby. She uses a club to hit the 00:01 avoided tiger. Narrowly Despite intending to eat the baby, the wolves become 00:19 avoided mesmerized by the baby and gently lick it instead. Narrowly Tulip slips and becomes trapped in ice. The wolves approach 00:41 avoided her, threatening to eat her. Junior grabs her and they escape. Narrowly Wolves circle Tulip, Junior, and the baby. They threaten to eat 00:18 avoided Junior and Tulip. Jasper appears and brings them all to safety. Explicit A seal eats a penguin on the ice. 00:02 Implicit Hunter falls from the sky after the Corner Store detaches. He 00:22 does not appear. Narrowly In an attempt to save himself, Hunter grabs Tulip and Junior 00:31 avoided holding the baby and drags them all down with him. Junior flies Tulip and the baby back up.

Table 40. Trolls (2016)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit In Poppy’s scrapbook summary, a Bergen eats a troll. 00:03 Narrowly A shovel crashes through the underground tunnel, landing in 00:01 avoided front of a troll. Narrowly King Peppy travels through the tunnel, dodging axes and shovels 00:03 avoided that crash through the surface. Narrowly King Peppy tosses a group of trolls through the tunnel. Slow 00:06 avoided motion reveals they pass a shovel just in time. Explicit Branch enters a funeral. A banner hangs in the background that 00:03 reads, “sorry for your loss.” He knocks over a casket and the remains of a troll fall out. Explicit In Poppy’s scrapbook prediction, a Bergen removes her head 00:04 and eats it. Explicit A butterfly is eaten by another monster. 00:02 Explicit A second monster swallows the first monster whole. 00:01 Explicit A group of monsters eat the second monster, leaving only its 00:01 skeletal remains.

107

Table 40. Trolls (2016) cont.

Narrowly Poppy swings on a snake. It snaps its jaws at her. She jumps out 00:15 avoided of its way. Narrowly Baby birds try to eat Poppy. She is thrown off the nest. 00:03 avoided Narrowly A sea monster swallows Poppy. She travels through its intestines 00:01 avoided to escape. Narrowly A large green monster swallows Poppy. She comes inches from 00:10 avoided stomach acid and uses her hair to propel out of the monster. Narrowly Spiders approach Poppy, unconscious on the ground. Before 00:10 avoided they can bite her, Branch uses his hair to move her from their grasp. Narrowly Spiders approach Branch. He uses his hair to push them 00:20 avoided backward. Explicit Spiders back into a monster’s mouth. The monster closes his 00:09 mouth, eating the spiders. Explicit The chef flips through a cookbook with trolls as a visible part of 00:02 the meals. Implicit The chef places Creek into a taco and shoves him into King 00:36 Gristle’s mouth. His mouth is full. Branch and Poppy have a conversation about how although they did not “see him chew,” that Creek is likely dead. Explicit In Poppy’s scrapbook story, the group of trolls are eaten by King 00:03 Gristle and enter his stomach acid. There are X’s on their eyes and a large red X that appears over the scene. Implicit Branch reflects on how his grandmother died. A Bergen reaches 00:18 for Branch and his grandmother pushes him out of the way. Branch shouts for her and his color begins to fade as he mourns. Narrowly King Gristle’s pet alligator chases after the trolls, snapping its 00:54 avoided jaws at them. They escape on a roller skate. Narrowly After being shoved into King Gristle’s mouth and almost down 00:19 avoided his throat, Creek holds onto the king’s uvula. He is spit out and begs for his life. Narrowly Guards point their spears at Bridgett and the chef shouts, “finish 00:04 avoided her!” Poppy intervenes, shouting “Wait!” Narrowly The chef throws a cleaver in Branch’s path. He is forced onto 00:07 avoided King Gristle’s tongue that slowly inches back into the king’s mouth. Poppy pushes Branch off the tongue. Narrowly The chef holds two knives in her hand, ready to stab the trolls. 00:05 avoided Bridget throws a spoon at her to divert the attack. Explicit The chef and Creek are swallowed by a large green monster. 00:05

