ZooScope

Tag: Childrens

  • Ratatouille. Dir. Brad Bird. Buena Vista Pictures. 2007.

    Brad Bird’s 2007 computer-animated film Ratatouille uses its mode as animation to estab­lish an alternate logic to the real world, enabling communication between humans and animals. The turning point that establishes this communication is when Lin­guini captures Remy in a jar. After asking a series of aggressive questions, Linguini calms down, and begins to take a more…

  • Ratatouille. Dir. Brad Bird. Buena Vista. 2007.

    In a world where humans are relentlessly attempting to control and train animals, it is intriguing to see this portrayed in reverse in Brad Bird’s, Ratatouille.[1] Remy the rat is depicted as significantly smarter than the human (Linguini), as he teaches him how to cook and navigate his way around a kitchen; whilst Linguini remains predominantly confused…

  • Beauty and the Beast . Dir. Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. Buena Vista Pictures. 1991.

    Beauty and the Beast, Disney’s early 90s offering follows the protagonist Belle, a clever and beautiful woman. Frustrated at her small town life, she hungers for adventure. She rejects the relentless advances of Gaston, the loathsome but handsome villain and instead falls in love with a ‘hideous beast’; a former prince who has been cursed…

  • Shaun the Sheep The Movie. Dir. Mark Burton and Richard Starzak. Studiocanal. 2015.

    Shaun the Sheep The Movie trailer Following his introduction in Nick Park’s Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave, the woolly star, Shaun the Sheep, received his own spin off show creatively named Shaun the Sheep. Nearing the 20th anniversary of the nation’s introduction to him, the eponymous sheep was given his own movie. Shaun the Sheep The Movie follows the antics…

  • 102 Dalmatians. Dir. Kevin Lima. Walt Disney Pictures. 2000.

    Feathers Amongst the Furs: The Revival of Power Dynamic in 102 Dalmatians The visuals of the original 1961 animation and the 1996 live-action adaption have become iconic to those familiar with the story of 101 Dalmatians. The sea of black spots dispersed across endless white furs. The gangly, striking screen presence of the archetypal villain,…

  • Beauty and the Beast . Dir. Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise. Buena Vista Pictures. 1991.

    Ostensibly, the transformation of a dog into a footstool in Beauty and the Beast operates as a humorous pun.[1] Visually, it works: Sultan in footstool form is around the right size, his tassels stand in for a head and tail and his decorated legs make convincing paws. Furthermore, the transformation of a dog into a footstool plays on…

  • Ponyo. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Toho. 2008.

    ‘What? She is captured by a boy? This is very bad. Is it already dead?’ yells Ponyo’s father Fujimoto when realising his precious daughter is being kept as a pet fish. The line raises an interesting question, does cinema represent animal domestication as kidnapping or an addition of family member? Hayao Miyazaki’s animated fantasy film Ponyo retells…

  • The Jungle Book. Dir. Wolgang Reitherman. Walt Disney. 1967.

    The Jungle Book (1967) Dir, by Wolfgang Reitherman Disney’s The Jungle Book is a film of young boy trying to prove he can survive in the jungle whilst being persuaded by a cast of animals to return to human life. Mowgli is defiant that he belongs in the jungle but the inherently conservative, and ultimately racist, message…

  • Ratatouille. Dir. Brad Bird. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. 2007.

    Brad Bird’s Ratatouille is a film in which the human community collides with that of the rats, through Remy the rat’s aspiration to be a cook for humans despite his status as animal vermin (assigned to him by those he wishes to cook for). Remy the rat’s first encounter with a compassionate, caring ‘human’ arises from an…

  • The Little Mermaid. Dir. John Musker and Ron Clements. Buena Vista Pictures. 1989.

    Ariel, a headstrong 16-year-old mermaid, has dreams of living as a human on land, despite her father, King Triton’s, constant reprimands regarding her desire for human/animal (mermaid) interaction. With the help of her friends, Flounder (a loyal, although cowardly, tropical fish), Sebastian (a red Jamaican crab and servant of Triton), and Scuttle (a foolish seagull…