How do we compare animated films within the given categories?
I am going to use the popular movies Spirit, Happy Feet and Shrek. They are all animated films from the DreamWorks studios. The main differences among these animated films lies in their texts. Spirit is intended for a much younger audience, having a narrow and simple story line, Happy Feet and Shrek garner a wider group ranging from toddlers who are drawn to the silliness of the characters to adult enthusiasts who enjoy clever satire. Nevertheless, the animation satisfies all viewers in its clever form and function. The primary consideration for us is how easily our students might read the political content.
Set in post Civil War America, Spirit is about a renegade horse that leads a pack of wild horses against the force of settlers who are attempting to exploit the untamed west. During the film parallel stories are conjoined as the audience is shown that both wild horses and Native Americans are part of the resistance. They are of course resisting white settlers embodied in the movie as the United States Cavalry. In a particularly revealing clip, the apparent captain of the military crew proselytizes about the sanctity of discipline and order, conceding the recklessness of free will. It is a classic rendition of conservatism or traditionalism versus liberalism or progressivism. As the directors would have it, the heroes or winners in this war are the mavericks. The rebellious spirit is celebrated while the intruders are cast as insensitive, capitalist pigs. This is an example that would fit easily into the open/ editorial category.
The animated movie Happy Feet is a great example of an allegory. Let me quickly run down the plot. An outcast penguin leaves the comfort of his habitat to find out why the fish population has run a shortage and has left his kinsmen without proper nourishment. He is captured and put into a zoo but released when humans discover that the young penguin has the ability to dance. During this time humans also realize that the fishing industry has harmed the natural penguin habitat. It is very interesting to find the film switch to realistic video that shows people arguing about policies that bear on the question of interrupting the penguin ecosystem. Eventually, men suspend their own fishing rights and restore the climate, allowing the penguin to thrive.
Okay, so it isn't the most powerful political message but that's not the point. The story builds empathy for the main character whose life is being sabotaged by an unwitting enemy. The enemy is humankind who destroy the environment. So once the audience is sufficiently in love with the central character penguin they then have no choice but to pull against humans who are hurting him and his extended family of penguins. Isn't it possible then that young people, who are living in a political era that is becoming greatly concerned about environmental conditions, couch this experience, among others, in a way that ultimately fosters an environmentalist perspective? Why not?
The plot in Shrek is a bit more allusive to this exercise because it is advertised as sheer entertainment. The Ogre is the central character who discovers love and self-reflection in the process of rescuing the person who will eventually be his bride. The story is funny and exciting. It is a smorgasbord of allusions and puns. But for the politically minded and the culturally aware it is, allowably, also a reflection of class conflict. The rich king (an intentionally napoleonic figure) is set in opposition to the poor, ugly, crude, uneducated ogre of the swamps who eventually wins the love of the princess despite his naiveté. It is a classic tale of the disadvantaged overcoming the odds.
It is also readily applicable to our lives in that our social and educational station is very closely related to our own political influence, or at the very least, the perception we have of our own abilities to be influential. It is a common sentiment among Americans who do not vote to claim, "I can't make a difference since I represent only one vote". There is a strong identification in this movie with powerlessness and oppression and the struggle to overcome, so to speak. Shrek shows us that anything is possible. Taking his lead, we can be instruments for change.
This message may not be obvious enough to make an overpowering impression, but that is truly immaterial to the argument. When we watch Shrek we are ingesting the images, the plot, the theme, the tone and allowing it to become a part of us, melding with our own notions of the world and ourselves. Again, my interpretation should not be considered the only way to derive political content, but I do insist on the idea that films make a personal intrusion whether we are conscious of it or not.
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