How does one define a children’s media? Is it because it’s an animated movie? There’s plenty of misconceptions in today’s culture about what makes a kid’s movie, but the fact that a movie is animated is definitely not a fair judgement on deciding whether the film is for kids. Deciphering whether a movie is solely for children based on the film medium is a completely fallacious mindset.
First of all, let’s tackle the assumption of animation being just “genre” for kids. Animation is in no way a genre, it’s an art form. A genre categorizes films in groupings like Action, Comedy, Drama. Animation doesn’t fit in to any of these. It’s not a subset of filmmaking, it is filmmaking.
Back to the mindset of animation being limited for kids. There are plenty of examples of animated movies that are transcending for all audiences, and Walt Disney's films are a prime example. Walt did not make his movies exclusively for children. He clearly specified that his movies were for everyone, whether the spectator is “six or sixty.” Disney films don’t shy away from thought-provoking themes, like good vs. evil in Pinocchio or the sad separation between Dumbo and his mother. There’s a problem with the movie if the creator solely makes it for children. Kids then drag their parents to see the new movie, forcing them to sit through ninety minutes of “exclusive children’s entertainment.” Restating this in the words of Walt Disney, "You're dead if you aim only for kids.”
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