Once Upon an Ecological Dream
Anthropomorphism and the Phenomenon of ‘human
interference’ with Nature/nature in the Disney films Bambi (1942), The
Jungle Book (1967), The Fox and the Hound (1981), Tarzan (1999),
Finding Nemo (2003) and Brother Bear (2003)
Reena Leek Supervisor: Dr. C. Lord
10195904 Second reader: Dr. F.A.M. Laeven reena_leek@live.nl Media Studies: Film Studies Word Count: 23549 University of Amsterdam
ABSTRACT
The Walt Disney Company has a substantial influence on multiple generations, which could be utilized for a good cause. Therefore I will discover that animated Disney features that portray slightly anthropomorphic animals in their natural habitat can be read as ecological films. Most Disney films carry environmental messages as anti-hunting or anti-domestication when the films are analysed through ecological theories combined with a new media theory and concepts considering spectator engagement.
Bambi and Finding Nemo are films that contain a sense of immediacy and therefore
their respectively anti-hunting and anti-domestication messages are apparent. This immediacy misses in The Jungle Book, however through a sense of place this can still be seen as an ecological film, with a minor message of preservation. Tarzan bears an anti-hunting message through the anthropological machine and the immediacy of the film. This same anti-hunting message is perceived in The Fox and the Hound, although less apparent due to the lack of immediacy. The last film is Brother Bear although there is a self-reflexive element in this film, the anti-hunting message is not perceived due to the lack of Nature as an ideal. Disney seems engaged with environmental awareness, but there could be more impact from the company.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: Ecology in Disney 4
Anthropomorphism 7
Immediacy 13
Spectator Engagement 15
Nature/nature and ‘sense of place’ 17
Conclusion 20
Human interference with nature in Bambi and Finding Nemo 22
Bambi: an accurate environment in lush Nature 23
Anthropomorphic fish and immediacy in Finding Nemo 29 Conclusion Bambi and Finding Nemo 32
The animal-raised feral child in The Jungle Book and Tarzan 35
The Jungle Book: the importance of immediacy 36
Tarzan: between animal and human 41
Conclusion The Jungle Book and Tarzan 45
Impact of humans in The Fox and the Hound and Brother Bear 48
The problem of domestication in The Fox and the Hound 49
Brother Bear: self-reflexivity due to the anthropological machine 52 Conclusion The Fox and the Hound and Brother Bear 56
Conclusion 58
Bibliography 62
INTRODUCTION: ECOLOGY IN DISNEY All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them.
– Walt Disney (Williams and Denney 63)
The influence of the Walt Disney Company is one of the most significant in popular culture. Walt Disney pioneered the notion of a standard-issue childhood memory
according to film critic Ringel (1). Particularly Disney’s animal characters belong to the cultural heritage of the West. A remarkable example of the influence of Disney comes from the musician Paul McCartney. When he watched Bambi (Algar and Armstrong, 1942) the film about a fawn who loses his mother due to hunters “as a child, McCartney felt a strong sense of empathy for the animals and revulsion at the humans’ cruelty, an experience he now identifies as foundational to his development as an activist for animal rights and conservation” (BBC News 2005 and Steindam 100). The major influence is researched in the book The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of
Innocence in this book Giroux examines the political force that shapes images of public
memory. Disney films produce the childhood fantasies that shape our “roles, values, and ideals” (Giroux 84).
However, whereas Giroux claims about race, gender and class is a critique for the Disney Corporation, I will research how the corporation tries to do their best at creating environmental awareness. Even if it is not on their agenda the Corporation does convey ecological messages in their way of storytelling. Caleb Steindam argues in his chapter “The Illusion of Life: Nature in the Animated Disney Curriculum” that “nature is a thematic and aesthetic element of nearly all animated Disney films evoking
romance, spirituality, adventure fun and absurdist fantasy.” (96) I contradict that nature is only used to evoke these elements, I think it is also used to promote environmental issues and for the service of entertainment for the enhancement of marketing and merchandising as John Parham states in his book Green Media and Popular Culture:
An Introduction (237). After all, an Earth-friendly image is crafted by the Disney
Corporation through their edutainment such as the True-Life Adventure series, nature documentaries as Bears (Fothergill, Scholey and Chapman, 2014) and the multiple Disneylands, in specific the Animal Kingdom Theme Park (Steindam 97). I will make a case that the Disney films, whose protagonists are animals and live in their natural
habitat, could be seen as ecological films. The films convey hunting, anti-domestication and preservation messages.
