Animation


vs.

 

Animated movies are a great place to talk about medium and audience expectations.

For instance, most Americans (generally) assume that animated movies are intended for children. However, Miyazaki's film, Spirited Away, seems to bend these expectations. And, with a closer look, Disney's Fantasia does as well.

Both movies contain elements that many students deem too "scary" for children, but they don't feel as threatened by scary images with which they can culturally identify, such as Fantasia's devil.

I've used these two movies in lessons to talk about evaluative and analogy arguments.