Modern children from an early age are actively involved in a variety of information processes that emotionally and aesthetically affect their upbringing and development. Since childhood, the child is in a constantly functioning information space containing a lot of cartoons and animation resources, considering the content of which he, in his own way, analyzes the qualities and actions of his favorite hero. The main pleasure is given to him by cartoons that allow him to unobtrusively reveal important concepts for life, such as friendship and loyalty, mutual help and sympathy, good and evil, on the basis of which the formation of personal qualities of the child takes place. The article shows the results of the research reflecting the perception and satisfaction of junior schoolchildren with the content of modern cartoons, which allows us to acquire a certain understanding of what character traits and touches to the child’s self-portrait can condition “cartoons” from childhood. The purpose of the study was to identify the didactic influence of cartoons on the emotional state of children, to determine children’s understanding of the semantic content of the cartoon, since it is in this time period of childhood that the child’s personal qualities are formed from the outside. The study also reveals the possible diagnostic potential of animation, determining on the basis of individual preferences of the child: firstly, closely perceived images of heroes; secondly, children’s interests in animated stories; thirdly, characteristic touches of the psychological self-portrait of the modern child.