All the films of my case study are produced by The Walt Disney Company, with the exception of Finding Nemo (Stanton and Unkrich, 2003). For this film there was a coproduction with Pixar. However, Disney had an influence on the film since the company distributed the film and there was a partnership between the two companies. The Walt Disney Company represents the film. To narrow my research down I will look at films that feature animals as protagonists, accompanied by a low level of
anthropomorphism; this is the humanization of animals and for my corpus I distinguish the animals that do not wear clothes. I will focus on the most pure animals as possible, not animals behaving as humans. Furthermore these animals live in their natural habitats and not in a city or house. Moreover there has to be an aspect of human interference with nature. With human interference I mean that humans intrude nature and that they are altering it on purpose, in particularly the hunting and domestication of animals. Therefore I came up with the next six films in chronological order: Bambi (1942), The
Jungle Book (Reitherman, 1967), The Fox and the Hound (Berman, Rich and Stevens,
1981), Tarzan (Buck and Lima, 1999), Brother Bear (Blaise and Walker, 2003) and
Finding Nemo (2003).
All films focus on relationships within wild nature, with anthropomorphizing elements and constructed with different levels of immediacy. Immediacy is a term coined by new media theorists Bolter and Grusin and explains how a truthful depiction of nature can lead to a more concerned viewer (Remediation 28). I will use this new media theory of remediation, because it offers insights in the field of animation film about the portrayal of nature. With immediacy the screen as a medium disappears which leads to a more immediate feeling and creates a transfiguration of the environmental message of the film towards the spectator. If there is no immediacy than there is
hypermediacy; the animation is not portrayed accurate and old media is visible. For the term nature I will distinguish ‘Nature’ with a capital N, which is the idealization of Nature and ‘nature’ with a small n, which stands for the real nature. Timothy Morton, on who I will further elaborate in this introduction, makes this distinction. Some films are from the perspective of animals and other through the perspective of child
protagonists. The anthropomorphic portrayal of animals is often critiqued; Disney sentimentalizes the animals, which will be elaborated on later in this thesis. I will argue that anthropomorphism is not necessarily an unfavourable element. When the films are
watched from an ecological viewpoint the anthropomorphism helps viewers to engage with the animals on a deeper level. Therefore the audience can gain a greater degree of sympathy for the animals. Viewers could better comprehend the damage that humans cause to nature. Already since the innovative film Bambi it was clear that the
sentimental animated animals could represent more than just an adorable character. The Disney films are environmentally aware and most of them have a clear argument about ecological issues. The adoption of a narrative aligned with animal characters may have the potential to develop more than cuteness and could create active ecological members. How does the Walt Disney Company convey environmental messages through animated Disney films starring animal protagonists in natural settings? Immediacy and
sentimentalizing anthropomorphism reinforce ecological messages of Disney films. For this researchI will use the analysis of David Whitley in his book from 2012 “The Idea of Nature in Disney Animation” he combines two of his specializations: film and ecocriticism. He merges interdisciplinary perspectives on how film forges
imaginative connections between human beings and the natural world. Whitley is one of the first to write about nature in Disney and offer new insights about the relatively unfavourable portrayals of the Disney Corporation. Furthermore, I will utilise the examinations of Caleb Steindam in his aforesaid chapter in the edited book Disney,
Culture and Curriculum of 2016. Steindam explores anthropomorphism, purity and
wilderness in Disney films to explain why the Disney-generation does still not engage with nature as it could have. As can be extracted, both of these texts are recent
publications, which exemplifies that there have been written few accounts on nature in Disney. I want to analyse the depiction of nature in Disney because I have a dream that a great corporation as Disney uses its power to influence generations to be more
environmentally aware, but since some of these generations are already grown-up, I am not certain of this given; therefore I call this the ‘ecological dream’. I am not pursuing a Freudian reading about Freud’s break-through work, An Interpretation of Dreams, where the idea is that the structure of dreams and their mysteries can be decoded, but in the manner that dreams have codes (n.p.). Freud does classify a dream as a
wish-fulfilment; I will use this classifying of a dream for this thesis because a dream is a wish your heart makes.
