Category: Article Type: Full
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Babe. Dir. Chris Noonan. Universal Pictures. 1995.
Based on Dick King Smith’s “The Sheep Pig”, Babe is the story of a young pig that is taken in by sheep dogs and the farmer Hoggett who eventually becomes a sheep herder himself. At the beginning of the film we first meet Babe in a pig farm where the pigs are shipped to meat factories.…
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The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. Dir. Wes Anderson. Touchstone Pictures. 2004.
Animal Misunderstanding and Mystery in Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou In The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (dir. Wes Anderson, 2004) Zissou, the famous oceanographer, tackles familial issues while on board his ship The Belfonte. When Ned Plimpton, a man claiming to be his son, comes on board, Zissou’s marriage begins to…
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Mouse Hunt. Dir. Gore Verbinski. Dreamworks. 1997.
Mouse Hunt is the story of two brothers, Ernie and Lars, who, following the death of their father, go through many financial setbacks. Ernie loses his restaurant due to a cockroach that he accidently brings there with a box of cigars he got from his father’s last possessions. The cockroach ends up being eaten by…
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Dolphin Tale. Dir. Charles Martin Smith. Alcon Entertainment. 2011.
Dolphin Tale begins with a view of the underwater world, showcasing the inquisitive nature of dolphins to their surroundings. Dolphin Tale is based on the remarkable true story of a Bottlenose Dolphin named Winter. When Winter’s tail becomes hopelessly entangled in a fisherman’s ropes causing Winter to wash ashore, a friendless and lonely boy tries to help…
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The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Dir. Wes Anderson. Buena Vista Pictures. 2004.
Wes Anderson’s fourth full-length film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, details the life of oceanographer and documentarian Steve Zissou following the death of his professional partner and best friend. The film, like many directed by Wes Anderson, ultimately became a cult classic, but not before being met with serious criticism from film critics. The dissonance…
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Flicka. Dir. Michael Mayer. 20th Century Fox. 2006.
Flicka is a film partially based on the novel My Friend Flicka by Mary O’Hara written in the 1940’s. This movie however, is set in the 21st century and the main character is not a boy, but a girl by the name of Katherine “Katy” McLaughlin. This gender change from book to movie could be…
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Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure. Dir. Darrell Rooney and Jeannine Roussel. Walt Disney. 2001.
In this sequel to Lady and the Tramp, the story of Lady’s and Tramp’s rambunctious young pup, Scamp is followed. Scamp desperately wants to be free to run, play, chew, and to not follow the strict rules imposed upon him through family life. In search of the adventure he wants, Scamp runs away from home…
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Earthlings. Dir. Shaun Monson. Nation Earth. 2005.
Fig. 1 The original release poster for Earthlings, the film’s oft repeated challenge to the viewer to ‘make the connection’ features prominently alongside pictures of plants, animals and the evil emperor Commodus (representing humankind). ‘How do you know if someone is Vegan? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you’. So proclaims an increasingly popular meme. Type preachy into…
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Gates of Heaven. Dir. Errol Morris. New Yorker Films. 1978.
Figure 1: The original cinematic release poster for Gates of Heaven. Eighty-Five minutes of predominantly medium close-up shots without narration with a focus, superficially at least, on the pet cemetery business. You may think that the initial prognosis for Errol Morris’s 1978 debut Gates of Heaven is bleak; indeed you would be in good company.[1] Morris’s fleeting between concepts led…