When told a story aloud, or reading to ones self, one comes up with an inner movie made up of their imagination.  This is a great time for children to expand their imagination and be actively involved in the story.  On the contrary, when one watches a film, there is no need for imagination as the animator has given you their inner movie. 

Should children be given an opportunity to develop their own imagination, based on words?  It is important for children to develop there sense of what people and places are like when hearing oral description.  The creation of film texts is an excellent concept.  It is a way that some chose to tell their story, but it leaves little for the viewer to imagine for themselves.

Everyone has a different opinion, but I don’t think that we should be feeding out children only the glamorised Disney version of fairy tales.  Rather, we should be ensuring that they have access to the original versions that can have a greater emotional impact.    

When one is given an image or series of images to go with a story, there is little room left to make it yours and individualise it in your mind.

Illustrations are fascinating, and if done by a talented illustrator can be viewed at a range to different levels and depths.  It is important that children are subjected to all forms of art, from words through to animation.  One is not necessarily superior to the other, which is why we need to insure that children are exposed to both.  And in particular, they should have a knowledge of the original text, so that they can gain a greater understanding of what has been done to the story to get where it is.