The Disney films are categorized as a genre that originates from the fairy tale genre. According to theorist of literaryDeszcz, genres constructed by a cultural
thefairy-tale into the genre of Disney. In other words “the fairytale has been reduced to a mass-produced commodity […] to bring considerable profit.” (Deszcz 85) The
characterization of the Disney genre is as followed; first there are uncomplicated sequences of adventure with light-hearted characters, than there is a rupture in the established happy world, and finally this establishment is recovered in the end. The power of Disney goes so far that the literally predecessors of Disney retellings are secondary; Disney films establish themselves as dominant versions of the given tale and therefore shape viewers’ assumption about nature and meaning (Deszcs 86). This is also the case for Bambi, The Jungle Book, Tarzan and The Fox and the Hound. The films are often loosely based on the books and do not bear many resemblances. Moreover Disney is sometimes established as a pro-animal genre (Franklin 54). Sociologist Adrian Franklin states that the foundation of this subgenre of Disney begins with Bambi, the same film from where I start this thesis. Thus, I could extract that the films of my corpus belong to the subgenre of pro-animal genre in Disney. Characterized with the essential goodness of animals and the unpredictable treachery of humans (Franklin 54).
To analyse the Disney films of my corpus I will use different theories; the ‘structure of sympathy’ by cognitivist Murray Smith, the term nature or Nature by ecologist Timothy Morton, Giorgio Agamben’s ‘anthropological machine, ‘sense of place’ by literary theorist Ursula but foremost, I will use anthropomorphism which is the thread throughout all the Disney films. The anthropomorphism is of importance to convey the ecological messages (Bambi, Finding Nemo, Tarzan and The Fox and the
Hound), but could also reduce the ideological message (Brother Bear and The Jungle Book). The depicted aestheticized nature in Bambi, Finding Nemo and Tarzan is often
credited by its wonderful realism and the Nature is more glorified than in real life. The animators have studied the behaviour and appearances of the animals, but also of the nature itself. Therefore there is remediation in the Disney films. However, for films as
The Jungle Book, The Fox and the Hound and Brother Bear the nature is less wonderful
portrayed and this leads to a decrease of the environmental message.
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is all-encompassing in the Disney films, even though I do not want to research the extreme anthropomorphic figures such as the cloth-wearing mice in
of the time - behaving as animals are also physically altered to create more sympathy. To examine anthropomorphism thoroughly I will combine the ‘Anthropological Machine’ of philosopher Giorgio Agamben in his book The Open and I will follow media theorist Dominic Pettman’s use of this anthropological machine together with Erica Fudge’s theory concerning anthropomorphism. Agamben’s concept and Pettman’s use of this are non-ecological theories but I need those theories considering the
anthropological machine to make a case that Disney films are ecological films. Fudge’s chapter, whose scholarly concern is animal studies, is considered as an ecological text. Both Fudge and Agamben analyse the relationship between humans and animals; where Agamben’s machine analyses animals and to what extent they have human
characteristics, Fudge mainly clarifies how animals in fiction are utilized for the desire from humans to communicate with animals. Both scholars analyse anthropomorphism differently, but the human-animal relationship is in common.
For Agamben the crucial component of the anthropological machine is the way in which its optics have been altered to encourage self-reflection and nurture a sense of superiority by virtue of one’s proper humanness. Of importance for this concept is that Agamben refuses taxonomies. He claims that there are no simple categories as humans and animals, there are multiple levels between them. Some animals resemble humans in their physics, others in their behaviour. Agamben argues that to what degree some animals resemble humans should be through the anthropological machine; the ranking should be different.
