Are cartoons secretly more tragic than grown-up films?
CARTOONS KILL: casualties in animated recreational theater in an objective observational new study of kids’ introduction to loss of life
Main characters in children’s animated films are more likely to die on screen than those in grown-up dramas.
Researchers watched 45 top-grossing children’s animated films and 90 top-grossing dramas for adults, timing when the first important character died. The study setting is listed as “Authors’ television screens, with and without popcorn.”
Important characters in animated films were about two and a half times more likely to die than those in adult dramas, and parents fared especially badly. The acronym of the title spells out the finding, which is a very BMJ Christmas move.
Bring tissues to the cartoon, not the thriller.