306: Disney-Colored Death

[Alex Spencer]

Disney-Colored Death

From Bambi to Up, Disney films have hardly pulled their punches when it comes to showing death to a young audience in their films. What can videogames learn from their example?

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[PrinceofPersia]

Brilliant article and what a wonderful idea, I'd rather see the video game equivalent to Lion King or Bambi then Citizen Kane. Course of someone did a video game equivalent to "Its a Wonderful Life", I'd be happy.

 

[tahrey]

Brilliant article and what a wonderful idea, I'd rather see the video game equivalent to Lion King or Bambi then Citizen Kane. Course of someone did a video game equivalent to "Its a Wonderful Life", I'd be happy.

I don't think this is quite what you meant but still... http://www.giantbomb.com/tomoyo-after-its-a-wonderful-life/61-23251/

There are plenty of disney games out there you know... including this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_King_(video_game) in which I presume you die quite often. But at the same time remember they're also known for the "Disney Villain Death" where they fall out of a window and out of sight, presumably to break against jagged rocks somewhere that the audience never sees...

And ... er ... I've kinda forgotten the original point which I hit "reply" to make. Whoops.
Ohyeah. What of Optimus Prime, already, for a harrowing cartoon film death?

 

[AbstractStream]

It truly is a great idea. Just reading the article brought me flashbacks of both Mufasa's death scene, as well as the Aeris death scene. Oh dear, I think a couple of tears just hit my desk.

 

[PrinceofPersia]

I don't think this is quite what you meant but still... http://www.giantbomb.com/tomoyo-after-its-a-wonderful-life/61-23251/

There are plenty of disney games out there you know... including this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_King_(video_game) in which I presume you die quite often. But at the same time remember they're also known for the "Disney Villain Death" where they fall out of a window and out of sight, presumably to break against jagged rocks somewhere that the audience never sees...

And ... er ... I've kinda forgotten the original point which I hit "reply" to make. Whoops.
Ohyeah. What of Optimus Prime, already, for a harrowing cartoon film death?

Yeah ah no I meant something like the film, "It's a Wonderful Life". And most disney games are just based on the movies. The argument has always been to have a Citizen Kane like game come out and I think the thought shooting for something with the emotional appeal of Bambi might be more interesting.

As for Optimus Prime [http://youtu.be/h_ULg4RSy5Y]...dangit man I got something in my eyes.

 

[shado_temple]

I have to admit, Up made me care about the protagonist and his wife faster than any movie I've seen in a while; I bought the soundtrack to the movie, and every time I hear the music from the "Married Life" montage, I admit that I feel the tears coming on.

<youtube=GroDErHIM_0>

If I can find a game that can move someone that quickly, I'm all for it.

 

[EvilPicnic]

Very interesting article, and one of the best I've read on the Escapist for a long time.

And you're quite right that in any other narrative media the prospect of death is the great source of pathos, and something which games lose out on when any 'death' is impermanent. I have been thinking about what mechanics you could use to get around this, but the obvious ones (such as 'permanent' death) just result in games which are either boring, or frustratingly hard. Hmmm.

On a tangent, your aside about the impact of the death of cute animals is also quite interesting in of itself. Why are cute animal deaths always so powerful, when human deaths can be shrugged off?

I recently read on George RR Martin's blog (he's the author behind Game of Thrones) that after the episode in which Lady (a pet) was killed, many viewers wrote and said they were very upset and would stop watching the show.

He obviously explained in his post that the dog playing Lady was not actually killed, and was in fact being treated very well etc., but also noted:

Rhodri Hosking, the young actor who played the butcher's boy Mycah, was not actually killed either, though oddly, no one seems quite so upset about him

.

It's a strange world we live in...

 

[Dastardly]

Disney-Colored Death

From Bambi to Up, Disney films have hardly pulled their punches when it comes to showing death to a young audience in their films. What can videogames learn from their example?

Read Full Article

Great article. Seriously.

This'll sound odd, but the first thing that popped into my head while reading this is the difference between Hostel and Hostel II. Bear with me on this, it makes total sense by the end.

Whatever the subject you're presenting in a work of art, particularly a storytelling form of art, I think the overall goal is some kind of emotional reaction. You present a set of circumstances, and you expect the audience to feel a certain way about them (which allows you to build on that, forming an emotional leash by which you lead the audience on a journey).

