Tag: Adventure
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How to Train Your Dragon. Dir. Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders. Paramount Pictures. 2010.
Despite the movie’s title, How to Train Your Dragon does not present ‘trained’ dragons. The title insinuates the shift from foe to friend is a means of ‘training’ a dragon, when this is actually achieved through the development of a mutual understanding of the other. The film’s false equation of this mutual agreement reduces the…
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Storks. Dir. Doug Sweetland, Nicolas Stoller. Warner Bros.Pictures. 2016.
Anthropomorphism and stereotypes are often utilized in children’s animation since they cater to a broad audience. The film Storks uses anthropomorphic animals in order to create vivid and lively characters with human characteristics whom the audience can relate to. Moreover, integrating well-known stereotypes in the storyline can evoke empathy or disdain for real animals, such…
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The Fox and the Hound. Dir Ted Berman, Richard Rich and Art Stevens. Walt Disney Productions. 1981.
The Fox and the Hound (1981) revolves around an orphaned red fox named Tod (Mickey Rooney) who befriends a young hound puppy, Copper (Kurt Russell). The two grow very fond of one another, despite their natural born differences, although their human owners Slade (Jack Albertson) and Tweed (Jeanette Nolan) do not share the same friendliness.…
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The Grand Budapest Hotel. Dir Wes Anderson. Fox Searchlight Pictures. 2014
“Did he just throw my cat out the window?” The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014) uses the death of a domestic animal to drive the dark comedic elements within the film, without accentuating sinister undertones that the audience would expect to accompany the death of a beloved animal. Anderson transforms the cat into a…
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Guardians of the Galaxy. Dir. James Gunn. Marvel Studios. 2014.
Set in a parallel science- fiction universe, Guardians of the Galaxy[1] parodies Marvel’s usual ‘superhero’ film, by casting five criminal anti- heroes as the protagonists. The film follows five intergalactic – outlaw – anti- heroes as they are brought together by being arrested, over a bounty hunt on a mysterious orb. Previously individuals just working…
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The Secret of NIMH. Dir. Don Bluth. MGM/UA Entertainment Company. 1982.
“We can no longer live as rats. We know too much.” The Secret of NIMH is remembered by many as a dark, creepy, and disturbing film, with retrospectives published in recent years referring to it as leaving basically every kid who sees it with a lingering dread. Don Bluth’s directorial debut after leaving the Walt…
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True Grit. Dir. Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. Paramount Pictures. 2010.
Although the tone of True Grit (2010) is primarily light-hearted and comedic, the narrative explores dark themes of grief and revenge. After her father is murdered, fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) embarks on a journey to ensure her father’s killer is hanged for his crime, enlisting the help of infamously violent and self-serving U.S. Marshal…