8-year-old girl died after copying the movie "Boonie Bear" | Which cartoon is good for children?

Recently, the Dujiangyan District Court in Chengdu (Sichuan Province, China) announced that it upheld the verdict in the case of an 8-year-old girl who fell to her death after imitating the cartoon Boonie Bears. ; Accordingly, the film production team must bear 10% of the responsibility.

According to the case file, in July 2018, an 8-year-old girl was playing with friends in her apartment on the 6th floor and imitated the climbing scene she had seen in the movie Boonie Bear, so she used a rope to climb through the window to get down. Balcony of an apartment on the second floor. However, due to not grasping the rope firmly, the girl slipped and fell.

After returning home, he searched and found his daughter lying on a balcony and immediately took him to the hospital. But due to severe injuries, the girl died after 3 days of treatment.

The victim's family filed a lawsuit against the animation production unit, demanding compensation of 600,000 yuan. In May 2019, the Dujiangyan court ruled that the father should bear most of the responsibility for the death of his daughter because he had left the girl in the care of his disabled wife before the accident.

For the cartoon Boonie Bear, although it was displayed on the screen to warn viewers not to imitate the character, the court considered that it was still not enough to warn about the danger. Therefore, the film crew was assigned 10% of the responsibility in the incident.

However, the production unit of the film Boonie Bear appealed, so the case was delayed for a long time. On January 8, the Dujiangyan court announced that it upheld the original ruling. It is known that the film crew chose to settle with the girl's parents by compensating a sum of money.

According to Chinese media, over the past decade, many cartoons in the country have had their content deleted or edited, even if the production unit had to compensate because of legal disputes with parents. .

For example, in March 2018, a 5-year-old girl in Xinjiang was also seriously injured when she jumped from the window of an apartment on the 11th floor and landed on the balcony of her house on the 4th floor because she imitated the movie. Since then, Chinese cartoons no longer dare to show characters using umbrellas to fly down from above.

Or in 2013, the producer of the cartoon Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf had to pay 40,000 yuan in compensation after a 10-year-old child tied two younger children to a tree and set it on fire. According to the court, this action imitated the scene of wolves trying to eat goats that appeared in the movie.

However, on social networks, many people believe that besides attributing the responsibility of the animation production units, it is also necessary to ring the alarm bell about the responsibility of parents in caring for and taking care of children. supervise children, especially when they are exposed to movies and photos.

Similarly, despite being critically acclaimed, the animated series Rainbow Cat & Blue Rabbit: Legend of the Seven Swords featuring animals performing kung fu was banned from airing in 2007. The reason was a blogger and a Some parents complained that it was too violent.

Currently, Chinese cartoons no longer dare to show characters using umbrellas to fly down from above after many cases of children following them. The case also raised a lot of controversy about the level of responsibility of parents when monitoring children watching television programs.

Anime Empress, a blogger working in the animation industry, said:

"Cartoons these days are too easily blamed in court, when the real problem is poor parenting."

"It's much better if you put your phone down and spend time with your children, teaching them right from wrong," this person wrote.

The recent ruling also raised concerns about the future of China's "fragile" domestic animation industry, which faces stiff competition from abroad.

Zhang Hanshu, founder of D-Entertainment, a news website about China's animation industry, said the court's ruling would make creators more cautious and increase the risk that producers have to bear. responsible for what they don't do.

"Cartoons are appealing because they're creative. Too many warnings or sticking to 100% reality will lose their appeal. Parents should instead explain to their children the difference. distinguish between movies and real life," Zhang said.