Imaginaries in animation movies: the aestheticization of bodies in the interface of the care for children and adolescents

Abstract

The objective of this article is to illustrate how a movie animation feature can affirm social imaginaries, as well as showing their presence in social and professional practices in the fields of education, health and communication directed towards children and adolescents. This study is based on the imagistic repertoire of three body forms/versions of the character Baymax from the Big Hero 6 animation (Walt Disney Pictures), and identifies the social imaginaries expressed in the animation movie language, which are considered here as a starting point to reflect upon the cultural representations and the biopower devices in society, in its consumerist logic, standardizations, discriminations and body controls, focusing on the processes that involve the corporeity of children and adolescents. The results show social imaginaries that reinforce the standardization of body aesthetics, creating caricatures of the obese body and a spectacle of the athletic body. The discussions align these imaginaries to issues regarding the corporeity of children and adolescents, especially focusing on social and professional practices and on the interfaces: health, education and communication. This study highlights the importance of a culture of care based on completeness and interdisciplinarity that considers the cultural, educational and formative processes occurring in the context of a consumeristic and mediatic society.