title: CARTOONS KILL: casualties in animated recreational theater in an objective observational new study of kids' introduction to loss of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the risk of on-screen death of important characters in children's animated films versus dramatic films for adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with Cox regression comparing time to first on-screen death.
  
  
  METHODS
  Authors' television screens, with and without popcorn.
  
  
  METHODS
  Important characters in 45 top grossing children's animated films and a comparison group of 90 top grossing dramatic films for adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Time to first on-screen death.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Important characters in children's animated films were at an increased risk of death compared with characters in dramatic films for adults (hazard ratio 2.52, 95% confidence interval 1.30 to 4.90). Risk of on-screen murder of important characters was higher in children's animated films than in comparison films (2.78, 1.02 to 7.58).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rather than being the innocuous form of entertainment they are assumed to be, children's animated films are rife with on-screen death and murder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada icolman@uottawa.ca.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Colman
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Mila
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kingsbury
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Murray
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weeks
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Anushka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ataullahjan
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Marc-André
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bélair
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dykxhoorn
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hynes
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Loro
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Kiyuri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Naicker
authors.affiliation: Division of Community Health and Humanities, Memorial University, St John's, NFLD, Canada.
authors.forename: Nathaniel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pollock
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Corneliu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rusu
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Kirkbride
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002359:Cartoons as Topic / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003643:Death; D005260:Female; D006708:Homicide / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D009040:Motion Pictures; D015995:Prevalence; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011634:Public Health; D011998:Recreation; D013997:Time Factors; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D014796:Visual Perception