Everybody Rides the Carousel - Film Analysis Essay

Introduction

Everybody Rides the Carousel is one of the animation films that demonstrates the progressive growth and development of the human beings. The film has received accolades in the many literature and studies that focus on the psychological development of human beings. The film degenerated and came to be recognized as Erikson's theory of the psychological development which emphasizes the effects of the external factors, society and the parent's influence on the development of personality from when the child is born up to adulthood. The stages of psychological development are quite complex and are interconnected through the whole cycle of human life. From Erikson's perspective, each person must undergo eight stages of development from childhood to adulthood.

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According to Everybody Rides the Carousel film, the father and the mother plays an important role in the care and fostering skill for the child at the initial years of the life. The nurturing and care ability is demonstrated in the form of touch and visual contact with the child hence promoting the emotional development of the child. Basically, the parental care at infancy enables the child facilitates the development of a feeling of trust, optimism, security and confidence when the child is cared for and handled properly. The visual contact and touch is a way of bonding and initiating emotional development in the child. Improper care and nurturing of the child instils a sense of mistrust and insecurity in the child towards the world.

According to Erikson's in the Everybody Rides the Carousel film, the second stage of the human development majors on the moral development where the toddler is given an opportunity to learn new life skills, build the self-esteem and becomes autonomous. The ability of the child to distinguish wrong and right depends on the level of care in the first stage of the development. The level of confidence demonstrated in adulthood is built at this stage. It is also important to emphasize that toddlers can develop defiance and stubbornness because they are most vulnerable at this stage and they may show some aspects of low self-esteem and the shame feeling especially when they are unable to learn a given skill. The development at the second stage enables the toddlers to acquire certain moral values which are fundamental in shaping the future personality of the child.

The drama in the Everybody Rides the Carousel film is quite fascinating and elaborates the stages of the human development. Generally, the struggles that Erikson undergoes in the film in the quest for identity resonates with the sex-role development and the attachment as a stage of the human development. The approach to the challenges from society and the pressure from the external forces illustrates how challenges shape human being's development. The pale-coloured characters in the animation symbolize the drama associated with the cycle of life, which influences personality development of human beings. Human development processes with a series of interrelated stages which every person must undergo because they re-enforce the acquired attributes, skills and how an individual approaches the challenges of life.

The sex-role development is associated with Erikson's third stage of psychological development. it is one of the stages where an individual develops a sense of purpose. Basically, there's the tendency to emulate the adult figure around us, something which is common among the preschoolers. The ability to take initiatives makes stories and experimenting provides the child with an opportunity to explore the world. The sense of attachment and role development are acquired through peer interaction. The obstacles that Hubleys faced throughout the entire film echoes his success which was only realized after making a series of compromises along the way. The cartoon's represented "visualizing abstract theories" as presented in the Erikson's concept.

Hubley's creative ability is manifested on the daring move of working without a script in the film. The various scenes in the animation symbolized the life cycles of the stages of human development. The arrest of the eager children depicts the "ready to apply himself to skills and tasks which go beyond mere playful expression". Hubleys is committed to the concepts of Erikson's theory of psychological development. Stage six of the human development focuses on young adulthood's intimacy and isolation. The young adult is usually eager at this stage and ready to try out new things, and attaches his identity to the others and make love. The phrase "to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet" demonstrates the affection among the characters in the film. However, from the film, it is evident that Hubleys hardly dedicate adequate time to Isolation. The mother and the father are unwilling to release the adolescent daughter who is in pursuit of employment in a different country because of the "dependence of the older generation on the young one". The parents are keen to protect the young generation. Hubleys used a variety of styles involving cartoons with a sense of reality and abstract with pale colours in some scenes to emphasize the challenges that come with different life cycles.

