The document discusses a student's research into how animation films appeal to young audiences through their use of micro elements like sound, cinematography, mise-en-scene, and sound design. The student hoped to understand the main features that attract children and why animation appeals to people of all ages. They focused their research on Finding Nemo, Despicable Me, and Toy Story 3. However, through their research, the student found it difficult to link micro elements specifically and instead felt the storyline and character development were more important factors in a film's success and appeal to young audiences.

1. In what ways do animation
films appeal to a young
audience through the use
of micro elements?
Shannon Cammish

2. Why did I pick this question?
The main reason why I chose this question is because I
am interested to find out why animation films are
extremely popular towards the younger audience and
how the four micro elements, sound, cinematography,
mise-en-scene and sound, contribute towards its
success.

3. What am I hoping to find out?
Through my research I am hoping to find out the
main feature(s) which drives children towards
animation films and also why animation films appeal
to people of all ages, and not just children.

4. Focal Films
The films that I decided to focus on were:
• Finding Nemo (2003)
• Despicable Me (2012)
• Toy Story 3 (2010)

5. Finding Nemo (2003)
The main reason why I decided
to focus on Finding Nemo Is
due to the characters included
within it. The characters in
Finding Nemo are mainly all
different types of fish and I am
creating my film based all
around jungle animals because
I like the idea of focusing on a
particular animal.

6. Despicable Me (2012)
I choose to research more into
Despicable Me because in my opinion
it is very different to most animation
films due to the fact that the protagonist
is the villain at the beginning of the film.
This just shows that the public still like
animation films from the villains point of
view rather than the hero. I was going
to make my film this way, as in from the
bad guy’s perspective but I decided to
be more conventional and I am
creating it from the good guy’s
perspective.

7. Toy Story 3 (2010)
One of the reasons why I chose Toy
Story 3 as one of my focal films is
due to the narrative of the film. Toy
Story 3 is about new toys which
cannot fit into their new environment
at a child daycare centre and my
narrative is about a Zebra who cannot
fit in with the other animals. I like this
narrative because it shows the
contrast between good and evil and
this concept draws the audience in
more because we can sympathise
with the characters.

8. “I think back to the kinds of movies that I grew up loving,
and the films that affected me, that made me think about
the world in a different way, and opened me up to different
ideas. I think that’s the best form of art. It gets us to
recognise and share our humanity, give us opportunities
to connect. When I go home from the cinema, and my
kids are in the car, if they’re talking about what we just
saw and having an animated discussion about it, to me
those are some of the best experiences.
Brew, Simon, 11th September 2014. ‘Travis Knight interview: Laika,
Boxtrolls, Gilliam, future’ – Den Of Geek! Accessed at 21:03 on the
3rd December 2014: http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-
boxtrolls/32047/travis-knight-interview-laika-boxtrolls-gilliam-
future
Web Article

9. “I think what your films aren’t are surrogate
babysitters. You’ve made the point that this is a film
for a family to see together. Its not one to send the
kids in to see while you go out shopping.
Presumably that’s part and parcel of what you
mean? You need to sell to four people rather than a
child.”
Web Article

10. “So many of the films are little pop
culture confections that don’t mean
anything, that don’t require thought or
richness. There’s nothing we can
connect over.”
Web Article

11. Marshall, Carla, 28th January 2014. ‘Pinot: Vine Superstar Shares His Tips
on Creating Stunning Animations’ – ReelSeo. Accessed at 21:09 on the 3rd
December 2014: http://www.reelseo.com/pinot-vine/
“I usually get the initial ideas from my children.
They think & see things that adults can often
miss.
For instance, I got the idea for this Vine when I
saw my son looking down into a puddle when we
were in London. He told me he saw Double
Decker buses & Big Ben under his feet.
Discussing the creative process with my children
keeps my imagination active.”

12. User, Quora, 20th June 2013. ‘Why do children get attached to Pixar
movies more than any other animation studio?’ on Quora, accessed at
12:15 on the 12th January 2015: http://www.quora.com/Why-do-children-
get-attached-to-Pixar-movies-more-than-any-other-animation-studio
There are a few reasons why I think both children
AND adults get attached to Pixar movies more than
any other animation studio:
• Rarity
• Character Development
• No Celebrity Advertising
• Timeless, Parable-like Storytelling
• Better Branding
• Wicked Crazy Creativity
• Wit

13. Other Sources
1. Unknown Author, 4th November 2012. ‘We Interviewed
Kevan Shorey – Character Animator at Dreamworks
Animation Studios’ on Animdesk. Accessed at 9:57 on the
28th November 2014: https://www.animdesk.com/we-
interviewed-kevan-shorey-character-animator-at-
dreamworks-animations
2. Benyahia, Sarah Casey, Gaffney, Freddie and White, John,
2009. A2 Film Studies The Essential Introduction, 2 Park
Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge
3. Unknown Author, 18th July 2014. ‘We Interviewed Andrew
Gonzalez – Cinematic Animator’ on Animdesk. Accessed at
10:06 on the 28th November 2014:
https://www.animdesk.com/andrew-gonzalez

14. Conclusion
Overall, from all the research that I have done I have
found out that there is no one reason as to why
children love animation films so much, because each
individual child is different and have their own views
on animation films, despite them only being young.
There are some reasons that could be the reason
why they enjoy animation films but there is no
definitive answer to my question.

15. Conclusion
So in what ways do animation films appeal to a young
audience through the use of micro elements?
There are many ways in which animation films appeal
towards a young audience but it mainly depends on
the type of person and their interests.
Some of the possibilities that could be the reason why
these films are loved by children are: the storyline;
characters and their developments and the use of
mise-en-scene.

16. My Opinion
Before I started my research and when I constructed my
question I was hoping to find out how the micro
elements contribute to the love towards animation films
amongst a young audience. However once I began my
research I found it extremely hard to find sources to
help me answer this question because I discovered that
the main elements as to why the public love animation
films are the storyline and the characters. So I think it
would be more beneficial for me to look into the
storyline and characters within animation films rather
than the micro elements of the film.

17. New Question
How does the storyline and
character development of an
animation film appeal towards a
young audience and contribute
towards a films success?