Tag: Wildebeest

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…

2nd February 2022
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…

14th January 2022
The Lion King. Dir. Jon Favreau. Walt Disney Pictures and Fairview Entertainment. 2019.

‘There’s a stampede, in the pride lands’, Zazu’s memorable line is word-for-word identical to the 1994 animation. But where the animation focused on a simple plot, Jon Favreau’s recreation with CGI animals creates depth by building more of the animals’ characterisation into the story, I will question how this creates problems with humanising certain animals…

6th January 2022
The Good Dinosaur. Dir. Peter Sohn. Disney Pixar. 2015.

Ever wondered what life would be like if dinosaurs never became extinct? Well, you’ll never have to wonder again thanks to The Good Dinosaur. In this alternate world human-animal relationships are reversed as the dinosaurs are civilised and positioned above humans hierarchically. In doing so, this film evokes questions surrounding the ethics of human practices…

3rd January 2022
Zootopia. Dir. Byron Howard and Rich Moore. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 2016.

Dreams can be powerful things; and to Judy Hopps, no dream is greater than becoming Zootopia’s first rabbit police officer. After years of chasing her goal however, Judy discovers that maybe her dream isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Finding herself in a world dominated by bigger, stronger animals; Judy faces discrimination as she…

23rd January 2017
Zootopia. Dir. Byron Howard and Rich Moore. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 2016.

Zootopia [1] presents a story about the first rabbit police officer teaming up with a fox confidence trickster to stop their city descending into anarchy. The film is a modern take on a classic animal fable, using Aesopian tropes of animals representing certain personalities alongside a technology rich, modern setting.

23rd January 2017
The Wild. Dir. Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams. Buena Vista Pictures. 2006.

The Wild YouTube video of the film’s theatrical trailer: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE3mEgqqlCM> ‘Start spreading the newspaper.’ Disney’s 2006 animation, The Wild, by first-time director and ex-special effects artist Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams, is a family comedy film centred on a group of zoo animals: Samson the lion, Bridget the giraffe, Nigel the koala and Larry the anaconda. Along with their…

22nd January 2017
The Wild. Dir. Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams. Buena Vista Pictures. 2006.

ZooScope ZOOM: The Wild Above: ‘This isn’t Happiness’ – 07/04/2014 front cover illustration of The New Yorker by Peter DeSeve shows a vegetarian lion eating salad whilst looking distractedly at a zebra. Living in a world of cultural ethics clearly has its difficulties for a wild predator. Image from https://uk.pinterest.com/kmeyer/peter-deseve/ ‘The core paradigm of many narratives engaging…

22nd January 2017
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,…

25th January 2016