The anthropological machine of humanism is an ironic apparatus that verifies the absence of a nature proper to Homo, holding him suspended between a celestial and a terrestrial nature, between animal and human—and, thus, his being always less and more than himself. (Agamben 29)
Thus, without taxonomies, the ranking in how much an animal mirrors a human should go through the anthropological machine and from there the various degrees of
resemblances could be measured. The anthropological machine provides us with lenses and mirrors from before even our first word, compelling us to look for our own
reflection, to recognize it (Pettman 8). The only difference between animals and humans is that humans can recognize themselves. In other words “man is the animal that must recognize itself as human to be human.” (Agamben 26) The anthropological machine is an abstract apparatus that consists of potent symbols, figures and tropes of belonging and exclusion (Pettman 7,8). Pettman explains the anthropological machine as followed;
humans are the anthropological machine, humans recognize themselves in other things like the resemblance with an ape or the mourning of an elephant. Agamben clarifies this by stating that Homo sapiens is not a clarified species “it is, rather, a machine or device for producing the recognition of the human.” (Agamben 26). To draw a line between the human and the animal is difficult, there are few distinctions between the two (Agamben 31). The anthropological machine “functions by excluding as not (yet) human an already human being from itself”, by animalizing the human and also by humanizing the animal (Agamben 37). The machine decided upon and recomposes the conflict between man and animal (Agamben 75). All in all, the anthropological machine is a tool to measure to what extent an animal is human. Agamben wants to get rid of taxonomies and therefore despises categories as species. Therefore he invented the anthropological machine; a new measurement between all species.
For animation the distance between humans and animals is diminished because of anthropomorphism; animals can talk and are given human features in their
appearances. Anthropomorphism stimulates an anthropocentric worldview; humans can only understand nature through a human-centered perspective. As Margaret King describes it, Disney’s depiction of nature is “not an ecosystem, but an ego-system - one viewed through a self-referential human lens” (62). Furthermore, according to Wendell Berry the anthropocentric perspective, can lead to “gross and dangerous” human behaviour (148). He also considers that “some version of self-centeredness” is
unavoidable: “An earthworm, I think, is living in an earthworm-centered world; […] for the hawk it is a hawk-centered world” (14). It is clear that only through a human lens it is possible that humans can identify or sympathize with animals, “so our perception of them is necessarily anthropocentric” (Steindam 104). Anthropomorphism could suggest a shortcut to cross-species empathy, “but this empathy remains shallow and incomplete in the absence of authentic experience with animals.” (Steindam 104) Thus,
anthropomorphism contributes to a deep level of sympathy towards the animals.
The anthropological machine explains why there are barely any insects visible in Disney films; there are few resemblances. On the contrary, mammals are much akin humans, therefore they are personalized and protagonists in Disney films. Therefore mammals, for example apes and dolphins, are considered as charismatic species. Subsequently mostly mammals are portrayed in children media. The use of animals in children’s literature is an old habit, and is one that opens up idea about how humans wish to live with animals according to animal studies specialist Fudge (69). This is an
exploration of Fudge’s chapter “Real and Symbolic: Questions of Difference” in her book Animal. Fudge argues that children and animals go well together because children lack the arrogance adults have, they might even feel related to animals.1 Extracted from this can be why so many children stories are told through animal protagonists. Fudge recognizes that childhood is a period in life in which animals are of a particular value; this can be traced in the book written for children where animals are constant present or the protagonists. (70) “Part of growing up, it seems, entails a growing away from animals.” (Fudge 73) This quote explains the fact that animals are much more apparent in media for children than in media for adults, thus in Disney. The films are primarily made for children and when humans appear in these film narratives they are often also children or youth.
In order to avoid the possibility of regarding an animal like a human we regard animals like objects because then it is possible to continue to regard them as fellow-creatures with whom we might want to converse (Fudge 110). This communication is possible in the fictional realm where some children can talk to animals; adults are not able to do this. “The communication across the species is only possible in a world where an equilibrium is perceived. Where dominion is in place such conversations cease to be possible. Only children lack, in Freud’s terms, the ‘arrogance’ that upsets the natural peace.” (Fudge 73) Children will treat animals more respectfully than human adults. This is a reason that children are represented in films with animals and can communicate with them within these films. A strange manifestation is made; with the power of communication we could probably not do horrible things to animals as is the case now. The language is the only significant difference between human and animals, “if this element is taken away, the difference between man and animal vanishes, unless we imagine a nonspeaking man […] who would function as a bridge that passes from the animal to the human.” (Agamben 36) However, Agamben states that the
presupposition of speaking man will always obtain an animalization of man or a humanization of the animal (Agamben 36). If communication between species of animals and humans were possible and the distinction between humans and animals is gone, just as in the Disney films, the world would change.
