ZooScope

Tag: HAR: Metamorphosis/Transformation

  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I. Dir. By David Yates. Warner Bros Pictures. 2010.

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I. Dir. By David Yates. Warner Bros Pictures. 2010.

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (2011) is the penultimate film in the franchise. Harry, Ron and Hermione begin a desperate race to understand the instructions Dumbledore leaves after his death, concluding they must find and destroy the horcruxes that keep Voldemort alive before he discovers their quest. The horcruxes are objects containing…

  • One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Dir. Wolfgang Reitherman, Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske. Buena Vista Distribution. 1961.

    One hundred and one Dalmatians, ninety-nine of which are puppies, in a terraced house in London. How wonderful! The perfect Disney dream ending. Or in the realms of reality, a deluge of responsibility that is only going to increase if Roger and Anita, the owners, don’t begin to take spaying and neutering seriously. It is,…

  • Taxidermia (György Pálfi, 2006, Amor Far Filmproduktion).

    Taxidermia (György Pálfi, 2006, Amor Far Filmproduktion).

    Hungarian cinema leaves us feeling stuffed! Figure A  – Lajoska Balatony surrounded by stuffed animals. Taxidermia (György Pálfi, 2006, Amor Far Filmproduktion). Pálfi’s 2006 body horror  Taxidermia, follows the story of three generations of men in three acts; each concerning a different afflicted and animalistic perversion. It begins with Morosgoványi Vendel, a sexually perverse man…

  • Corpse Bride. Tim Burton. Warner Brothers. 2005.

    Corpse Bride. Tim Burton. Warner Brothers. 2005.

    ‘In the act of othering, what is projected onto the other is all that must be refused in constructing the identity of the self’[1]. Consequently, establishing a human/animal binary often leads to a hierarchical relationship, highlighting the difference between human and non-human ‘other’. Such binary differences are reminiscent of common tropes in gothic literature, with…

  • The Good Dinosaur. Dir. Peter Sohn. Disney Pixar. 2015.

    Are you terrified of big, scary dinosaurs from films such as Jurassic Park? Well, The Good Dinosaur will change that perception. In a world where dinosaurs never became extinct, a timid and friendly dinosaur named Arlo lives on a family farm. This story follows the conventional trope of a young boy who embarks on a…

  • Ant-Man. Dir. Peyton Reed. Marvel Studios. 2015.

    Ant-Man. Dir. Peyton Reed. Marvel Studios. 2015.

    ‘You’ve yet to learn about your greatest allies: the ants. Loyal, brave, and your partners on this job.’ As you’ve undoubtedly predicted from the title, ants play a huge role in Marvel’s Ant-Man[1] (2015). Master burglar Scott Lang, recently released from prison, is determined to cease his criminal ways so he can become a proper…

  • Luca. Dir. Enrico Casarosa. Pixar Animation Studios. 2021

    At what point is a fish-out-of-water no longer a fish? Many films can be described as ‘fish-out-of-water’ stories, but very few take this as literally as Disney Pixar’s Luca. Our eponymous character is a sea monster, living with his family off the coast of the fictional Italian town of Portorosso and spending his days tending to his…

  • Wolfwalkers. Dir Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. Apple TV+. 2020.

    This wild land must be civilised. Whilst this film’s premise – the child-friendly tale of two young werewolves attempting to end Oliver Cromwell’s invasion of Ireland – may sound bizarre, it proves itself to be one of the most politically and thematically poignant children’s films of 2020. The young protagonist is Robyn, an English Puritan…

  • The Emperor’s New Groove. Dir. Mark Dindal. Walt Disney Pictures. 2000.

    The Emperor’s New Groove. Dir. Mark Dindal. Walt Disney Pictures. 2000.

    Disney’s animated comedy feature The Emperor’s New Groove follows the journey of a selfish Inca Emperor, Kuzco, who is transformed into a llama by his megalomaniac royal advisor, Yzma. In order to revert back into his human self and stop Yzma from taking over the Inca Empire, Kuzco persuades the gullible yet good-natured peasant Pacha…

  • The Silence of the Lambs. Dir. Jonathan Demme. Orion Pictures. 1991.

    Alongside terrific and terrifying characters such as Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling, there is another sinister dramatis persona evoked in Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs – that of the ‘Death’s Head Hawk-Moth’ and Buffalo Bill’s relation to them. It is unsurprising that the moth in this scene invokes dread in Clarice and the audience,…