Hostel wasn't really a good movie. It wasn't trying to say anything deeper than what was on the surface, but there was something it did right. When watching something particularly gruesome and painful, the camera refused to flinch. If you didn't want to see it, you had to look away. In forcing the audience to play visual "chicken" with the gore, it stirred a strong emotional reaction. In that sense, the movie wasn't "good," but it was effective. The sequel, however, undid all of that. In most of the gore-heavy scenes, the bulk of the "action" happened off-screen, and you only saw the characters' reactions. The experience was just far less effective.

This same principle translates into how children's movies handle "heavy" emotional content. Basically, movies can undermine their own emotional power when they react for you. No longer is the movie leading you to feel something, it's just telling you how someone else feels. It lacks the personal stamp of authenticity that only you can put on an emotion.

Why do movies do this, particularly when it comes to kids? For one, I think that the people making the movies are afraid that kids won't "get it." They won't understand the gravity of a particular scene unless it's explained via dialogue--which, if that's the case, the kid isn't going to 'get' the explanation anyway, so why not just save yourself some time.

The other reason, of course, is fear that they'll "overdo" it. They don't want to scare the kids or make the movie gory, or anything of that sort. For the most part, I blame the creative forces behind the movie for not understanding what to show and what not to. An emotionally effective scene isn't about the information you give the audience. It's about the weight of that information.

Pixar did it right twice, with Finding Nemo and Up. In neither case to you really see the loved one die--you are not given that information. However, in both cases, the movie establishes a lot of good emotions first, tied directly to that character. The character is given gravity within the emotional context of the film, to such a degree that when the character is removed, you feel the pull of their absence.

In a movie like Hostel, the weight of the action is in the gore itself. In order to feel that 'sympathy pain,' you've got to see it happening (or be forced to look away of your own accord). The same is very true in real life--we often feel better about a cut if we're not looking at it, but we have to fight that urge to keep looking.

In situations like the opening sequences of Up and Finding Nemo, the real weight isn't in the death itself. It's in what that death means for everyone else. The same is very true in real life--our sadness over a death is often centered on the holes it leaves in our lives, rather than on the actual circumstances of the death.

If a movie fails to understand and recreate those feelings in the audience and create that emotional context, they don't build the empathy they need to give the scene any real emotional weight. And this works just as well for children's movies. If we don't trust that children have the ability to develop that sort of empathy, we rob these scenes of their significance, we cheapen their experiences with these movies, and we shallow out their future expectations of art.

 

[Hilton Collins]

Aeris's death was the first videogame death that really affected me. It was so surprised and jarring. Unexpected because she was a likable and major character. I TOTALLY didn't expect her to get killed. And she was such an awesome character. Another death I can think of is Gremio's in Suikoden, when he dies in those crushing walls. And the GUITAR MUSIC! Anyone who played Suikoden for the PlayStation, remember!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYGAuDm6yF4

 

[Axelhander]

I have more sad, complex man-feelings over any Disney characters' death than I ever did Aeris's.

 

[Lord_Kristof]

"So, people often ask: Where is gaming's Citizen Kane? I say: Who wants an over-extended, self-important snorefest about some rich old geezer and his sled?"

This. Thank you for this.

 

[ccesarano]

I know it's not a Disney film, but I think The Land Before Time is worth a mention here. I watched it with my niece recently, first time in over a decade, and they did not at all skip the mourning period for Little Foot. One particularly touching scene involved him seeing his own shadow from a distance, where it looked to be a full sized brontosaurus, and ran toward it joyfully believing (or perhaps wanting to believe) it was his own mother come alive again. In the end he merely snuggled and kissed a wall of rock, and the realization that his mother was still gone was absolutely heart breaking.

That moment reminded me of watching the film as a child and the overwhelming sadness it all created. The music, the expressions, the implications, everything. Even as an adult it was heart wrenching, and I could only wonder what my niece was thinking.

As for video games, I'd like to bring up Final Fantasy 6 where your actions determine if Cid lives or dies. Sometimes I allowed Cid to die merely because the following scene where Celes tries to kill herself in despair is so surprising and touching.

Then I hit reset, load up my save and make sure he survives so I can get that rare and awesome item as a reward.

 

[Hilton Collins]

I have more sad, complex man-feelings over any Disney characters' death than I ever did Aeris's.

The Disney deaths were powerful, yes, but man, Aeris's was just so.... stunning and shocking to me.

