DEAD SERIOUS: DEATH PRESENTATIONS IN CHILDREN’S ANIMATED MEDIA by 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 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED This thesis for the Master of Arts degree by Marissa A. Lammon has been approved for the Department of Communication by Christopher Bell, Chair Maya Krakoviak Elizabeth Daniels 08 May 2019 ii 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 v 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