Second thoughts...

I'm thinking that the three I have chosen are not appropriate animations for children. Research into animations for children shows that those for younger children of preschool age tend to be simplistic shapes and textures with bright colours. The storyline tends to be educatory and about friendship and set in an imaginary world. Songs and movements are repeated, yet short. Humour revolves around the slapstick kind. Overall the animation only lasts for about 10minutes. As children progress through primary school they begin to develop a sense of adventure and storylines need to reflect this, however their attention span is still shorter than that of an adult. Also children up to the age of about 10 will take things literally and develop a real fear of failure. Children around this age are developing a sense of humour and are more able to understand jokes and riddles. Animations aimed towards primary school aged children often follow a storyline with a moral or scientific background. The images are becoming more complex, yet still remain simplified. By the time children approach and enter into secondary school they are becoming more engaged with the outside world. They are now challenging and questioning things going on around them. Animations for this age group need to have a gripping storyline with cliffhangers to keep the children engaged. Animations aimed towards the secondary school age child also seem to be segregated into one's for the boys and one's for the girls. When we look at animations for older children and adults the images seem to be fairly basic, however there are lots of smaller details which can add to the experience for the older audience without spoiling it for the younger children. The storyline also runs along a dual course in that it can be easily understood by the youger audience, yet still contains enough plot twists and humour to keep the older audience intrigued.

Given this information I am going to rethink which fable to choose and hopefully this time choose one which is more appropriate. I think I will concentrate on the primary school age child, although there is a big developmental gap between those aged 5 to 11, I hope the images and storyline will be able told in such a way that all ages will benefit.