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The Ashes of Tragedy: Parental Death and Child Character Development in Bambi and The Lion King.

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Title: The Ashes of Tragedy: Parental Death and Child Character Development in Bambi and The Lion King.
Authors: Lammon, Marissa1 (AUTHOR) marissa.lammon@colorado.edu
Source: Omega: Journal of Death & Dying. Feb2026, Vol. 92 Issue 3, p1340-1363. 24p.
Subject Terms: *Content analysis, *Child development, *Grief, Orphans, Parental death, Character, Orphanages, Bereavement, Motion pictures
Abstract: The Walt Disney company has been the topic of extensive research for decades; among the explored subjects and identified themes is Disney's fixation on death. Disney has capitalized on the incredibly traumatic childhood experience of the death of a parent by featuring parental death as a major narrative component. Speculation remains regarding the accuracy of not only death presentations in media, but death influence on characters. Using textual analysis, this paper explores the role of parental death on child character development within two Disney animated films. Analysis demonstrates an inaccurate depiction of parental death influence on children in a positive light – essentially overlooking the trauma associated with loss during childhood and the mediating factors of long-term bereavement outcomes. Conversations remain to be had regarding how these inaccurate depictions of death and dying in popular culture influence the children consuming them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Omega: Journal of Death & Dying is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: The Ashes of Tragedy: Parental Death and Child Character Development in Bambi and The Lion King.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lammon%2C+Marissa%22">Lammon, Marissa</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> marissa.lammon@colorado.edu</i>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Omega%3A+Journal+of+Death+%26+Dying%22">Omega: Journal of Death & Dying</searchLink>. Feb2026, Vol. 92 Issue 3, p1340-1363. 24p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Content+analysis%22">Content analysis</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Child+development%22">Child development</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grief%22">Grief</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Orphans%22">Orphans</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Parental+death%22">Parental death</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Character%22">Character</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Orphanages%22">Orphanages</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Bereavement%22">Bereavement</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Motion+pictures%22">Motion pictures</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: The Walt Disney company has been the topic of extensive research for decades; among the explored subjects and identified themes is Disney's fixation on death. Disney has capitalized on the incredibly traumatic childhood experience of the death of a parent by featuring parental death as a major narrative component. Speculation remains regarding the accuracy of not only death presentations in media, but death influence on characters. Using textual analysis, this paper explores the role of parental death on child character development within two Disney animated films. Analysis demonstrates an inaccurate depiction of parental death influence on children in a positive light – essentially overlooking the trauma associated with loss during childhood and the mediating factors of long-term bereavement outcomes. Conversations remain to be had regarding how these inaccurate depictions of death and dying in popular culture influence the children consuming them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Omega: Journal of Death & Dying is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=190662566
RecordInfo BibRecord:
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1177/00302228231202884
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 24
        StartPage: 1340
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Content analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Child development
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Grief
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Orphans
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Parental death
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Character
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Orphanages
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Bereavement
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Motion pictures
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: The Ashes of Tragedy: Parental Death and Child Character Development in Bambi and The Lion King.
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              M: 02
              Text: Feb2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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              Value: 92
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            – TitleFull: Omega: Journal of Death & Dying
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