Understanding the rhetoric used in film can allow an appreciation of them and be used in filmmaking to construct the most appropriate arrangements to express story plot, enhance the audience's understanding of the film, and inspire them. This study analyzed commonly used forms of rhetoric in film and their functions in family-related animated shorts to explore their manifestations and meanings. We adopted content analysis to evaluate the rhetoric used in five 3-10-minute animated family shorts. Our findings revealed that commonly used forms of rhetoric in film are "close-ups," "repetition," and "Metaphors." Applying rhetoric in film is useful for revealing and constructing its overall imagery, and understanding the application of rhetoric enables a deeper understanding and discussion of the imagery expressed in films and subsequent changes in the audience's psychological state. When constructing images, using rhetoric in film can enhance their beauty and visual richness. The implicit meanings represented by each type of rhetoric can deepen the audience's impression of a film and provoke a deeper level of thought, thus increasing the film's value.