Children in Films

Question 1

What was the first children’s film?

Answer 1

• First children’s film was L’Arroseur (the sprinkler sprinkled) on December 28, 1895 by the Lumiere Brothers, Auguste and Louis

Question 2

Can children’s films be defined?

Answer 2

No consensus on how to define it and whether it can be
Important to acknowledge that children’s films is (And will remain) a fluid and richly complicated phenomenon

Question 3

What are the 2 main definitions of children’s films?

Answer 3

One definition: either features children or is viewed by children
Second definition: films that are produced and marketed for children and popularly received as such

Question 4

What are some ways adults can tell if a movie is made for kids?

Answer 4

○ Marketing and distribution strategies (movie posters and trailers)
○ Suitability rating
○ Reviews and word-of-mouth reception to the film
○ Merchandizing around the film (helped by association with Disney)
○ Child-friendly exhibition strategies that have accompanied it (daytime or early evening scheduling in cinemas, festivals, and TV on video-on-demand platforms)

Question 5

What makes a movie for children?

Answer 5

○ Reaffirmation of family, kinship, and community
○ Foregrounding of child or childlike figures (even animals and immature adults)
○ Exclusion and or eventual defeat of disruptive social elements, such as criminals
○ The minimization of “adult” representational aspects such as sex, strong violence, or extreme suffering
○ Predominantly optimistic, emotionally uplifting endings
○ Foregrounding of animals, magic, adventure, and play
○ Emphasis on children’s coming to terms with their place in the world, learning responsibility, and coming of age

Question 6

What is the dominant metanarrative in children’s films?

Answer 6

A dominant metanarrative is the child figure’s learning of responsibility and “correct” codes of behaviour
- Children’s film is an invention of adult society, prescribed by society of what children should see
○ Based on cultural, psychological, and ethical considerations

Question 7

If children’s films are based on society, what aspects of it are taken into consideration?

Answer 7

Cultural, psychological, and ethical considerations

Question 8

What are non-commercial films?

Answer 8

○ Primarily non-commercial and intended for the near-exclusive consumption of children
Non-commercial films aimed at inculcating certain moral and behavioural practices
- Produced for largely non-political purposes
- Expressions of cultural identity

Question 9

What are commercial films?

Answer 9

Primarily commercial and intended for multi-demographic “family audiences”
Commercial cinema
○ Need to appeal to parents (need to supervise their kids)
○ Capable of appealing to multiple demographics
○ “family films” mostly associated with mainstream Hollywood films
○ Addition of adult stars, jokes, subplots, and double-coded humour (wordplay or innuendo)
○ Far less moralistic or educational than non-commercial children’s films

Question 10

Describe tween films

Answer 10

Tween films appeal to children around ages 11 to 13
○ A post-1980s phenomenon that intersects with the advent of the PG13 rating in the USA
○ Represents a midpoint between more traditional children’s films and the increasingly mature content of the teen film
○ Increased focus on the complexities of growing up (sexual awakenings)

Question 11

Are Disney films watched by adults? For what reason?

Answer 11

Disney films watched in large numbers by adults too
○ Hidden jokes
○ Quality and artistry of the productions
○ Film’s ability to elicit a sense of comfort and nostalgia