1 Freud claims children bear resemblances with the primitive man in their behaviour towards animals,
they do not show any arrogance like civilized adults. Children might even feel more akin to animals than to their elders (Freud 3).
Thus, because of anthropomorphism a troubling case comes to light. Humans cannot hear the animals speak and therefore we may be living more destructive towards them than we can imagine. As Fudge puts it: “If we could hear animals speak to each other, could we still do what we do to them?” (74) The Disney Corporation is aware of this given. Therefore they put up a sign at the Finding Nemo attraction in Disneyland Paris where the spectators can read: “If fish could talk, they’d tell you: the ocean is our home, and it’s part of your home too. Protect the ocean, protect the planet” see
illustration 1. It is a melancholy sense of the loss of communication (Fudge 75). There is a powerful desire of humans, children and adults, to get into the mind of animals and fully understand them. This desire could be the reason why animals are so central in children’s literature and films. It seems like an infantile desire, but if these narratives of communication did not exist, then the contact with a large part of our world will be lost (Fudge 76). Anthropomorphism makes humans able to comprehend the animal, which concludes in a more sentimental relationship towards them (Fudge 76).
Humans need animals to feel, even to be, human. This process of identification via negativity would be impossible without the anthropological machine of the media (Pettman 56). Starting with cave paintings of animals and resulting in the many films, including the Disney films, about animals. Increased interest in animals arises as well from outdoor leisure and hobbies, stimulating “the demand for mass media
representation of animals.” (Franklin 39) Franklin argues that a moral identity is given to animals in media representations to broaden popular support for sentimental attitudes, anti-hunting, conservation and protection (39). This statement is of importance for my thesis; the popularity of Disney can attain support through their sentimentalized animals for ecological topics as aforementioned. The question is whether humans are sincere
and feel genuine compassion for other beings or do humans only use these others “as a screen on which to project reassuringly narcissistic images of our own finer sensibilities and sensitivities?” (Pettman 60) This leads to the question of Disney, does the company try to create environmental awareness amongst their spectators, or is the sympathy created for the animals in the films only used to create popularity? Humans are narcissistic; they feel good when they have sympathy for violated animals, this is problematic because this feeling alone could create enough satisfaction for the humans. Instead they should come to real-life action against troping, angling or domestication.
Disney creates this sympathy in their animations by using anthropomorphism. Personifying of animals with human traits creates more sympathy; cuddly animals contribute to the innocent state of nature (Steindam 99). Regardless of the inherent inaccuracies of anthropomorphism, Disney animation achieves, according to former Disney animators Thomas and Johnston, ‘the illusion of life’ in its animal characters in surprisingly effective ways (9). Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson commit that they did analyse the gestures and behaviour of chimpanzees to inform about the human and animal representation of nonverbal communication alike (17). Writer of Walt Disney’s
World of Fantasy Adrian Bailey states that it is striking that Disney reminded his
animators to “keep it cute” and pinned it up on their desks (75). Concluded from this statement is that it was of importance to create sympathy for the animals in Disney animation. There is controversy around the anthropomorphism in Disney films. Ecocritic Lynne Bruckner and sociologist Liz Grauerholz both argue that
anthropomorphic images impede humans understanding and concern for animals by distorting animals’ natures (Bruckner 192; Grauerholz, 336). For the opposite reason anthropomorphism has also been assaulted, the manipulation of viewers could undue empathy for animals; as when Field and Stream magazine assaulted Bambi’s “outright anthropomorphism as brainwashing” (quoted in Cartmill 6). “This attack implies that anthropomorphism is inherently deceptive, a perspective that emerges to some degree in other critiques of Disney films.” (Steindam 103) I agree with Steindam’s statement “anthropomorphism allows for increased communication and identification with the human audience.” (104) Anthropomorphism creates sympathy from the audience towards the animals. The anthropological machine gives insights about to what degree animals can be seen as human and to what extent the feral children, Tarzan and Mowgli, resemble more to humans or animals.
Considering the word realism is a complex term, perhaps a more usable word is
immediacy; explained by new media theorists Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin.
