How Much Do Children Interpret Television and Animated Film Contents

Abstract

Animated films have an undeniable place in children's entertainment culture. The worldwide box office revenues indicate that these films reached many children in cinemas and were viewed on televisions by almost all children. The extent to which children can make sense of such content is still a question mark in minds. This study aims to demonstrate how children can interpret the animated film and the content of television they watch in general. The research was carried out by a mixed-method using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study group consisted of 210 children between the ages of 4-10. An average of 30 children was included in each age group. In this way, it is aimed to examine the change in the level of interpretation of the animated film and television content by children in each age group as age increases. In the research, a film (Toy Story 3) was selected and the realism of the characters, values and events in its content was examined through content analysis. Besides, a structured interview form consisting of values and reality section regarding the content viewed on TV has been developed. The children were allowed to watch the animated film and they were interviewed about the viewed content and relevant data was collected. As a result of the research, it was found that children in 4 and 5 age groups differed significantly from the children in 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 age groups in good-bad distinction, meaning and reality in the animated film. The same was found to be true for value and reality on television.