ZooScope

Tag: Ostrich

  • 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 Lion King. Dir. Jon Favreau. Walt Disney Pictures and Fairview entertainment. 2019.

    Jon Favreau’s 2019 recreation of The Lion King is something David Attenborough would be proud of, or is it? Disney seems to have a habit of reproducing the same stories, and after 25 years that’s just what they did with their animated animal take on Hamlet. Favreau’s CGI Lion King tells the story of a…

  • Hannah Montana: The Movie. Dir. Peter Chelsom. Walt Disney Pictures. 2009.

    Hannah Montana: The Movie is about Miley Stewart, a secret pop sensation known as Hannah Montana, getting caught up in the perks of her famous life. Her fed-up father, Robby Ray, forces Miley to visit her family on her hometown farm in Crowley Corners, Tennessee. Robby Ray threatens to take away Hannah Montana forever if Miley…

  • Aladdin. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Disney Studios. 1992.

    Ron Clements’ and John Muskers’, Aladdin (1992) [1]  follows the life of a poor street dweller and his sidekick monkey, Abu in the fictional city of Agrabah. After being coerced into entering the subterranean ‘cave of wonders’ by the villain Jafar and his accomplice parrot, Iago, Aladdin retrieves a magic lamp containing a genie. With the…

  • IRIS. Dir. Albert Maysles. Magnolia Pictures. 2014.

    Albert Maysles’ 2015 documentary film IRIS provides a portrait of the nonagenarian fashion icon, Iris Apfel. Filming inside Iris’s apartment, Maysles presents us with many images of animal representations. The animals are artificial reproductions of the ‘real’ thing. They are aesthteic objects concerned only with style; carriers of pleasure rather than carriers of meaning. Taking Whitney Rugg’s…

  • The Lion King. Dir. Roger Allens and Rob Minkoff. Buena Vista Pictures. 1994.

    The Lion King[i] tells the story of Simba, a lion cub born into the monarchy and heir to his father Mufasa, ruler of all the animals in the Pride Lands. From learning how to pounce, to going on adventures with his best friend Nala, Simba has the perfect life, up until Mufasa is killed by Scar,…

  • 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…

  • Earthlings. Dir. Shaun Monson. Nation Earth. 2005.

    Fig. 1 The original release poster for Earthlings, the film’s oft repeated challenge to the viewer to ‘make the connection’ features prominently alongside pictures of plants, animals and the evil emperor Commodus (representing humankind).   ‘How do you know if someone is Vegan? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you’. So proclaims an increasingly popular meme. Type preachy into…

  • Up. Dir. Peter Docter. Disney Pixar. 2009.

    Pixar’s 2009 film Up tells the astonishing tale of Carl, a 78 year old who wishes to fulfil his and his late wife’s dream of reaching Paradise Falls in South America. From meeting as kids, Ellie and Carl dream of being adventurers, and share a passion for the explorer C.F. Muntz and his ‘Spirit of…

  • Blade Runner. Dir. Ridley Scott. Warner Bros. 1982.

    Dystopian L.A. 2019 Blade Runner (1982) takes place in a futuristic and dystopian Los Angeles. Heavy industrialisation has caused great damage to Earth’s atmosphere and ecosystem, wiping out most of the planet’s animal species. ‘Replicants’, androids visually identical to humans, are engineered to perform manual work on off-world colonies. Their use is banned on Earth, where…