The portrayal of older characters in Disney animated films was written by Tom Robinson, Mark Callister, Dawn Magoffin, Jennifer Moore. This article is about what the title says, how older characters are portrayed in Disney films and how it has a lasting effect on how children view the elderly after watching these films. The article talks about how children view older people because of how Disney movies portray them and how if there are stereotypical characteristics of the elderly in the movies, it will rub off on the children who are watching them. One thing it talks about is how they are portrayed physically, such as, having wrinkles, gray hair, no teeth/missing teeth, using a cane or a wheelchair, having glasses on, and having an unsteady/cracking
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It was found that Disney didn’t portray older characters as negatively as originally believed, 48% of older characters were portrayed in a negative light, leaving 52% to be portrayed positively ((Robinson, Callister, Magoffin, and Moore, 2007). Of the 52% portrayed positively, males were portrayed 71% more positively than woman were portrayed, leaving woman being portrayed positively at only 29% (Robinson, Callister, Magoffin, and Moore, 2007). This is pretty good compared to what was believed. There’s a catch though, although a good percentage were portrayed in a positive light, elderly characters were still only main characters in 39% of these movies (Robinson, Callister, Magoffin, and Moore, 2007). Meaning older characters are still not portrayed as often as younger/middle aged characters. Which could still lead to children not seeing enough elderly in the media. This research tells you that there are not enough elderly people being portrayed in the media. Elderly people seem to be viewed minorly, and almost half the time, in a negative light. This should be fixed. The way old people are portrayed make children fear growing old, but growing old is a part of life and shouldn’t be feared. The media needs to start portraying them more positively and on a more regular basis. If they don’t kids are going to have a strange fear of old people and growing old, and neither of those things should be
It was found that Disney didn’t portray older characters as negatively as originally believed, 48% of older characters were portrayed in a negative light, leaving 52% to be portrayed positively ((Robinson, Callister, Magoffin, and Moore, 2007). Of the 52% portrayed positively, males were portrayed 71% more positively than woman were portrayed, leaving woman being portrayed positively at only 29% (Robinson, Callister, Magoffin, and Moore, 2007). This is pretty good compared to what was believed. There’s a catch though, although a good percentage were portrayed in a positive light, elderly characters were still only main characters in 39% of these movies (Robinson, Callister, Magoffin, and Moore, 2007). Meaning older characters are still not portrayed as often as younger/middle aged characters. Which could still lead to children not seeing enough elderly in the media. This research tells you that there are not enough elderly people being portrayed in the media. Elderly people seem to be viewed minorly, and almost half the time, in a negative light. This should be fixed. The way old people are portrayed make children fear growing old, but growing old is a part of life and shouldn’t be feared. The media needs to start portraying them more positively and on a more regular basis. If they don’t kids are going to have a strange fear of old people and growing old, and neither of those things should be