Category: Article Type: Zoom
-
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde. Dir. Charles Herman-Wurmfield. Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer. 2003.
Legally Blonde 2 attempts to interrogate the controversial issue of animal testing in a comedic domain. Although the realm of comedy is potentially limiting, due to its farcical and flippant nature, Herman-Wurmfield uses humour to expose issues in animal experimentation through his protagonist, Elle Woods. Elle realises her beloved pet Chihuahua Bruiser’s mother is trapped…
-
Shark Tale. Dir. Bibo Bergeron, Vicky Jenson, Rob Letterman. DreamWorks Animation. 2004.
DreamWorks Animation’s Shark Tale plays with the binary of shark/fish through the characterization of Lenny the vegetarian shark and his performativity of conventionally human gender stereotypes. The family animation draws attention to the common opinion of meat eating as conventionally masculine, relating to an acceptance of violence, and vegetarianism as typically associated with femininity, empathy and compassion…
-
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Dir. Garth Jennings. Touchstone Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 2005.
Garth Jennings’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy introduces its science fiction narrative by destabilizing the assumption that human intelligence is greater than that of all other animals by conceptualizing that they are in fact only “the third most intelligent creature on the planet” and dolphins are the second. A satirical image entitled ‘Why Dolphins are the…
-
Ratatouille. Dir. Brad Bird. Buena Vista Pictures. 2007.
In the Ratatouille scene where Remy and Emile enter an old woman’s house, questions of animal invasion into human spaces are raised. The woman’s reaction is to kill the trespassing rats; a reaction which, in reality, we would be unlikely to query. Fig. 1 As uncaged rats they represent pests, undesirable to find in one’s home. The…
-
Outbreak. Dir. Wolfgang Peterson. Warner Bros. 1995.
Outbreak forewarns of the devastating consequences of animal exploitation, encapsulating them in the scene where Jimbo delivers Betsy, host monkey for the deadly Motaba virus, to a pet shop where she will be sold illegally. The camera employs an establishing shot of Jimbo’s car on a road surrounded by a forest, juxtaposing road and forest in…
-
Ratatouille. Dir. Brad Bird . Walt Disney Pictures . 2007.
Ratatouille’s exploration of human cruelty towards rats is encapsulated in the scene where an old lady discovers that her home is infested by rats. The old lady is introduced through a static frame that captures her sleeping peacefully whilst highlighting her pink garments, both of which depict her as a stereotypical gentle grandma figure. …
-
Ratatouille. Dir. Brad Bird . Walt Disney Pictures . 2007.
Ratatouille’s exploration of human cruelty towards rats is encapsulated in the scene where an old lady discovers that her home is infested by rats. The old lady is introduced through a static frame that captures her sleeping peacefully whilst highlighting her pink garments, both of which depict her as a stereotypical gentle grandma figure. …
-
Planet of the Apes. Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner. 20th Century Fox. 1968.
Planet of the Apes (1968), dir. Franklin J. Schaffner It is from the Planet of the Apes’s first encounter with its ‘more or less human’ characters that we are made aware of their muteness; something that shapes the human/animal relations throughout the film. In his ignorance of the subverted hierarchy the film explores, Taylor, the main character,…