animal movie review

animal movie review

Exploring the Impact and Representation of Animals in Film: A Comprehensive Analysis

1. Introduction to Animals in Cinema

Until today, however, some scholars have argued that film is one of the most extraordinarily unique and significant media platforms hosting stories about animals. Since it can record animal subjects/people interacting in situ, and through narrative cuts and the narrative process, film has a strong language feature to communicate beyond species barriers and to share further discussions about the experiences of the animal others, particularly without language and particularly with the now rare presence of the non-human animals.

Despite the ubiquity of animals in real life, humans are still apparently lacking an accurate, honest understanding of animals. Since living in a society in which humans are hegemonic, both personal and social interactions with animals are deeply immersed in anthropocentrism and speciesism—the belief that humans are the most important species; another species is considered less valuable than humans and ought to serve human purposes and interests. Many scholars have highlighted that different media platforms (literature, television, and/or online social media) tend to be venues of anthropocentric and speciesist representations.

This paper primarily investigates and discusses the complex interactions between viewers and nonhuman animals (animals) as cultural texts and the roles of these animals in films from analytical, historical, ethical, and pedagogical perspectives. This paper argues that film is a significant platform to understand the background power of solidified anthropocentrism and speciesism in human society and the inherent problematics of human-nonhuman animal relations in reality.

2. The Evolution of Animal Characters in Film

At the very beginning of cinematography, the Lumiere brothers captured on film brief images of performances put up by other creators. Here they showed to the public their surprising new device, whereas animals were the first subject chosen by competitors like R.W. Paul in England or George Melies in France. They were well aware of their potential to make people thrilled. Dubey maintains that animals appear in the first versions of any artistic expression. If we are talking about a literary genre, we are certainly wrong. However, the intimate bond established between humanity and what we call animals appears in the Neanderthal cave drawings, the oldest human representation we know of, and subsequently becomes permanent. Kawamura has called our attention to the extraordinary capacity of expression of animals in the drawings. It was not known when he wrote his study that – thousands and thousands of years before – the same had been captured in the first cinematographic images.

It was during the 19th century when animals first appeared on the silver screen. As anthropological curiosities and scientific studies reached the cinema, animals were among the most popular subjects both of the reels and the zoos where cinema was showcased. We all have seen the first trains captured on film rushing at the audience and the kinescope in which a dancing woman turns from right to left and – oh surprise – from left to right when the sequence is projected. Twenty years after those astonishments, people did not pay any more for them. The only surviving subjects from the early days of cinematography are those either entertaining, shocking, moving emotionally or making us laugh. And animals have always been considered as a source of these feelings, leading us to accompany joyfully or sorrows feelings which are not ours, are fictionally simulated.

3. Themes and Messages Portrayed through Animal Characters

Different explanations have been explored while explaining animal storytelling impact. Winning or losing the food, avoiding or becoming the victim of a disease, conducting mating rituals, fending off predators, caring for their young, seeking shelter, achieving social position, having and losing autonomy, finding prey, moving according to seasons, fires, and floods, and doing preparation, anticipation, and defense are the known behavioral patterns in animals that human viewers respond with sympathy. Highly acclaimed animal films or films embedding a range of sentient beings are established as contributing to the development of empathy. They have both the potential to do this and may even be movies embraced by animal advocates. They have been included in the criteria for humane education resources such as KIND News Animal Sense Communication courses by the American Anti-Cruelty Society, The Humane Society, and the National Association to Promote the Well-being of Children.

Human representation is not the only aspect of a film through which important and influential messages could be conveyed. Animals’ characters portrayed in film might hold a deeper and more multidimensional aspect, creating a range of themes and messages that could provoke emotional and/or even anthropomorphic responses, questioning people’s humanity, solidarity, and inner drive for caring toward others. However, by focusing on the animal character engagement potential (or lack of) within films, we inevitably reveal the hierarchy of speciesism often deeply established in people’s minds and supported by society and its ideologies.

4. Ethical Considerations and Animal Welfare in Film Production

It is necessary to discuss the welfare of animals used in film production as they continue to be an integral part of the narrative. It seems absurd to many people to imagine that animal welfare considerations, which we use as standards to assess how we raise, interact with, and use any animal in our care, do not generally apply to the conditions and treatment to which working animals in the film industry are subject. While current legislation does aim to act as an external force to deal with the historical malpractice that has been observed in the entertainment industry, the graduations and gaps of policy enforcement upon the film industry are significant. Or are they? Recent developments have seen animal welfare concerns being raised directly within films through the narratives themselves, encouraging greater awareness of the issue from the viewing public that subsequently affects film industry practices. It is then also imperative that the moral awareness and responsibility of the industry follow suit: modern cinema must use animals responsibly and humanely. However, in order to achieve a more ethical and positive outcome, it is important to first consider the current guidelines and standards that exist.

Given the visual and narrative prominence of animals in many films, it is not surprising that ethical questions and dilemmas have become a key part of film production, especially in terms of animal welfare. It is important to note that behind the shiny, epic, and elaborate animal depictions that capture audiences is the reality of complex, sometimes treacherous filming processes, scripts that are not necessarily friendly to animals, often unrealistic depictions, and the use of large numbers of animals that not only divert from the nature of any animal but create a myriad of logistical problems in order to achieve satisfactory shot sequences. Furthermore, as animal rights and welfare standards are continuously evolving, it is likely that the standard for minimally acceptable treatment of animals in film will always be a moving objective as well.

5. Conclusion and Future Directions in Animal Representation in Film

Surprisingly, the representation in many emotional animal protection-related video film details is very different from the large daily practice of using animals for human surrogates and playthings, including factory farms, laboratory tests, and sport consumerism. This research may still be compared with the careful delineation of objects, animals’ wit and attention, as superimposed by intrinsic social aspects. Gruen investigated the relationship between the animals appearing in the film and the surrounding area and found that outspoken documentaries depicting the tragic lives of the residents, especially the scenes in the urban areas, and the desire (psychological motivation, initiation phase, social stress) of the industrialized society around a simulated obviously unaware at fellow animals increase the film viewing audience’s pleasure during the film screening. However, it is important to note that preceding research concerned the investigation of documentary and report film content intended to document the benefits that animals possibly offer.

This research presents one of the most comprehensive film analyses known to date and finds that compared with humans of dominance, sexual object, or both aggressive/dominant and super female roles, most animal film representations are inconsistent with their real-life ecology and roles. Although the presented theoretical framework is film and content for animal actors/agents, the research also opens up pathways to promoting and enhancing societal reflections. Basically, both iconic scientific journals and popular articles report that while the average consumer of emotional animal protection-related videos seems naïvely convinced of their emotional reflection, the editorialist perspective may be stronger than factual details.