They discuss it as the achieving or an attempt of reality ignoring and denying the act of mediation (Bolter and Grusin, Configurations 312). With immediacy the act of
mediation is neglected because of the high degree of reality. I use terms of these new media theorists because issues of ‘reality effects’ or verisimilitude and pleasing to the eye illusions about the raw qualities of nature are there to ensure that spectators are all dazzled into thinking it is not only real, but somehow, free from the torture from us hairless apes, the homo sapiens.
Immediacy is a term that is derived from the act of remediation. There is a double logic behind remediation; there is the transparent immediacy and hypermediacy. Bolter and Grusin do not claim that immediacy, hypermediacy and remediation are universal truths; they regard them as interpretive practices in specific times and groups (Remediation 21). Therefore, I will use the terms the same way they do, I will utilize the terms on the Disney animated films in an interpretative sense. The ultimate goal of immediacy is to erase the medium entirely; for example Virtual Reality where the screen already disappears (Bolter and Grusin, Remediation 24). Bolter and Grusin explain immediacy as a sense of belief of the reality in the image (Remediation 31). The new media theorists claim that: “If immediacy is promoted by removing the
programmer/creator from the image, it can also be promoted by involving the viewer more intimately in the image.” (Remediation 28) Immediacy thus creates a more engaged viewer towards the film, whether the animation is computer generated or not. Immediacy has to compete with the term hypermediacy; which import earlier media into a digital space and therefore not erases the medium but enhances it. For instance for a computer, the desktop is filled with familiar icons such as a brush for the painting programme, the interface is thus reinforced and visible for the user. With hypermediacy the mediation is obviously visible (Bolter and Grusin, Remediation 33). To summarize in Bolter and Grusin’s own words: “If the logic of immediacy leads one either to erase or to render automatic the act of representation, the logic of hypermediacy
acknowledges multiple acts of representation and makes them visible.” (Remediation 33,34) Hypermediacy can also manifest itself in the physical world, for instance in theme parks (Bolter and Grusin, Remediation 34). Thus whereas the multiple
strive a sense of immediacy. Remediation is thus the combination of immediacy and hypermediacy. The two elements of remediation are not only contradictory to another, but also dependent on each other (Bolter and Grusin, Configurations 314).
To use the term immediacy might sound uncanny because I am dealing with animated films, but the animations offer more insights about immediacy. In one way because animation can stand out because of its degree of immediacy and truthful depiction, where new techniques are being developed to strive for a more authentic feeling of the film. In the other way because animation can create a new wonderful world, which could be so enchanting that, the spectator admires the world and forgets the screen as well. “The logic of hypermediacy expresses the tension between regarding a visual space as mediated and as a ‘real space’ that lies beyond mediation.” (Bolter and Grusin, Remediation 41) The real space of Disney’s animated features is the natural habitat of the animals, which is mediated in a glorified manner, but in reality the nature is not always that lush. Therefore, immediacy and in a lesser way hypermediacy in Disney films causes a sentimentalized depiction of the Earth, and when the humans do not interfere with Nature it resembles a close to perfect habitat for the animals. Finding
Nemo, Bambi and Tarzan create this feeling of immediacy visualizing a detailed and
real natural world, and create a more ecological aware spectator. Even though the mediation cannot be completely ignored because of the drawn or computer generated animations that show the production process. Remediation is almost like a human desire for media perfectibility and seeks for the illusion of immediacy and Disney too wants the power of illusion. Immediacy in combination with anthropomorphism causes that Nature itself is being anthropomorphized: Earth is personified in a beautiful character that is important for the narrative. Finding Nemo, Bambi and Tarzan are acknowledged of their beautiful and immediate impression of different tropical ocean environments (Whitley 129). Each film strives to be realistic in their depiction of nature, in the visual images at least, and this enhances the ecological messages as anti-hunting, preservation and anti-domestication of the films.
A proper way to convey ecological messages is through spectator engagement towards the film characters. Therefore I will use Murray’s Smith’s ‘structure of ‘sympathy and Edward Branigan’s model ‘level’s of narration’. These canonical models offer a way to analyse in what degree spectators feel engaged with the film and their protagonists. This will clarify in the film analyses how an anti-hunting message is better conceived when there is empathy for a protagonist.
