ZooScope

Tag: HAR: Hunting/Trapping

  • Pom Poko. Dir. Isao Takahata. Toho. 1994.

    Pom Poko[1] is a film that follows the tanuki of Tama Hills trying to halt development of their woodland through their folkloric transformation powers. In terms of how it shows the animal; the film establishes the idea that animal-human relationships are characterised by a conflict of two worlds that are equally alien to each other.…

  • Paddington. Dir. Paul King. StudioCanal. 2014.

    The 2014 film ‘Paddington’ appears to champion inclusivity and acceptance of migrants over merely wanting to observe or distance ourselves from animals and people that are different from us, just as Millicent does with her taxidermy. In essence, Paddington is a migrant, ‘an outsider trying to find a new home’ [1] in England after the…

  • Shrek. Dir. Vicky Jenson and Andrew Adamson. Dreamworks. 2001.

    Directed by Vicky Jenson and Andrew Adamson Produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg, Aron Warner, and John H. Williams Production Companies were Dreamworks, Dreamworks Animation, and Pacific Data Images _____________________________________________________ While the 2001 film Shrek has a large cast of animal characters, both mythical and realistic, it is the part of Donkey that is of real interest here. There have been a…

  • Over the Hedge. Dir. Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick. DreamWorks. 2006.

    After Verne, an anxious turtle, breaks through the boundary of the manicured hedge he enters a pristine garden on the periphery of a middle class suburbia. A far cry from the overgrown animal-populated wood, the suburban garden represents a natural environment controlled by humans, a place where that which is considered wild or ‘other’ is…

  • A Matter of Loaf and Death. Dir. Nick Park. BBC. 2008.

    Beloved characters Wallace and his side-kick canine Gromit return for another film, and this time they are running Top Bun, a brand new bakery. Business is booming for the duo, but a serial killer is on the loose, killing all the bakers in town. While Gromit begins to fear for the pair’s safety, Wallace is…

  • A Bug’s Life. Dir. Dave Foley. Walt Disney Pictures. 1999.

    The notion of capitalism is undeniably present in A Bug’s Life [1] and is a vehicle that allows the ants and grasshoppers to be considered anthropomorphic beings. Hence the parallel to the class system that exists in human society: ants being the underclass and grasshoppers being the bourgeoisie, exploiting the ants for theirlabour. Thus, A…

  • Bee Movie. Dir. Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith. DreamWorks. 2007.

    This textbook human thinking opens Bee Movie [2], an animation which follows the film’s aptly alliteratively named protagonist, Barry B. Benson, an aspiring bee, on his search for individuality in a conformist bee society that has worked non-stop for ‘27 million years’. Barry, disillusioned at the thought of working for the rest of his life…

  • Two Brothers . Dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud. Universal Studios. 2004.

    ean-Jacques Annaud transports us to the richly beautiful Cambodian jungle in the early 1920s , where two tiger cubs, Sangha and Kumal, are born to their stable and loving family unit. Their playful brotherly bond creates many adventures until violence and greed removes the two from the wild and forces them into the human domain…

  • My Dog Skip. Dir. Jay Russell. Warner Bros. 2000.

    My Dog Skip is a true story based on the early life of Willie Morris and his pet dog, Skip. The film is narrated by that of an older Willie Morris, reminiscing on those early memories that have become so precious to him. Before Skip is introduced into the Morris’ lives, Willie lacks friends, especially…

  • Ratatouille. Dir. Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava. Pixar. 2007.

    Brad 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 he has to offer. In anthropomophising Remy to directly challenge our negative perception of rats, Ratatouille promotes wider messages of hope and perseverance for the underdog, as…