Children's animation should be able to educate children, to lay down and develop positive values, rather than limit only to entertaining - this is the opinion of 72% of parents surveyed. They expect that the behavioral patterns of cartoon characters can become an example for their children in real life. The Center for Social Design "Platform" with the support of the National Media Group has studied the degree of influence of Russian animation and compiled the first rating of cartoons that, according to parents, have the strongest value impact on children.
Family viewing
Among 25 films, parents chose those that, in their opinion, have the strongest value impact on children. The top 6 include the animated series "The Fixies", "Three Kittens", "Prostokvashino" (new), "Barboskins", "Luntik" and "Masha and the Bear". They exemplify the balance between the real needs of children and the interests of adults. In addition, they attract parents to joint viewing, thanks to the meanings and universal values embedded in the pictures. They can be considered truly family-oriented.
"Smeshariki" is also highly rated by parents in terms of the level of value impact, but they involve parents less in viewing.
The leaders of the rating are united by the presence in the plot of examples of general humanitarian values that contribute to the formation of personality and worldview of the child. Thus, 89% of parents noted that "The Fixies" and "Three Cats" demonstrate friendship as a core value more than other films, and the cartoon "Luntik" demonstrates good manners and politeness. Recognition of the individuality of each person, "understanding that everyone is different", according to parents, is most vividly translated in "Barboskins" (89%), "Three Cats" (88%), "Smeshariki" (87%) and the new "Prostokvashino" (87%). However, like all basic values, it is also present in other pictures.
The cartoon series "Masha and the Bear" received the greatest variation in assessments from the point of view of values education: among the strongest aspects respondents emphasize the example of friendship and "understanding that all people are different" (84%), and among the weakest - respect and help to parents and older people (57%). And this is the lowest value education among the leaders of the rating.
Also included in the rating are: "Fantasy Patrol", "Mi-mi-mishki", "Buba", "Lex and Plu", "Malyshariki", "The Sheep’s Hotel", "Cats&Dogs", "Basik The Cat", "The Adventures of Peter and the Wolf", "Little Heroes", "Katya and Ef. The Anywhere Door", "Finik", "Ivan Tsarevich and Grey Wolf 5", "Koschei. Bride Snatcher", "Koshchei. The Beginning", "Three Gods and the Horse on the Throne", "Mountain of Gems", "Zebra in a Cell". Interviewed parents single them out as a possible "educational tool".
The choice is up to the child
As a rule, the child decides what cartoon to watch. 76% of parents let their children choose their own content. This is due to two factors: trust and complexity of content management, as "a child watches what he or she likes, regardless of adult recommendations", and busyness - presumably, most adults do not have enough time to filter children's content.
23% of parents take a stricter approach to this issue: they choose content for their child. They base their choice on what they watched as children (77%), and whether or not the new content is in line with their own values (59%). Only 9% use the "Parental Control" function to select content.
Even despite the difference in approaches to content selection and regardless of the child's age, the majority of surveyed parents name the cartoon series "Masha and the Bear", "Three Cats" and "The Fixies" as their children's favorites, which shows their "universality": approval of both adults and children.
Soviet - means the best... or not quite?
According to focus groups with parents, older children are more willing to watch and compare characters from different years. They like their behavior, phrases, personality. In the films of that era, they lack dynamism, bright colors, faster reactions of characters and rapid development of the plot in comparison with modern cartoons. And this becomes a barrier to the active involvement of the child in watching Soviet animation.
Soviet animation is difficult for young children to perceive: the plot seems complicated and stretched out to them.
Cartoons of the two eras differ in values: the Soviet ones form more of an individuality, and modern ones, on the contrary, integrate the child into the collective social world, showing many models of interaction with it
Animation heroes
Parents believe that the heroes of animation should help them in the process of raising children. Therefore, the requirements for their qualities are formed accordingly. Thus, as focus group participants claim, a positive hero, first of all, should be "kind", "brave", "cheerful", and then "sympathetic", "friendly" and "obedient". Examples of such heroes for them are Leopold The Cat, Uncle Fedor from the Soviet "Prostokvashino", Gonchik from the series "Paw Patrol" and Dim Dimych from "The Fixies".
Modern parents do not want to see negative qualities in characters. For example, the heroes of children's cartoons should not be "cruel", "capricious", "aggressive", "rude", etc. Examples of such qualities for them were Buba, Shapoklyak from the Soviet cartoon "Cheburashka" and Gena Barboskin.
In addition, parents of children under 8 years of age expect stability and unambiguity of the cartoon character, the lack of dynamics of its development and maturation. Heroes who do not meet these requirements, being multifaceted and contradictory, are more often criticized. The most vivid example is Masha from "Masha and the Bear".
New demands - a new zone of development of Russian animation
Almost half (46%) of the surveyed parents of different age groups highly estimate the level of modern Russian animation, noting that it is not inferior to Western animation in the quality and nature of the values transmitted.
88% believe that cartoons in general change the character and inner world of a child. And the variety of content contributes to comprehensive and qualitative development, gives the opportunity to see different examples of behavior patterns and reactions. For example, "Three Cats" and "Barboskins", according to parents participating in focus groups, "teach to communicate in an extended family", "The Fixies" - "to help, to be inquisitive and interested in exact sciences, to be able to do something with their own hands", and "Masha and the Bear" - "to be free and independent".
At the same time, according to parents, modern animation should take into account their other requests: for young parents the theme of environmental care and inclusion is important, and for older people - patriotism and care for the elderly.
Top 5 answers of parents about the topics that should motivate children to take action:
- The ability to value family, respect parents - 63%
- Ability to make friends regardless of gender and nationality - 57%
- Respect others - 39%
- To care about the space around them - 28%
- To care about ecology, environment - 27%
At the same time, parents believe that animation of the future should combine the development of everyday skills (household chores, studies and hobbies) and intellectual and emotional maturation (to be independent, to defend their own interests, to be able to talk and negotiate, etc.). Such a request may be related to the desire of parents to strengthen the support of those values and meanings that they lay down in the process of upbringing by presenting them through animation.
CEO of NMG Svetlana Balanova said:
"Children are the most sensitive audience. They are attentive to images and receptive to meanings. Therefore, the creators of children's content always have a huge responsibility to children and parents. What cartoon characters look like, how they behave, how they talk, what they teach, what values are embedded in the stories - all of these things concern us and require our attention. This research is a way for us to learn the preferences of children and parents, to understand what cartoons the audience likes, and what we can do to make our animation projects more interesting, useful and in demand".
The survey was conducted in March - May 2023. More than 1,200 parents of children aged 2 to 8 took part in the survey, as well as two focus groups with the same target audience. The study included in-depth interviews of parents and children, and surveyed 20 experts and 10 parents to rank the top 25 movies that have an impact on children. The study was conducted by the National Media Group as part of the Alliance for the Protection of Children in the Digital Environment ' work.
The full version of the study is available at: https://pltf.ru/2023/07/06/rejting-detskoj-animaczii-po-czennostnomu-vozdejstviyu/.