An important model to research the emotional attachment from the spectator towards the characters of the film is Smith’s the structure of sympathy. Smith is a cognitivist theorist who is against the idea of identifying with a character; spectators are not able to identify with a certain character, according to Smith than the spectator would completely become a character that is not possible. Nevertheless they are able feel empathy towards them. Therefore he designed a new model where the degree of empathy from the audience towards the screen can be defined. Although, Smith is not an ecological theorist I need the structure of sympathy to examine the level of sympathy and how this connects to anthropomorphism.
Murray discusses that this model is structured in three levels: ‘recognition’, ‘alignment’ and ‘allegiance’. The first level is recognition and defines the spectator’s construction of a character (Smith 40). This is a commonplace act of recognizing a person as a person and an animal as a certain type of animal. The character becomes a coherent individual by their physical appearance and their behavioural characteristics. For instance in The Jungle Book the spectator recognizes Mowgli as Mowgli because of his appearance.
The second level consists of ‘alignment’ and this level indicates in what way a spectator has access to the actions of a characters and to what extent they feel and know (Smith 41). Alignment consists of two interlocking functions: ‘spatial attachment’ and ‘subjective access’. The amount of screen time is related to the spatial attachment for example the onscreen-time of a character or a point-of-view shot. Both these elements create a spatial connectedness between the spectator and a character. Imagine if the audience sees a conversation from Bambi to his mother, if there is a point-of view shot from Bambi’s perspective, than the audience sees the same perspective as the little deer. Consequently there is a certain degree of sympathy for Bambi since the audience shares the same frame with the character. Subjective access pertains to the degree of access the audience has to the subjectivity – the feelings or thoughts – of the characters (Smith 41).
This can happen through a narrator or through the speech of a character. In Brother
Bear the human protagonist literally transforms into a bear in a scene, in the further film
he is a bear and thus he learns through other bears. At one particular moment the audience sees a flashback in his mind that delivers more information and intersects two parallels stories together. Through this subjective access the audience feels aligned with the protagonist. This makes him a concerned father instead of an annoying
overprotective one. The more screen-time a character has and information about a character an audience has; the more aligned will an audience be with that character.
At last there is allegiance and this is the deepest level of sympathy, it discusses the moral and ideological evaluation from the spectator towards the character (Smith 41). The factors that contribute to allegiance are: the actions of a character,
iconographic and music (Smith 42). The context of a character is important in order for the audience to evaluate the actions of him or her. Take for instance Finding Nemo, the audience knows from a flashback why Marlin is so scared to loose Nemo. For all the Disney films accounts that the empathy towards the characters is of importance for the degree of concern towards the animals or nature. Audiences are more likely to become environmental aware when they are on a higher level of sympathy with the film characters.
Another method to measure the degree of sympathy towards a character is through Edward Branigan’s model ‘levels of narration’. To strengthen the research of audience engagement I will combine the structure of sympathy with the levels of narration to accomplish a more coherent spectator engagement. Branigan analyses spectator engagement on the level of the narrative. He discusses multiple levels and on each separate level the spectator has a different engagement with the character. Top-down the first level is the historical author; this is a low level of engagement. Next in line are the extra-fictional narrator, the non-diegetical narrator and the diegetical narrator: these narrators are respectively in the fictional world, the story world and the scene. The next level is the character self, followed by external focalization this is the dialogue of a character. After this Branigan goes deeper into the perception of a
character and thus the thoughts, the same level as subjective alignment from Smith. The level that generates the most engagement is deep internal focalization; the spectator is aware of the thoughts and dreams of a certain character (Branigan 88). The three ways to attain information from a character is through a narrator, through actions of
information (Branigan 89). The different levels of narration are perfectly combined with Smith’s model. The models are complementary to research the level of spectator
engagement in the films.
Film is a useful medium for spectator engagement with characters, the model of Branigan could also be utilized on literature, but Smith’s structure of sympathy is only applicable on film. Since the subjective access and spatial attachment discusses the amount of screen time and different perspectives that create engagement. Therefore I end up withWalter Benjamin who wrote: “technology is the mastery not of nature but mastery of the relation between nature and humanity.” (quoted in Agamben 83) Thus, the movie camera teaches a lot about the relationship between nature and humanity. The technology of the movie camera through animation is how the Walt Disney Company creates a relationship between the spectators and nature. This is in line with the structure of sympathy since all the levels this model; recognition, alignment; consisting of spatial attachment and subjective access and allegiance are perceived through a camera. The relationship between nature and humanity is created on screen and therefore also needs a structure of sympathy to empathize and understand nature. The structure of sympathy is a perfect way to analyse anthropomorphism and the animal thoughts and behaviour to engage with an environmental message.