108

Table 41. Coco (2017)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit A giant bell falls and crushes Ernesto de la Cruz. 00:04 Explicit In the land of the dead, Chicharron’s body glows bright orange 01:06 and turns to dust. The dust disperses into the sky. Hector explains to Miguel that what happened to Chicharron is called “the final death.” Explicit de la Cruz poisons Hector. On his way to the station, Hector 00:05 falls to the ground. Narrowly de la Cruz throws Miguel off the edge of a building. Dante grabs 00:29 avoided Miguel and tries to fly him back up, but Miguel’s shirt rips and he slips from Dante’s grip. Pepita dives in and Miguel lands on her back. Explicit Pepita throws de la Cruz in the air and kicks him. He flies into a 00:05 bell and falls to the ground. The bell falls and crushes him. Narrowly Mama Imelda tells Miguel, “it’s almost sunrise.” Miguel begins 00:43 avoided to take on a fully skeletal form. Before he changes permanently, Hector and Imelda give him their blessing and Miguel returns home. Narrowly Hector’s body shakes and begins to glow bright orange. He falls 05:46 avoided to the ground. Miguel returns to the land of the living to remind Coco of Hector, to save him from being forgotten. Coco passes on stories of Hector. Implicit Abuelita places Coco’s photo on the ofrenda. Coco appears in 00:10 the land of the dead. Note: Both death in the land of the living and the land of dead are coded for. Any skeletons otherwise coded as explicit in other films are not coded given that in this narrative, the skeletal remains symbolize a different form of life.

109

Table 42. Ferdinand (2017)

Death Type Description Processing Time Narrowly In Valiente’s dream, he kicks the swords at the matador, each 00:02 avoided sword barely misses the matador’s body, landing in between his body parts. Implicit The Casa del Toro truck returns empty, and Ferdinand’s dad 00:33 does not make it back from the matador fight. Explicit A fly lands on Maquina’s eye. Maquina blinks and the fly is 00:01 sliced in half. Implicit Guapo enters a truck that outlines cuts of meat on his body. 00:21 Bones says, “they’re taking Guap to the chophouse.” The truck makes its way up a hill where the factory is visible in the distance. Narrowly In an attempt to stop Angus from crashing into a bunny, 00:07 avoided Ferdinand stumbles and nearly hits it. His horns dig into the ground on either side of the bunny. Explicit Ferdinand notices a wall of bull horns along with photos of each 00:31 bull and comments, “the bull never wins.” Narrowly Valiente is sent to the chophouse. Ferdinand breaks into the 00:25 avoided building and releases Valiente from the cage. Narrowly Guapo is hanging from a harness about to enter an assembly line 00:22 avoided of machines, one that has large spikes on either end and smashes together, designed to crush the bulls. Valiente throws a pipe into the machine to stop it. Narrowly Ferdinand and Valiente are hanging from the harness about to 00:05 avoided approach a spinning blade. They move to either end of the blade and it slices through metal table instead of them. Narrowly The bunny is in the path of the moving truck. The hedgehogs hit 00:03 avoided the brakes and the bunny faints with the truck inches from its face. Explicit There are bull horns on display in El Primero’s room. 00:02 Narrowly El Primero charges Ferdinand several times with spikes in his 00:40 avoided hand, aiming for the bull’s head. Ferdinand dodges the attacks. Narrowly El Primero raises his sword at Ferdinand’s face. Ferdinand sits 00:47 avoided down and as El Primero begins to thrust toward Ferdinand, the audience members plead for El Primero to spare the bull’s life.

