Representasi Anak Indonesia dalam Film Animasi Jumbo: Representation of Indonesian Children in the Animated Film Jumbo

Sandi Justitia Putra (Universitas 45 Mataram)
Irma El-Mira Husbuyanti (Program Studi Ilmu Komunikasi, Universitas 45 Mataram)
Anisa Purwa Ningrum (Program Studi Ilmu Komunikasi, Universitas 45 Mataram)
Yani Rosita Sarlan (Program Studi Ilmu Komunikasi, Universitas 45 Mataram)

Ganec Swara
Vol. 20 No. 3 (2026): September 2026

This study examines the representation of Indonesian children in the animated film JUMBO (2025) using Roland Barthes’ semiotic approach from a communication studies perspective. Animated film is viewed as a media text that produces meaning and transmits cultural values. Employing a qualitative interpretive method, data were collected through non-participant observation and analysis of visual and narrative signs. The analysis focuses on denotation, connotation, and myth. The findings indicate that JUMBO represents Indonesian children as innocent and imaginative, courageous and independent, and oriented toward collectivity and social care. At the myth level, these representations naturalize an ideology of Indonesian children as a creative, resilient future generation. This study highlights the significance of local animated films in shaping children’s identity and cultural values