Blog Post #1: Title Sequence

I knew I wanted to do something with animated films, so I began researching there. I always have noticed adult jokes here and there in the movies I watch, so that is where I started my idea.  During my research, I found that many themes have been researched in children's animated films. From snack placement, to gender roles and villain archetypes, many variables have been studied, but no academic work has been conducted on what type of adult humor is found in these animated films. While fans have briefly mentioned it on websites like Reddit, that is simply just a fan recognizing, same as how I did at the start of project brainstorming. 

Previous research has helped me understand my topic by giving me background information on how children interpret media. Research from Brigette Naderer, Jiang Xuan, and Jennifer Harriger, all in their separate journals, tie together the fact that children are severely impacted by even subtle aspects of films.

My methodology will be based on that of Ellen Junn in her work “Media Portrayals of Love, Marriage & Sexuality for Child Audiences: A Select Content Analysis of Walt Disney Animated Family Films.” She used a coding system for each type of relationship she was looking for in her chosen movies. Each time this was seen in a film, it was tallied down. I will similarly code, having my categories be Sexual innuendos: visual and spoken, Nudity: anything related to someone almost being naked, and Drugs and alcohol. Each time I see one of these, I will tally it down in a spreadsheet for each movie, leaving room for any additional notes or comments on the scene. 

Children are constantly consuming media, and one of those forms is through animated films. Some of the top-grossing animated films have made billions of dollars just on the first day of showings, meaning that this media is very popular, and many American children have watched them. There also is adult humor present in these children's films, known to be slipped in for the entertainment of the parents who take their kids to watch these movies with them. While it might not be intentional, kids are interpreting these jokes whether they understand them or not.