Tag: Coming-of-Age

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…

13th January 2017
The Little Mermaid. Dir. John Musker and Ron Clements. Buena Vista Pictures. 1989.

Human ignorance towards carnivorous eating behaviours are challenged in the ‘Les Poissons’ scene of The Little Mermaid, where a flamboyant chef sings about cooking fish as he prepares them. One example is through the physical appearance of the fish. Unlike the individualised, colourful and characterised animals in the rest of the film, the fish to be…

5th January 2017
Ratatouille. Dir. Brad Bird . Walt Disney Pictures . 2007.

Ratatouille’s exploration of human cruelty towards rats is encapsulated in the scene where an old lady discovers that her home is infested by rats. The old lady is introduced through a static frame that captures her sleeping peacefully whilst highlighting her pink garments, both of which depict her as a stereotypical gentle grandma figure. …

2nd January 2017
Ratatouille. Dir. Brad Bird . Walt Disney Pictures . 2007.

Ratatouille’s exploration of human cruelty towards rats is encapsulated in the scene where an old lady discovers that her home is infested by rats. The old lady is introduced through a static frame that captures her sleeping peacefully whilst highlighting her pink garments, both of which depict her as a stereotypical gentle grandma figure. …

2nd January 2017
Fly Away Home . Dir. Carroll Ballard. Columbia Pictures, Sandollar, The Saul Zaentz Film Center. 1996.

Fly Away Home focuses on 13-year-old Amy Alden who has just lost her mother due to a car accident. She has to move to her dad Tom, whom she hadn’t seen for years and whose passion for pottering aircrafts seems weird to her. Being alone, Amy finds a nest with 16 eggs, which have been abandoned…

29th June 2016
Fly Away Home . Dir. Carroll Ballard. Columbia Pictures. 1996.

Fly Away Home focuses on 13-year-old Amy Alden who has just lost her mother due to a car accident. She has to move to her dad Tom, whom she hadn’t seen for years and whose passion for pottering aircrafts seems weird to her. Being alone, Amy finds a nest with 16 eggs, which have been abandoned…

23rd June 2016
Marley and Me. Dir. David Frankel. 20th Century Fox. 2008.

Synopsis The film Marley and Meis the film version of the correspondent novel by John Grogan, published in 2008. It thematically focuses on a family that learns important and essential life lessons from their often naughty and neurotic dog.

18th May 2016
Fantastic Mr. Fox. Dir. Wes Anderson. 20th Century Fox. 2009.

In his 2009 indie comedy, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson blurs the distinctive boundaries between the real and fictional presence of animals within the film. He creates tension between the real animal he is portraying and the anthropomorphised animal he has created in order to repurpose the way we think about animals. Rather than thinking of…

14th March 2016
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.

25th January 2016
Hanna. Dir. Joe Wright. Focus Features. 2011.

Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011) combines quick-fire action scenes with intricately beautiful cinematography to create a dark, modern fairytale full of suspense and wicked delight. Raised in the snow-covered forests of Finland, Hanna has traverses the wilderness, speaks a myriad of different languages, hones her encyclopaedic knowledge, and has a number of aliases hidden up her…

25th January 2016