Death and Coping Mechanisms in Animated Disney Movies - A Content Analysis of Disney Films (1937–2003) and Disney/Pixar Films (2003–2016)

Aug 23, 2026

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A content analysis examines how death is depicted in animated Disney films and how characters’ coping mechanisms are used to process death across two time spans. Using earlier coding methods, the study analyzes 23 death scenes from 10 Disney Classic animated films (1937–2003) and 10 death scenes from 8 selected Disney/Pixar films (2003–2016). Death portrayal is categorized by character status, depiction and status of death, emotional reaction, and causality. Results show newer scenes may reduce acknowledgment of death’s permanence and emotional impact, with implications for children’s understanding.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Theoretical Perspectives on Children's Understanding of Death

Developmental Age

social sciences Article Death and Coping Mechanisms in Animated Disney Movies: A Content Analysis of Disney Films (1937–2003) and Disney/Pixar Films (2003–2016) James A. Graham *, Hope Yuhas and Jessica L. Roman Department of Psychology, The College of New Jersey, Ewing Township, NJ 08628, USA; [yuhash1@tcnj.edu](yuhash1@tcnj.edu) (H.Y.); [jsscrmn@yahoo.com](jsscrmn@yahoo.com) (J.L.R.) * [Correspondence: jgraham@tcnj.edu](Correspondence: jgraham@tcnj.edu); Tel.: +1-609-771-2638 Received: 11 September 2018; Accepted: 12 October 2018; Published: 16 October 2018 􀀁􀀂􀀃􀀁􀀄 􀀆􀀇􀀈 􀀁􀀂􀀃􀀄􀀅􀀆􀀇 Abstract: The purpose of this content analysis was to examine how death depictions in animated Disney ﬁlms has changed in the past 14 years and the coping mechanisms used to process death within these ﬁlms. A content analysis from 2005 was used to investigate the inﬂuence of Disney ﬁlms on children's concepts of death based on 23 death scenes from 10 full-length Disney Classic animated ﬁlms from 1937 to 2003 and 10 death scenes from 8 selected full-length Disney and Pixar animated ﬁlms from 2003 to 2016 . Our goal was to compare the ﬁndings across the two studies. Similar to the original study, the portrayal of death focused on ﬁve categories: character status; depiction of death; death status; emotional reaction; and causality. We expanded on the original study and more research by examining coping mechanisms used to process death within a selection of these ﬁlms. Our ﬁndings indicated that some scenes from animated Disney and Pixar ﬁlms obscure the permanence and irreversibility of death and often fail to acknowledge deaths emotionally. Our conclusions showed that Disney's and Pixar's portrayal of death in newer ﬁlms might have more positive implications for children's understanding of death than Disney Classic animated ﬁlms. Keywords: death; children; Disney; coping mechanisms 1. Introduction Death is a painful but unavoidable part of life. For children between 2–11 years of age, death is a complex topic to grapple with and can have a signiﬁcant impact on their lives. Speciﬁcally, if we assume that if children think differently and are constrained by cognitive limitations, then they need adult protection. A contrasting view is that children are increasingly sophisticated as they encounter a greater variety of media content (Livingstone 2002) . Children's media repertoires are increasingly independent of their parents' inﬂuence. The availability of media, in children's lives, as well as parents'lack of knowledge about modern digital media allow children to decide independently what media they use and what they acquire from it (Bovill and Livingstone 2001) . This leads to fewer opportunities for shared media experiences of parents and children (Bovill and Livingstone 2001) . Some media scholars attach more signiﬁcance to the independence or agency of children rather than the idea of childhood as a preparatory stage for adult life. While some media scholars have taken a more modern “agency” approach to development, the dominant approach in developmental psychology has been a more protectionist stance (Buckingham 2000) . There are indeed pros and cons of both approaches in the ﬁeld of death education, but this is not the focus of this study. We assume that children and adult's knowledge or experience with death differ from each other. The current content analysis expands upon the previous research by Cox et al. (2005) . Speciﬁcally, our goal was to compare how the top 10 grossing Disney ﬁlms from 1937–2003 compared to the top 8 Soc. Sci. 2018, 7, 199; [doi:10.3390/socsci7100199 www.mdpi.com/journal/socsci](doi:10.3390/socsci7100199 www.mdpi.com/journal/socsci) grossing Disney and Pixar ﬁlms from 2003–2016 . Similar to the original study, the portrayal of death focused on ﬁve categories: character status; depiction of death; death status; emotional reaction; and causality. A more recent study by Tenzek and Nickels (2017)

FAQs

What was the purpose of the content analysis?

To examine how depictions of death in animated Disney films changed over time and to identify coping mechanisms characters use to process death.

Which films and time periods were analyzed?

The study analyzed death scenes from 10 Disney Classic animated films (1937–2003) and from 8 selected Disney/Pixar animated films (2003–2016).

What categories were used to analyze portrayals of death?

Portrayal of death was coded using five categories: character status, depiction of death, death status, emotional reaction, and causality.

Aug 23, 2026

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