ZooScope

Tag: Dogs

  • John Wick. Dir. Chad Stahelski. Summit Entertainment. 2014.

    John Wick is an exploration of domesticated animals and their hierarchical standing. The entire narrative centres around a revenge plot following the killing of Wick’s dog. It raises important questions of domestication, anthropomorphism, and worth. Following the opening montage of scenes detailing the loss of Wick’s wife, he is shown to have been given a…

  • Hannah Montana: The Movie. Dir. Peter Chelsom. Walt Disney Pictures. 2009.

    Hannah Montana: The Movie is about Miley Stewart, a secret pop sensation known as Hannah Montana, getting caught up in the perks of her famous life. Her fed-up father, Robby Ray, forces Miley to visit her family on her hometown farm in Crowley Corners, Tennessee. Robby Ray threatens to take away Hannah Montana forever if Miley…

  • The Fox and the Child. Dir. Luc Jacquet. Pathé. 2007.

    Luc Jacquet’s The Fox and the Child depicts an unnamed girl (Bertille Noël-Bruneau) exploring the French countryside and following its animal inhabitants. She develops an obsession with the titular fox and it becomes more trusting, but the girl disastrously oversteps the boundary and attempts to make the wild animal her pet. The film is interested in binaries…

  • Beginners. Dir. Mike Mills. Focus Features. 2010.

    Beginners (2010) follows a middle-aged man named Oliver and his father’s dog, Arthur, a Jack Russell Terrier, after his father has passed from cancer. Arthur is portrayed in a very non-animalistic way. He never barks, only really making a sound when he is crying as Oliver tries to leave him at home alone. Arthur just…

  • The Golden Compass. Dir. Chris Weitz. Warner Bros. Pictures. 2007.

    The Golden Compass is set in a parallel universe where old fashioned styles (like cars and dresswear) mixes with modern technology, such as electric motors. In this universe everyone has what is called a daemon, who act as guides to their masters. These daemons take form in a specific animal that best represents their master’s personality.…

  • The Fox and the Child. Dir. Luc Jacquet. Pathé. 2007.

    When asked in an interview how he approached making The Fox and the Child (2007) following the popularity of The March of the Penguins (2005), French director Luc Jacquet replied: I went into my childhood; into a memory I have of having looked into the eyes of a wild fox when I was a kid. I also noticed that…

  • Mulan. Dir. Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook. Buena Vista Pictures. 1998.

    Disney’s Mulan (1998) takes on a Chinese folktale of a woman who takes the place of her father in the fight against the Huns who have recently invaded China. The film follows the adventures and troubles of Mulan, a young woman who breaks the stereotypes of Disney’s classic princess, as well as the expectations which…

  • Kiki’s Delivery Service. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli. 1989.

    In Kiki’s Delivery Service one of the representations of animals is Kiki’s cat and familiar, Jiji. A familiar is a supernatural entity that can aid a witch with her magic, often in the form of an animal, and in this film Kiki, the young witch, can communicate with Jiji, an adult male cat, but no one else…

  • Isle of Dogs. Dir. Wes Anderson. Fox Searchlight Pictures. 2018.

    Wes Anderson’s 2018 film Isle of Dogs depicts a dual representation of animals. The film’s plot is largely focused on the escapades of dogs, and for the most part these animals are highly anthropomorphised by Anderson’s direction. On the other hand, the majority of the humour in the film is constructed by Anderson occasionally reversing…

  • How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Dir. Donald Petrie. Paramount Pictures. 2003.

    How to Lose a Guy in 10 days is a romantic comedy about a magazine writer, Andy, who is conducting a social experiment that involves her acting in very cliché forms of crazy to see what it takes to really drive a man away. However, Andy’s target, Ben, is an advertising executive that wants to take…