ZooScope

Tag: Family

  • Ratatouille . Dir. Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava . Walt Disney Pictures. 2007.

    The 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 being accepted by human society. However, this is ultimately impossible, as darker themes lurk beneath this image. The sign features a silhouette of a rat…

  • 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…

  • Flushed Away. Dir. David Bowers and Sam Fell. Paramount Pictures. 2006.

    Within Flushed Away, the scene of Roddy meeting Sid for the first time utilises their anthropomorphism to project, not only social class, but bullying societal pressures and to scrutinize those who do not conform. Illustrating Roddy’s adopted social class is the way in which he is anthropomorphised, assuming the role of the upper class. However, Roddy’s upper…

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

    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 humans, meanwhile humans are portrayed as less so, and oblivious to animal antics happening directly in front of them. The scene in which the sheep dine…

  • 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…

  • Duma. Dir. Caroll Ballard. Warner Bros Pictures. 2005.

    Duma. Dir. Caroll Ballard. Warner Bros. Pictures. 2005. Duma follows the narrative of a young boy named Xan embarking on an epic adventure to release his pet cheetah, Duma, to the wild. The ever-looming inevitability of Xan and Duma’s separation is the emotional core of the film, and Ballard’s depiction of their perilous journey together explores…

  • The Jungle Book. Dir. Jon Favreau. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 2016.

    Man vs. Nature in The Jungle Book (2016) The Jungle Book is a film that essentially explores the relationship between man and nature through the portrayal of different animal wills and how they respond to one another, forming a variety of tensions and friendships. This unfolds through the story of Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves in the…

  • 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…