Genre is important in animated films to help audiences understand the type of story, characters, and themes they will experience. Animated films like sci-fi films set in space with laser guns, hover robots, and dystopian futures can be identified as science fiction genre even without sound based on Buscombe's Theory of visual cues like metal plating costumes, establishing shots of space or Earth, and futuristic technology. However, some animated films may contain elements of multiple genres that overlap, so genre alone may not fully define every animated film.