Shaping Perceptions and Unlocking Inclusions: The Representation of Disability in Children's Films and Animations

Over several years, films and TV shows have struggled to properly portray individuals with disabilities. From animations to blockbuster movies, disabled characters are barely seen. In cinemas, impairment is abstracted from its physical or mental manifestation and viewed as a cultural symbol. However, when viewed in this light, disability appears in a discourse of pity, a phenomenon of social, physical, and emotional imprisonment. In fact, disabled characters are mostly absent from children's television and movies. Even if they do exist, they are frequently depicted in stereotypical ways. This projection of disability compels non-disabled viewers to blindly follow the stereotypical way of treating people with disabilities without questioning anything. Children, in particular, struggle to accept people with disabilities as they are. In fact, they start to treat them as alien species. Using thematic content analysis, this article examines the portrayal of disabled characters in children's films and media, especially animations. Through the lens of Disability Studies, it analyses selected films made by Disney, Pixar and other film studios and traces the shifts in the representation of disability in those films. It aims to highlight the dynamic relationship between those characters and the audiences and also demonstrates how disabled people are stereotyped in children's films as an expendable population, an outcast, a villain, 'needy', someone who will be cured in the end, charitable service, or superheroes.