110

Table 43. Kubo and the Two Strings (2017)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit Dead fish are loaded into a barrel. 00:02 Explicit In Kubo’s paper story, the warrior slices a spider. 00:01 Explicit In Kubo’s paper story, the warrior is swallowed by a shark. 00:05 From inside, the warrior slices through the shark. The shark is left on the ground, in pieces. Explicit The warrior in Kubo’s story slices the head off a chicken. A 00:02 spectator covers his daughter’s eyes. Implicit In Kubo’s paper stories, the warrior begins slicing with his 00:04 sword. There are red pieces of paper that burst into the sky, mimicking blood. A spectator covers his mouth as he gags. Explicit The smog chases people through the town. Every person that 00:12 encounters it falls to the ground. Narrowly The twins chase after Kubo with the fog behind them. Kubo’s 01:09 avoided mother uses magic to help Kubo fly upward. Implicit Kubo’s mother and the twins collide. There is a flash of white. A 00:15 monkey tells Kubo, “your mother is gone, and your village is destroyed.” Explicit The shelter Kubo and the monkey will be staying at is a dead 00:02 whale carcass. Explicit Worried that Kubo has been kidnapped, Monkey uses the 00:01 skeletal remains of a dead animal as a weapon. Explicit There is a skull in Kubo’s path. 00:03 Explicit The bones of dead animals rise to the sky and form a giant 00:11 skeleton. Narrowly The skeleton attempts to step on Kubo and Beetle. They jump 00:01 avoided out of the way. Narrowly The skeleton attempts to step on Kubo and Beetle. Beetle flies 00:05 avoided them away. Narrowly Kubo begins to fall from the skeleton. Beetle shoots an arrow 00:06 avoided that forces Kubo against a wall to prevent him from falling. Narrowly Kubo beings to fall from the arrow. The skeleton moves 00:04 avoided positions and Kubo lands on the skull. Narrowly With both Monkey and Beetle in hand, the skeleton brings its 00:08 avoided hands closer to its mouth as to eat them. Kubo pulls the sword and the skeleton falls. Explicit Kubo shoots an arrow at a fish. It sinks below the surface. 00:02 Explicit Dead fish that have been caught are brought onto the boat. 00:10 Monkey tosses them into the air and chops them into pieces. Narrowly One of the sisters tosses a sharp weapon at Monkey. Monkey 00:02 avoided escapes her grasp and lands on the ship. Explicit Beetle rises from the water with a fish dead and impaled by an 00:01 arrow. Narrowly One of the sisters pins down Beetle and aims her weapon at him. 00:01 avoided Monkey ties the sister down. Narrowly The sister aims her weapon at Monkey. Monkey dodges each 00:04 avoided attack. 111

Table 43. Kubo and the Two Strings (2017) cont.

Explicit Monkey and the sister collide. The sister’s face enters the water 00:07 in two pieces. Narrowly The smog captures Kubo, Monkey, and Beetle. The sister 00:18 avoided reaches for Kubo. He hits her in the face and escapes. Narrowly The sister swings her sword at Monkey. Monkey blocks each 00:08 avoided attack with her own sword. Narrowly The sister aims both of her swords at Monkey, defenseless on 00:07 avoided the ground. Hanzo throws a sword and the sister falls. Explicit There is the sound of a blade. Hanzo’s facial expression turns to 00:06 pain before his eyes roll back and he falls to the ground. The sister stands behind him, holding a sword. Hanzo’s dead body is on the ground. Explicit On the ground lay the face of the evil sister, the monkey statue 00:17 broken in half, and the paper samurai smashed. Implicit Ghosts of the fallen appear from the lights. 00:30 Note: The transformation from immortality to mortality in this film is not coded as a death.

112

Table 44. Duck Duck Goose (2018)

Death Type Description Processing Time Implicit Banzou throws a feather backward, which impales a goose 00:02 behind him that falls after being hit. There is one less bird in the flock in preceding scenes Narrowly Chao leans forward in attempt to eat a caterpillar that rests on a 00:02 avoided leaf. Chi pulls him backward and instructs him not to eat it. Narrowly Banzou blocks Chao and Chi’s exit. He hisses and stretches out 00:05 avoided his arm, his claws sharp and shining as they narrowly miss Chao’s body. Narrowly Banzou follows Chao and Chi into the grass, but his pursuit is 00:10 avoided ended by Peng. Narrowly After Peng stops Banzou from chasing Chao and Chi, he then 00:15 avoided attempts to attack Peng. Banzou jumps into the air and there are sounds of his sharp claws clashing together. Peng trips and shoves Banzou into the water. Explicit Banzou emerges from the water and hacks up a fish carcass. 00:02 Narrowly Banzou chokes the turtle, squeezing harder as the turtle’s eyes 00:17 avoided become larger. Banzou places the turtle’s head in his mouth and bites down. The turtle is released after sharing information regarding Peng’s location. Implicit Peng throws a frog off a cliff. The frog’s screams fade. 00:02 Narrowly Peng offers a frog as food for Chao. The frog screams and Chao 00:05 avoided denies it as his meal, so Peng throws it to the side. Narrowly Peng offers a beetle to Chao as food. Chao holds the beetle in his 00:02 avoided hands and then throws it at Peng. Explicit Peng throws a caterpillar in the air. It lands in Chao’s mouth. 00:03 Chao slurps the caterpillar and swallows it. He then throws up and chunks of the now deceased caterpillar are visible on Peng. Narrowly Banzou holds onto an egg and threatens to eat it. He licks it and 00:28 avoided refers to the “baby” as “breakfast.” He throws the egg and the Hen catches it. Explicit Peng, Chi, and Chao are surrounded by glow worms. Chao 00:07 jumps, opens his mouth, and swallows one of them whole. His stomach begins to glow. Explicit Chao eats a glow worm. 00:01 Explicit Chao eats another glow worm. 00:01 Narrowly Banzou chases after Chao, Chi, and Peng. Peng throws a rock to 00:05 avoided the ceiling causing stones to fall and block Banzou from reaching Peng. Narrowly Peng becomes stuck in between two rocks. Banzou closes in on 00:08 avoided him, but Peng manages to escape at the last moment. Narrowly Banzou attempts to pounce the group. After reaching the top of 00:06 avoided an unbalanced rock, the weight distribution causes the rock to lean forward, which hits Banzou and knocks him off the feet before he is pelted with fallen rock.

