ZooScope

Category: Language: English

  • Monsters, Inc. Dir. Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich. Buena Vista Pictures. 2001.

    Lovable monsters like Sully and Mike of Pixar’s Monsters, Inc (Docter, Silverman and Unkrich, 2001) manage to make the monster world not so scary. Despite their initial employment as professional children ‘scarers’ for the Monsters Inc. corporation that uses scream- energy to power Monstropolis (the film’s monster-inhabited society), the pair prove themselves to be more…

  • Kes. Dir. Ken Loach. Tony Garnett. 1969.

    Ken Loach (dir.) “Kes” 1969 (Fig 1: Promotional Poster for the film) Since the dawn of man Birds, or more precisely, the notion of flight, has fascinated humankind. Proud and mighty birds of prey have found their way onto flags and military insignia as symbols of strength, independence and freedom. As such, the idea of…

  • Touching Wild Horses. Dir. Eleanore Lindo. Chesler / Perlmutter Productions. 2002.

    Image 1: DVD Cover Image Eleanore Lindo’s 2002 film, Touching Wild Horses, tells the story of a young boy named Mark (Mark Rendall), who is sent to live with his aunt Fiona (Jane Seymour) after a tragic car accident kills Mark’s father and sister and puts his mother in a coma. On Sable Island, both characters…

  • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli. 1984.

    Hayao Miyazaki’s 1984 film ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’ follows the adventures of a young princess named Nausicaä who is part of one of the last tribes of humans remaining on Earth. A toxic forest has taken over most of the world as a result of mankind’s pollution; Nausicaä seeks to save the…

  • Treasure Planet. Dir. Ron Clements. Disney. 2002.

    In the animated film Treasure Planet anthropomorphism is used as a narrative tool within a wider concept of Hyperrealism which is ‘Disney Studio’s application of realist conventions of narrative, logical causality and character motivations – breaking with the largely non-realist and anarchic dynamics of the cartoon form.’ Anthropomorphism is used throughout this film as many of the…

  • Flipper. Dir. James B. Clark. Ivan Tors Productions. 1963.

    Flipper is a family film from the 1960s that centres on one fateful summer when 12 year old Sandy has an extraordinary experience with a dolphin. Sandy enjoys helping his father with the family fishing business but unfortunately a disease called the red plague is killing off all of the fish; when their town is hit…

  • Bringing up Baby. Dir. Howard Hawks. RKO Radio Pictures. 1938.

    Bringing up Baby is a film which explores the relationship between humans and animals through the use of doubling. This is particularly evident in the scene where Susan lets a wild leopard escape from a circus and culminates in the scene where the leopard is wrangled into a jail cell by David. The use of doubling…

  • Seabiscuit. Dir. Gary Ross. DreamWorks Pictures. 2003.

    ‘Seabiscuit’[1] is a 2003 film adapted from Laura Hillenbrand’s 2001 novel Seabiscuit: An American Legend[2].The film follows the life story of an undersized racehorse named Seabiscuit, during the time of the Great Depression in the United States. Seabiscuit is born with the promise of a great future owing to his bloodlines and the stream of success displayed…

  • Moonrise Kingdom. Dir. Wes Anderson. Focus Features. 2012.

    Wes Anderson’s 2012 Moonrise Kingdom tells the tale of Suzy and Sam as they run away together. Our two young characters are pursued by Suzy’s family and Sam’s scout troop.

  • Avatar. Dir. James Cameron. 20th Century Fox. 2009.

    Set in the year 2154, Avatar (Dir. James Cameron, 2009) follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic ex-marine who is given the opportunity to take part in a program on the distant moon Pandora. Pandora is inhabited by a wealth of creatures and biodiversity, as well as the desirable mineral ‘unobtanium’ which the humans are attempting to…