Category: Article Type: Full
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Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Dir. Rupert Wyatt. 20th Century Fox. 2011.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Photo credit: Wikipedia) An exploration of ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ is a thrilling science fiction film created as a prequel to Franklin Schaffner’s 1968 original film ‘Planet of the Apes’. Rupert Wyatt uses the story of one man…
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The Beach. Dir. Danny Boyle. 20th Century Fox. 2000.
In Danny Boyle’s adaptation of Alex Garland’s adventure novel ‘The Beach’ Richard (a young Leonardo DiCaprio) who, dissatisfied with western attitudes, visits Bangkok to seek an exotic new perspective. He learns of an island heralded as paradise and subsequently acquires a map. Richard and an European couple find the island and the small community which lives there governed…
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Black Beauty. Dir. Carol Thompson. Warner Bros. 1994.
Good Places, Make Good Horses Black Beauty (1994), directed by Carol Thompson is a film adaption of the 1877 Anna Sewell children’s novel of the same name. The film follows the life of Victorian black stallion Black Beauty and his companions after he leaves his idyllic first home to serve new owners both kind and…
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The Aristocats. Dir. Wolfgang Reitherman.. Disney. 1970.
Disney’s The Aristocats[1] follows a family of pet cats who are stolen from the house of Madame Bonfamille, a Parisian aristocrat, when her butler, Edgar, discovers that they will inherit the estate before him. Edgar drugs and abandons the cats in the countryside outside of Paris, presuming that they will be lost forever; however he doesn’t count…
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War Horse. Dir. Steven Spielberg. DreamWorks. 2011.
Steven Spielberg’s War Horse (2011) tells the story of teenager Albert Narracott and his horse Joey, tracing their journey from rural Devonshire farm to the Western Front. Joey is the dominant character within the film with the plot line tied directly to his experience rather than Albert’s. Throughout the course of the film Joey encounters…
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Dumbo. Dir. Sam Armstrong, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts and Ben Sharpsteen. Disney. 1941.
Walt Disney’s classic animation Dumbo (1941) was successfully released in order to uplift the war time atmosphere. A collaboration of directors worked together in order to make the film such as: Sam Armstrong, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts (all sequence directors) and Ben Sharpsteen as supervising director. Dumboexplores the life of a baby elephant whose…
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I Am Legend. Dir. Francis Lawrence. Warner Bros.. 2007.
Synopsis: I Am Legend, a cinematic adaption of a 1954 horror novel of the same name, is a post-apocalyptic “zombie” film with a difference; the genetically-engineered virus which transforms humans into flesh-eating undead is also active in some animals. The survivors we meet, Robert Neville (Will Smith) and his dog, co-exist with these monstrous creatures…
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Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Dir. Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook. DreamWorks. 2002.
The eponymous character Spirit in Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)[1] is a stallion who lives freely in an area that would come to be known as the ‘Old West’. Unusually for an animated film, none of the animal characters partake in any spoken dialogue with eachother -instead expressions, naturalistic animal sounds and movement are used to…
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The Swan Princess. Dir. Richard Rich. New Line Cinema. 1994.
The Swan Princess follows the story of Princess Odette and Prince Derek. From the time they are children it is hoped that they will marry and join their kingdoms, and as they grow up they fall in love with each other. However, their romance is thwarted by the evil warlock Lord Rothbart, who kills Odette’s father…