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Table 44. Duck Duck Goose (2018) cont.

Narrowly Peng hangs helplessly off the edge of a cliff, unable to climb back 00:16 avoided up. He nearly falls before an animal flies into him and they land near a tree. Explicit There is an image of a dead, roasted duck on a dinner menu. 00:01 Narrowly A butcher raises his cleaver to swing at Chi and Chao. Peng bites 00:02 avoided him on the rear and the knife is dropped. Narrowly After saving Chi and Chao, Peng is almost hit by the falling 00:01 avoided cleaver, which lands just in front of him. Narrowly The butcher spots Chao, with the cleaver still in his hand. He 00:03 avoided approaches Chao, who then breathes flames into the butcher’s face. Narrowly The butcher angrily races toward Peng who is outstretched in the 00:08 avoided doorway, with his cleaver in hand. At the last second, Peng releases the doors that swing backward and knock the butcher unconscious. Narrowly Peng is nearly ran over by a cyclist. He jumps out of the way 00:02 avoided before being hit. Narrowly Banzou has Chi trapped and Chao dangling from a paw. He licks 00:18 avoided Chao as he discusses the ways in which to kill him. Fireworks from above begin to fall and burn Banzou. He then releases his grip and the ducks escape. Narrowly Banzou chases after the ducklings, but Peng barrels his head into 00:02 avoided Banzou, shoving him backward. Narrowly Banzou approaches the now vulnerable Peng as he lay on the 00:02 avoided ground. Banzou steps on a box of fireworks that ignite and allow Peng to escape. Narrowly Banzou grabs Peng and drags him down into the water. Peng 00:04 avoided kicks Banzou in the face, swims back to the top, and then exits the water. Narrowly Banzou pounces Peng and pins him to the ground. He has his paw 00:05 avoided outstretched, with claws visible. Chi and Chao ignite fireworks that are attached to Banzou’s tail. Explicit Banzou is projected into the sky after the fireworks attached to 00:04 his tail are ignited. The fireworks explode, there is a faint “meow,” and an image of a fearful cat appear from the explosion. Narrowly Chi and Chao are unable to support Peng’s weight, and the three 00:06 avoided come crashing down into the tree-line. Jin Jing catches Peng and the ducklings are able to fly themselves.

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Table 45. Next Gen (2018)