 

[Hilton Collins]

"So, people often ask: Where is gaming's Citizen Kane? I say: Who wants an over-extended, self-important snorefest about some rich old geezer and his sled?"

This. Thank you for this.

I've only ever played the first Sims and some expansion packs, but the possibility of playing Sims that actually age and die does tug at the heart strings a bit. I can understand someone getting a little emotional over a character they've helped nurture and guide (even if it's not real) go away.

It makes one wonder how much further games will go in this direction to get all emotional and stuff. I have yet to play Heavy Rain, but I hear that's a game that can get kinda emotional as well. I'll have to wait until it's on my GameFly queue though. I've got others in line first.

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Spoiler: Those who played Lost Odyssey know that games can approach the idea of death just as effectively as film. Early game spoilers apply.

Fairly early in this JRPG, the main protagonist, Kaim, has a fragmented memory of who he is (not quite amnesia, but enough to explore his identity with the player). One of the few memories he has is the loss of his daughter, which depicts her falling into the sea. Over time, this memory becomes longer and has more detail, revealing Kaim's wife as well as the person who appears to cause his daughter's death.

With all this in place, an accidental meeting with two children where he (and the rest of the party) save them from some local guards, prompting them to invite him to their meager home to thank them. There, Kaim meets his daughter for the first time in about twenty years. Unfortunately, she's in her last moments alive from a never-explained illness. After a lengthy cut-scene of Kaim's and his-now-realized grandchildren, she breathes her last breath, but the death doesn't end there.

There is then a lengthly funeral process, where you go through a family's grief, going through the normally mundane tasks of gathering materials for her funeral service, now made wrenchingly serious when done through the eyes of the child completing them. They then go through the entire ceremony, putting you into the control of the young son of the deceased. The ceremony, accompanied by a very effective soundtrack that emphasizes the emotions that are going through the characters, goes through a funeral service that, being from another universe entirely, seems alien but immediately understandable at the same time.

What makes this segment most effective is the sense of perspective. The main character, Kaim, is an immortal (even has a meteor dropped on him in the opening sequence), much in the same way that the player doesn't have to die if he fails. As such the player learns about death in the same way that Kaim does, making this easily the most effective death I've ever seen in gaming. It's easily representative of the deep themes that often pop up in the very well written "1000 years of dreams" that is a series of side-stories describing Kaim's (and other characters, but mostly his) experiences put in text and set to a well-orchestrated soundtrack that amplifies the emotions being relayed to the player.

 

[Reynaert]

This article reminded me of 'Alfred Jodocus Kwak' ('Alfred Jonathan Quack' in English) which had a very powerfull parental death scene in the first episode. It's horrible and beautiful and it sticks with you. Throw in some good music and you have a very good kids show that's also entertaining for adults. The feel of it is just unique.

Also, good episode.

 

[Izzyisme]

I am tired of Escapist writers citing Jason Rohrer's Passage as an example of where games need to be moving to. Passage is a barely interactive experience with, not just terrible graphics (which isn't a problem), but an entirely uninteresting aesthetic and a simplistic message about human mortality. It acts as if it has discovered something incredible, namely that people die, and then flaunts it as some sort of brilliant and deep epiphany. Unlike some gamers I enjoy many art games, but Passage should never be used as an example of a great art game. It is pretentious, condescending, and just not enjoyable in the slightest.

 

[Sabrestar]

As for video games, I'd like to bring up Final Fantasy 6...

I thought of FF6 as well, but instead the storyline of Locke and Rachel. (spoilered in case anyone doesn't know)

Spoiler

Though a bit confusing in-game, Locke's first love Rachel basically died while he was away, but her body was preserved, and he drove himself looking for a way to bring her back to life. He did, sort of, but only long enough for her to say goodbye. The scene ends with Locke finally being able to set aside his own emotional baggage, return to the party, and fulfill his role (and pursue his new love).

Many years later, when I embarked on a quest of my own, of sorts, to release some painful memories, I used Rachel's line "Today I set your heart free" as a motto. It worked. And my life is much better for it. To this day, the Locke/Rachel story remains the only one in a game to make me cry twice. (The aforementioned Celes/Cid scene still makes me cry to this day as well.)

 

[zeldagirl]

One of the best Escapist articles I've read in a while. Very thought provoking, and nicely said.

 

[Roboto]

My Bambi was the end of half-life 2e2