Ron Fricke’s 1992 documentary film Baraka highlights the darker side of human-animal relations through a sequence comparing two very similar visual images. One scene depicts a crowded subway while another shows new-born…
read moreWithin Ratatouille, the scene in which Remy figures out that he is able to control Linguini, Brad Bird confounds expectations through undermining the stereotype about the animality of rats, and using…
read moreBrad Bird’s Ratatotuille challenges how we stereotypically perceive rats through the depiction of the protagonist, Remy. The narrative shows Remy struggling with finding acceptance in human society, despite the exceptional cooking talents…
read moreBrad 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…
read moreThe final shot of Ratatouille, the image of a rat in the restaurant sign, symbolises the fantasy of the rat and human worlds crossing, and the idealisation of a rat chef…
read moreKes (dir. Ken Loach, 1969) depicts working class Billy using his kestrel training as a means of escaping the grim reality of life in the industrial north, while the juxtaposition of…
read morehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQeI4i2Nzw8&feature=emb_title Restaurant scene Starzak and Burton challenge our perceptions of human and animal intelligence in Shaun the Sheep The Movie. Aardman excel in casting the animals as intelligent and exasperated by…
read more‘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…
read moreBrad 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…
read moreDespite its iconic lusty red petals, Sam Mendes’ American Beauty is abundant with other striking images – one of which is a dead bird, lying on the grass of the school grounds,…
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