Death Type Description Processing Time Explicit A security robot is sliced in half. His top half slides off his 00:03 bottom half. Explicit Project 77 fires a weapon at the security robots above. They 00:05 explode and fall to the ground. Explicit After being hit, a security robot emits smoke and crashes into a 00:02 wall. There is an explosion and pieces of the robot fall. Narrowly Cannons shoot at Project 77, there are explosions that happen 00:09 avoided behind him. Explicit Project 77 shoots the toothbrush robot. There are flames and 00:06 smoke emitting from the burning robot. Explicit Project 77 throws a robot into the air, fires his cannon, and the 00:03 robot explodes. Burning robot body parts fall from the sky. Explicit Project 77 fires a cannon at mailbox robot. 00:02 Explicit Project 77 fires cannons at stacked ramen noodle robots. They 00:02 each disintegrate immediately after being hit. Explicit Mai throws the hairbrush robot into the air. A missile enters its 00:03 path, hits it, and the robot explodes. Explicit Project 77 picks up a security robot and thrusts it into a moving 00:01 train. Explicit A mime robot is thrown into the air, a missile hits it, and it 00:01 explodes. Explicit Project 77 presses his hand against a security robot, fires a blast, 00:01 and the security bot falls to the ground. Explicit Project 77 slices the head off a security robot. The now 00:02 decapitated security robot begins to fall down and the insides of the robot are revealed. There are sparks that fly from the robot. Narrowly Justin releases a rogue Gen 6 robot to attack Dr. Rice. Dr. Rice 00:34 avoided pleads for his life by making a deal with Justin, and Gen 6 returns to its normal state. Explicit Project 77 raises his fist and smashes a mailbox robot. 00:01 Explicit Project 77 fires lasers that hit two Gen 6 robots in the head. They 00:01 both fall to the ground. Explicit Mai uses Project 77’s cannon to fire at a Gen 6 robot attempting 00:01 to run away. There is a visible, burning hole left in the robot’s back. Explicit A mailbox robot is hit during the battle between Project 77 and 00:01 Justin’s evil robot. Narrowly Mai and her mother are nearly crushed by a car. Mai moves them 00:03 avoided both out of the way. Explicit Mai’s Gen 6 robots explodes. 00:02 Narrowly Aires fires lasers at Project 77 and Mai. They dodge each attack. 00:03 avoided Narrowly Aires fires three cannons at Project 77 and Mai. They escape 00:07 avoided underground. Explicit Aires crushes a security robot. There are robot parts and cement 00:01 that scatter. 115

Table 45. Next Gen (2018) cont.

Explicit Project 77 grabs a security robot and rams it into two others, with 00:03 the parts of the first still in his grip. Explicit Project 77 hits a group of security robots. One robot he 00:03 dismembers, holding its torso and ripping off its arm before handing it over to Mai. Explicit Mai uses the arm of a deceased security robot to decapitate an 00:02 approaching security robot. Explicit Security robots as well as the body parts of security robots are in 00:04 a free-fall. Explicit Project 77 punches the heads off two security robots. 00:01 Explicit Project 77 and Mai are surrounded by dead and dismembered 00:03 security robots. Explicit A security robot is hit by Project 77 in passing. It crashes into the 00:01 wall and its head and face become detached. Explicit Justin blasts Dr. Rice with a laser-type weapon. He disintegrates. 00:03 Narrowly Justin attempts to blast Mai with the same weapon, but Project 77 00:01 avoided steps in and hits Justin in the face. Explicit Cheer-leader robots are crushed by Project 77 as he falls from 00:09 above. Narrowly Project 77, restrained by Aires’ rocket blaster, is headed toward 00:04 avoided the audience. He uses boosters on his feet to change the path and land in the stadium. Implicit Justin’s eye falls out. Aires admits, “I killed Justin Pin and stole 00:24 his body.” Narrowly Justin aims the weapon used to kill Dr. Rice and shouts, “maybe 00:02 avoided I’ll start with killing this one!” Mai’s mother jumps on Justin and begins to punch him. Explicit Gen 6 robots in the audience begin to explode. 00:02 Explicit A Gen 6 robot jumps on Project 77 and explodes. 00:03 Explicit A group of Gen 6 robots jump on Project 77 and explode. 00:04 Explicit Mai kicks a Gen 6 robot into the air. There is a large explosion. 00:01 Explicit Mai’s mother throws a Gen 6 robot into the air behind the other. 00:01 It explodes. Explicit Mai kicks a Gen 6 robot into the air. It explodes. 00:01 Explicit Mai throws a Gen 6 robot into another Gen 6 robot. They both 00:01 explode. Narrowly Justin fires his weapon at Greenwood. Mai pulls him backward 00:01 avoided and the blast hits Greenwood’s hair, burning the top of it off. Narrowly Mai and Justin fall from the top of the building. Project 77 00:32 avoided activates his weapons and catches Mai. Explicit Project 77 activates a weapon that slices the Gen 6 robots in half 00:11 before they explode. Narrowly Justin attempts to fire his weapon into Mai’s head. The weapon is 00:02 avoided malfunctioning and does not fire. Narrowly Justin aims his weapon at Project 77’s life source. Momo bites 00:03 avoided Justin’s leg.

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Table 45. Next Gen (2018) cont.

Explicit Mai uses a spare robot part to detach Aires’ head and kill the 00:07 robot. Justin falls to the ground. Note: All robots in this film are coded as living things. They are integrated into society as actual people and occupy important roles. They are teachers, police, butlers, talk-show hosts, and living objects.

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