Everybody Rides the Carousel is a television animated series that depicts the eight periods that shows how human life cycles rotates. The writer Erickson's created a myth that shows the whole life history of humanity in a period of 8 cycles as portrayed in his works in Everybody Rides the Carousel. As per the series humans are constantly in a confrontation with one another as they strive to find their identity. The animated Television series focuses on the quest of human to find their identity as they engage in ever continuing battle with other humans. Faith Hubley and John who are also a great cartoonist and content creators also contribute to the animated series by making the cartoons and the words livelier. The work by the three artists is a great work since the animated television series was liked by people of all ages during the time it was being played on the television.

The carousel of life is a metaphor that is used by the television series writer as a starting point for the animated television series. The television has eight rides, each side has its own unique effects on how an individual develops a personality.

To start with "The ride of the newborn" is a ride that represents the conflict which people often undergo. People often find it hard to develop trust as they grow, they find themselves trusting their parents and people close to them while mistrusting other people who are foreign to them. All children go through this face and so are the adults as they continually grow in life. The second ride is labelled "The Ride of the Toddlers" this is the stage that a baby faces significant change in the body anatomy. Most babies tend to be facing a lot of doubt and fear and they grow to start moving around and touching things at each instant. The constant movement and touching make the baby develop doubt and fear towards things that hurt the baby as the bay moves around. The third ride is noted as the "The Childhood's Ride" it a stage where the child develops a lot of initiatives as he/she discovers much about the surroundings. At the same, the child starts feeling guilty for some of the initiates that they have already initiated. Same with life people tend to start on ideas and inventions that may lead to guilt and remorse later in life. The fourth ride is "The school Bell Ringing" this the stage where the child has to start facing the realities of life. The child will realize the difference between being hardworking and succeeding and failure. The fifth ride is "The Challenges of Adolescence" this where one start transforming from a child to an adult. The ride is coupled with confusion as one struggles to get an identity. The sixth ride was denoted as "Young Adulthood" this is the ride where the individual discovers that they have emotions that can lead to intimacy. Some who cannot get involved with other people in intimacy end up isolating themselves. The seventh ride is "Grown Ups" at this stage some people have grown up and are heavily involved in the matters of society. At the time some have stagnated at the troubles with isolation and intimacy due to emotional issues. The eighth stage is denoted as the "Ride of Old Age" at this stage of the rides one is either in despair or one has achieved all the purposes that they had in life.

Emotional development begins at the first ride in the eight state of the Erickson animated series Everybody Rides the Carousel. The first stage which is "The Infant" is where the child develops a connection with the mother through breastfeeding. The child is able to detect the mother's voice and scent and hence shows emotions such as happiness or sadness depending on prevailing circumstances. The child develops an attachment as the emotion and constant distance towards the mother increases. As the television series depicts with the young pussycat. The cat displays comfort after birth and being feed, it shows comfort because it has learned to trust those who feed it and care for it. This how the first signs of emotional development in younglings after being born. The Pussycat feels better when those who care for it gift it with a birthday cake which it feels on while showing happiness. The second ride is where lion and rabbit are used to show the development of strong emotions such doubt and shame. The lion represents the emotion strength and autonomy that is being developed by an individual at the same stage. The rabbit, on the other hand, is a sign for shame and doubt in the storyline of Everybody Rides the Carousel. The peak of emotional development is the adolescent stage, this where the emotions grow stronger as a most individual at this stage are able to feel love and hate.

Most individuals at this stage do feel a sudden surge in libido thus they tend to have large desire to relate and be loved by other members of the societies however most are often not ready to love and be loved at the moment. At adulthood, the most individual often has achieved emotional balance and thus they can make a sober decision in life and thus they can be allowed to settle with one another and start a family. Generatively is where most people have settled however at the same time some people at this stage still shows a sign that they haven't developed emotionally in as much as they have grown physically. These are the individuals represented by stagnation. The stage is represented by couples who are arguing about basic issues like letting their child go out and get a second child. In as much as they have developed emotionally, they are still suffering from generatively towards their daughter and stagnation towards getting a second child. At this stage, the adolescent child starts to detach from the parents as the parents remain stagnated not knowing what to do. Emotional development leads to attachment as one of the strongest factors that creates the best attachment is love which is one of the strongest emotions.