ZooScope

Tag: Fish

  • Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!. Dir. By. Peter Lord. Columbia Pictures. 2012.

    Aardman never shy away from the ludicrous. So when a crew of incompetent pirates endeavour for protagonist The Pirate Captain to win the Pirate of the Year Award by relying on the commercial value of his prized dodo companion Polly (who should have been extinct for 150 years and is believed to be a parrot)…

  • Surf’s Up. Dir. Ash Brannon & Chris Buck. Columbia Pictures. 2007.

    Surf’s Up. Dir. Ash Brannon & Chris Buck. Columbia Pictures. 2007.

    Released in 2007, during the surge of penguin movies, Surf’s Up is a unique animated mockumentary exploring how penguins are the ‘real’ inventors of the worldwide sport, surfing. A documentary crew (ironically, Brannon and Buck cast themselves) follow the journey of Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf), a Rockhopper penguin from Antarctica who dreams of becoming a…

  • Dumbo. Dir. Tim Burton. Walt Disney Studios. 2019.

    Magic. Mayhem. Friendship. Freedom. Come on down to Medici’s circus, where the newest attraction is an adorable baby elephant with ears too big to handle. Watch him soar above and follow his heart as he dreams of being reunited with his mother, so tragically torn apart! Follow him to Vandevere’s circus, where he is a…

  • A Christmas Carol. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 2009.

    ‘Even the blind men’s dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, “No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!’ [1] Guide dogs have been a symbol of…

  • Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay, 2021, Netflix

    “You’re going to die! You’re going to die!” Through a plot that follows the fight for a response to humanity’s impending doom when a comet is discovered to be heading for Earth, the message of Don’t Look Up is clear: unless those with power start listening to those calling for action against global disasters –…

  • Rango. Dir. Gore Verbinski. Paramount Pictures. 2011.

    Rango. Dir. Gore Verbinski. Paramount Pictures. 2011.

    As Rango’s terrarium hits the concrete and shatters, the bleak reality of human nature and the wake of destruction we leave becomes apparent. To humans, animal suffering is a mere bump in the road – literally. In the opening scene of Rango, the car in which Rango is travelling hits a passing armadillo attempting to…

  • The Simpsons Movie. Dir. David Silverman. 20th Century Fox. 2007.

    Why does everything I whip leave me? – Homer Simpson, The Simpsons Movie The Simpsons Movie is characterised by imprisonment vs agency – the central plot revolves around the incarceration of the town of Springfield using a giant glass dome as a punishment for environmental damage – therefore it seems only right to extend the…

  • The Craft. Dir. Andrew Fleming. Columbia Pictures. 1996.

    The Craft is a 1996 supernatural teen horror film, in which animals feature heavily as a representation of the otherness felt by four teenage girls who possess extraordinary powers. The film presents witchcraft and magic as something that is inextricable from nature and animals, in line with Neo-Pagan traditions. This scene is particularly striking, as…

  • Brother Bear. Dir. Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker. Walt Disney Pictures. 2003.

    Brother Bear works to trouble the relationship between humans and bears through destabilising the idea that bears are inherently threatening and monstrous. The children’s animation follows Kenai, a young human boy who is transformed into a bear by spirits after killing a bear to avenge his brother’s death. Within this scene, Blaise and Walker use…

  • Oldboy. Dir. Park Chan-wook. Show East & Tartan Films. 2003.

    Park Chan-wook’s 2003 film Oldboy is at its core a thriller, a revenge story of Oh Dae-su (played by Choi Min-sik) imprisoned in a room for 15 years without any knowledge of the reasons why, and who is then suddenly released back into the world and told by his captor to try to work out…