CGI’s Impact on Fear and Ways to help Children Cope with Fear Responses

The 2016 rendition of Jungle Book retells the classic story of Mowgli, a boy who has been raised in the Jungle. He is raised by Bagheera, a panther, and later with the help of Baloo, a large bear. Throughout the film Mowgli is trying to escape from Shere Khan, a tiger who is attempting to kill him because he believes Mowgli will exploit the animals when he grows up, like the other men from nearby villages have done. Due to the tension between Mowgli and Shere Khan, there are moments in the film where children are likely to experience fear. Not only can these fear reactions be explained, but we will also discuss the best course of action to take when your child does experience fear.

Children have a difficult time overcoming the fact that certain things look scary, regardless of the true nature of the character or setting (Farrar, 2017). Many young children fear Bagheera, simply because he is a panther who looks fierce. For example, in this scene where Bagheera and Shere Khan are fighting, older children may understand Bagheera is fighting to save Mowgli’s life, however younger children are more susceptible to fearing Bagheera due to his aggression.

It’s understandable that young children would fear Bagheera regardless of the fact that he is a kind character, because children ages two to seven years tend to fear visual images, regardless of whether or not they are real or fake (Farrar, 2017). Children ages two to three years often cannot even distinguish that what they are seeing is fake, because they believe what they see on TV is real (Farrar, 2017). Another element that contributes to the fear reaction in slightly older children is the CGI animation of the film. CGI causes the film to impact children who understand  TV as a representation of reality, because these children often still believe the things that look real are real (Farrar, 2017). While older children may be able to distinguish cartoons from reality, the high quality CGI used in this film makes it increasingly difficult for children to understand the film is not real.

One of the best examples of CGI increasing the fear the film induces is by comparing the final fight scene at the end of the film to the 1967 version of The Jungle Book. The most glaring difference is that the 1967 version of the film is a cartoon, and much easier for children to understand as fake. Whereas, the 2016 version looks real, and for children it becomes increasingly difficult to understand that the content is not real.

The best course of action when a child experiences a fear reaction depends on their age. Preschool age children respond best to noncognitive strategies (Farrar, 2017). Noncognitive strategies are essentially distractions that help the child focus on something other than the stimulus that frightened them. Potential activities could include coloring, having a snack, or even covering the child’s eyes. School age children tend to react best to cognitive strategies (Farrar, 2017). These strategies challenge the child to think about why they should not be scared, such as explaining that the content they saw was not real and will not occur in their own life. 

-Elliott Ackroyd, Stephanie Thorell, & Katherine Landrey