Category: Distributor: DreamWorks Pictures
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The Cat in the Hat. Dir. Bo Welch. DreamWorks Pictures. 2003
It’s fun to have fun but you have to know how! So, when up-tight, control-freak Sally, and born-to-be-wild child Conrad are left at home for the day, Welch’s reimagining of Seuss’ eponymous, anthropomorphic, wisecracking Cat in the Hat makes it his mission to show them how to enjoy themselves within the bounds of their constraining,…
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The Cat in the Hat. Dir. Bo Welch. DreamWorks Pictures. 2003
Bo Welch’s 2003 interpretation of Seuss’ eponymous, anthropomorphic The Cat in the Hat throws the human exceptionalism paradigm into full-blown turmoil as Mike Myers embodies a character that takes on various socially specific, “human” roles all whilst staying in character as Cat. Though it is not unusual for a film of this genre to depict…
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Shrek 2. Dir. Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon. DreamWorks Pictures. 2004.
DreamWorks Pictures reintroduces us to some familiar faces from fairy tales – with a comedic twist! The world of Far Far Away parodies and subverts traditional ideas of what a ‘happily ever after’ means. In this universe, the monsters of the story are now the good guys, and our frightening but lovable ogre protagonist must fight…
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The Prince of Egypt. Dir. Brenda Chapman, Simon Wells, Steve Hickner. DreamWorks Pictures. 1998.
Following the life of Moses, The Prince of Egypt tells an adaption of the story of the Book of Exodus. In the opening scene of this animated musical, the audience are introduced to Ancient Egyptian culture as a significant importance is placed on their religion through the enormous statues of their gods. These gods, specifically…
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The Road to El Dorado. Dir. Bibo Bergeron, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Don Paul. DreamWorks Pictures. 2000.
The Road to El Dorado subverts humanity’s usual place at the apex of creation. In this scene the High Priest, Tzekel-Kan, explains to Tulio (whom he believes to be a God) the importance of human sacrifice in gaining the fear and worship of the people, thus placing humanity somewhere near the bottom of a divine…
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Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Dir. Adam McKay. DreamWorks Studios. 2004.
Anchorman, starring Will Ferrell as the eponymous Ron Burgundy, is a tongue-in-cheek comedy that parodies 1970s American culture through its extremely self-conscious, gross-out style. The absurdity of Ron’s character is epitomized by the heavily exaggerated ‘man’s best friend’ relationship he has with his dog Baxter, whose most significant moment in the film comes when he…
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Over the Hedge. Dir. Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick. DreamWorks. 2006.
After Verne, an anxious turtle, breaks through the boundary of the manicured hedge he enters a pristine garden on the periphery of a middle class suburbia. A far cry from the overgrown animal-populated wood, the suburban garden represents a natural environment controlled by humans, a place where that which is considered wild or ‘other’ is…
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Bee Movie. Dir. Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith. DreamWorks. 2007.
This textbook human thinking opens Bee Movie [2], an animation which follows the film’s aptly alliteratively named protagonist, Barry B. Benson, an aspiring bee, on his search for individuality in a conformist bee society that has worked non-stop for ‘27 million years’. Barry, disillusioned at the thought of working for the rest of his life…