Tag: cat

  • An American Tail. Dir. Don Bluth. Universal Pictures.1986

    An American Tail. Dir. Don Bluth. Universal Pictures.1986

    “There are no cats in America“ Don Bluth’s An American Tail is a 2D animation family film in which the human drama of religious persecution, poverty and immigration at the end of the 19th century is narrated through the eyes of a Russian Jewish family of mice, the Mousekewitz, and particularly through Fievel, the seven-year-old…

  • Lady Macbeth. Dir. William Oldroyd. Altitude Film Distribution. 2016.

    Lady Macbeth. Dir. William Oldroyd. Altitude Film Distribution. 2016.

    Lady Macbeth depicts the journey of Katherine, pursuing her desire after she meets a black servant Sebastian, during her life under patriarchal oppression from her husband Alexander and his father Boris. Although the film is based on Nikolai Leskov’snovel, it has been altered, projecting the unequal act of power, encompassing race, gender, and social-class status…

  • Corpse Bride. Tim Burton. Warner Brothers. 2005.

    Corpse Bride. Tim Burton. Warner Brothers. 2005.

    ‘In the act of othering, what is projected onto the other is all that must be refused in constructing the identity of the self’[1]. Consequently, establishing a human/animal binary often leads to a hierarchical relationship, highlighting the difference between human and non-human ‘other’. Such binary differences are reminiscent of common tropes in gothic literature, with…

  • Luca. Dir. Enrico Casarosa. Pixar Animation Studios. 2021

    At what point is a fish-out-of-water no longer a fish? Many films can be described as ‘fish-out-of-water’ stories, but very few take this as literally as Disney Pixar’s Luca. Our eponymous character is a sea monster, living with his family off the coast of the fictional Italian town of Portorosso and spending his days tending to his…

  • Children of Men. Dir. by Alfonso Cuarón. Universal Pictures. 2006.

    Children of Men (2006) dir. by Alfonso Cuarón is a science-fiction action drama that takes place in a Britain in 2027. The world for around 18 years has been infertile, unable to produce children. This dystopian scenario has caused all the worlds countries to collapse with the only surviving nation-state being Britain. Britain has remained…

  • Wolfwalkers. Dir Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. Apple TV+. 2020.

    This wild land must be civilised. Whilst this film’s premise – the child-friendly tale of two young werewolves attempting to end Oliver Cromwell’s invasion of Ireland – may sound bizarre, it proves itself to be one of the most politically and thematically poignant children’s films of 2020. The young protagonist is Robyn, an English Puritan…

  • The Emperor’s New Groove. Dir. Mark Dindal. Walt Disney Pictures. 2000.

    The Emperor’s New Groove. Dir. Mark Dindal. Walt Disney Pictures. 2000.

    Disney’s animated comedy feature The Emperor’s New Groove follows the journey of a selfish Inca Emperor, Kuzco, who is transformed into a llama by his megalomaniac royal advisor, Yzma. In order to revert back into his human self and stop Yzma from taking over the Inca Empire, Kuzco persuades the gullible yet good-natured peasant Pacha…

  • Blade Runner 2049. Dir. Denis Villeneuve. Alcon Entertainment. 2017.

    Blade Runner 2049. Dir. Denis Villeneuve. Alcon Entertainment. 2017.

    Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 (2017) transports us to a dystopian earth, where humans and replicants, bio-engineered humans used for slave labour, live side by side. There is a clear dichotomy within the dystopia since replicants’ entire existence is based on the premise that they are genetically coded to obey orders, rendering them docile slaves,…

  • Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. Dir. Jim Stenstrum. Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. 1998.

    Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island[1] is subversive both in terms of subverting what you’d expect from a typical Scooby outing (substituting criminals in masks with genuine monsters) and subverting ideas of what it truly means to be villainous. Immortal werecats Simone and Lena (fig. 1) sacrificed their souls to their cat god to exact revenge against…