The Age Factor and the Acceptance: A Rhetorical Study on the Older Audience of the COVID-19 Popular Science Animated Films

Abstract

In the age of the Internet, a large number of animated films are being used to disseminate information globally. The development of China’s “Internet + Aging” model has shown us that the elderly will increasingly use animation to access medical and health information. As a group that is not noticed by the dominant animation producers, the acceptance of animation by the elderly audience and the essence and influence of the age factor are issues that the producers need to understand. Based on a rhetorical framework, this paper compares the acceptance of animated short films that convey serious information by older audiences over the age of 60 and younger audiences under the age of 40 through a one-on-one interview. The study summarizes the characteristics of older audiences’ reception of serious information animation, points out the problem of unbalanced rhetorical stance among short films, authors and audiences, dissects the past experience factor as the essential of the age factor, highlights the shift in core values of animation creation and suggests creative suggestions.