Tag: HAR: Language/Communication
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The Cat From Outer Space. Dir. Norman Tokar. Buena Vista Distribution. 1978.
As we see a feline descend from the tongue-like walkway of a cat-shaped spaceship, Disney’s 1978 film The Cat From Outer Space opens, invoking a science-fiction both familiar and alien. It is difficult to not subscribe to the film’s endearing nature of a developed animal companionship as a bond forms between human and cat that goes beyond…
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A Cat’s Life (‘Une Vie de Chat’). Dir. Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli. Gebeka Films. 2010.
A Cat in Paris (‘Une Vie de Chat’, 2010) is a charmingly funny, aesthetically beautiful and surprisingly thrilling French animated film, directed by Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli. [1] The film tells the story of Dino, a Parisian cat who leads a double life. By day he is a comforting and playful pet to a…
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Tarzan. Dir. Kevin Lima, Chris Buck. Disney. 1999.
Tarzan-Two Worlds Tarzan is best characterised by the title of the film’s opening song Two Worlds, sang by Phil Collins. This is the story of flora and fauna, represented by gorillas, colliding with mankind in Disney’s 1999 classic. The film sees an orphaned human baby in Africa adopted into an ape family by a Gorilla mother. The…
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Stalker. Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky. Mosfilm. 1979.
Andrei Tarkovsky’s science-fiction film, Stalker (1979), is marked by depression, desolation and barren wastelands.[1] The film’s loose narrative follows three men into The Zone, a disturbingly conscious and supernatural area of nuclear disaster. Whilst there, the eponymous Stalker encounters a black dog at various points on the journey. As the Stalker waits for his wife in the bar,…
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Planet of the Apes. Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner. 20th Century Fox. 1968.
The portrayal of animals in Planet of the Apes [1] is interesting as the roles of humans and animals are essentially reversed from what we are used to in everyday life. The apes are anthropomorphised – they walk and talk like humans, they ride horses, they are intelligent and literate, they have a justice system and…
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Tangled. Dir. Nathan Greno and Bryon Howard. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 2010.
A modern twist on the traditional fairytale story of Rapunzel, Tangled is an edgy take on a timeless classic. Disney’s 50th animated family film is a fantasy, fairytale, romance, comedy and musical. Set in a fantasy kingdom far-far away, the King and Queen’s baby daughter Rapunzel is stolen by the evil Mother Gothel, who wants to use…
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Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Dir. John Hughes. Paramount. 1986.
(Scene beginning 55:15) ‘Mr. Rooney’s sole motivation is “getting Bueller”,’ claims Media Literacy author Art Silverblatt; ‘To reduce Ferris’ influence over the other students, which would re-establish adults, Rooney, that is, as traditional authority figures.’[1] Rooney does not ‘get Bueller’ however, thus never truly establishes himself as having any executable authority. This is no better exemplified than through…
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We Bought a Zoo. Dir. Cameron Crowe. 20th Century Fox. 2011.
We Bought a Zoo is a film loosely based on a memoir of the same name by Benjamin Mee which describes his purchase and restoration of the failing Dartmoor Wildlife Park – subsequently renamed Dartmoor Zoological Park – in preparation for its reopening. In the film, the death of Benjamin’s wife has led to a…
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My Neighbour Totoro. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli. 1988.
My Neighbour Totoro is a Japanese animation film produced by Studio Ghibli and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was released in 1988 and helped bring fame and recognition to Studio Ghibli as a viable film production company. The film begins with Kusakabe Tatsuo and his daughters Satsuki and Mei moving to the countryside in order…
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How to Train Your Dragon. Dir. Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders. Paramount Pictures. 2010.
Dreamworks’s 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon tells the story of Hiccup, a Viking whose village is regularly attacked by dragons. Due to his physical weakness and lack of fighting skills Hiccup is an outsider in his village, the others not recognizing his high intellect and inventiveness as useful. Yearning for recognition and acceptance, Hiccup joins…