ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Why Are All The Cartoon Mothers Dead? “Bambi’s mother, shot. Nemo’s mother, eaten by a barracuda. Lilo’s mother, killed in a car crash. Koda’s mother in Brother Bear, speared. Po’s mother in Kung Fu Panda 2, done in by a power-crazed peacock. Ariel’s mother in the third Little Mermaid, crushed by a pirate ship. Human baby’s mother in Ice Age, chased by a saber-toothed tiger over a waterfall.”

Sarah Boxer comes to a tiresomely predictable point in exploring this phenomenon.