Nature/nature and ‘sense of place’
Thus Smith’s theory of a structure of sympathy is important because it allows the spectator to be engaged with Nature on each separate level: recognition, alignment and allegiance. I have been using the word nature with a small n or a capital N. Both words have a different meaning, which is coined by ecologist Timothy Morton. He intersects his main thought on object-oriented thought with ecological studies. In his book
Ecology Without Nature, Morton proposes that ecological criticism must be divested of
the ramification of civilization and nature, or the idea that nature exists as something that sustains civilization. The Ecological Thought derives on this theory and here he creates the term dark ecology that explains the irony and ugliness of nature. According to Morton Nature is an ideal; an artificial construction that does not appear in the real world. Important for this research is the way he creates a distinction between the words ‘Nature’ with a capital n and ‘nature’ with a small n. ‘Nature’ fails to serve ecology and
highlights it unnatural qualities (Morton, Ecological Thought 3). These unnatural qualities are “hierarchy, authority, harmony, purity neutrality and mystery.” (Morton,
Ecological Thought 3) The Nature shown in the Disney films copes with the unnatural
elements as harmony and purity; Disney shows a perfect world instead of the real world. Morton claims that modern society has damaged ecosystems, species and the global climate. “Disney frequently presents nature as a state of purity. These depictions often contain moral or spiritual implications, distinguishing good from evil within a
dichotomized worldview.” (Steindam 99) This glorification of Nature is in line with Nature with the capital N. When I will speak about Nature; I mean the fantasized, harmonious and glorified lush nature of in the animation film.
The other ‘nature’ is an arbitrary rhetorical construct; it is a construction that does not live without the text we create about it (Morton, Ecology 22). Ecological writers propose a new worldview, but all their research actually leads them further away from nature. ‘Nature’ is an ideal image of what nature actually is; it is a mere reflection of the self (Morton, Ecological Thought 5). It is a fantasied idea of humans; perfect in line with nature depicted in Disney. Therefore I will use the term ‘Nature’ for the idealized image of nature in Disney films and ‘nature’ for the common use of the word and talk about the real world nature. Since Disney films are animated the depiction of Nature is always a fantastical setting.
The lush Nature contributes to a wonderful sense of place, but also an unreal one. The degeneration of nature is rarely shown, the dehydration or extinction of some animals is not spoken of. There are two elements of the choice of this depiction of nature; the first one is positive and it creates glorification where viewers attain a deep level of engagement with the wonderful Nature. The second element is more negative because viewers do not see the real, terrific nature and thus can believe a fictional truth about nature. The only hazard comes from man including their hunting and fire. Of course these are real life problems as well, but the extinction of species because of hunting and other non-human caused dangers such as harsh elements of nature as dehydration, are not shown in the fantastical setting of the Disney films. “A starving or dying animal or a struggling population can invoke much more sympathy than an unhealthy ecosystem…” (Franklin 59) Thus, a lush nature in combination with a dying animal generates much more sympathy and could create more awareness. The horror of degeneration is in contrast with the safe, cuddly animals of Disney. Thus, for Disney the ideal nature is a colourful, blooming nature with happy animals. While Morton claims
that there is a dark ecology, which is the opposite of the ideal nature of Disney, namely a de-idealized nature with the irony and ugliness of nature.
It is of importance to divide nature and Nature, because the distinction between the real nature and the lush representation of Nature works well with the analysis of the Disney films. Nature is idealized and romanticized whilst nature is what humans do to it, thus the interference of humans with nature. The term ‘nature’ is a troubled one and therefore it is better to create a distinction between at least two definitions of this concept. Since the meaning of nature in a sentence is now easier conveyed.
Furthermore I will use another ecological concept, Ursula Heise’s ‘sense of place’. This is defined as a “familiar idea in American environmentalist discourse: in order to reconnect with the natural world, individuals need to develop a ‘sense of place’ by getting to know the details of the ecosystems that immediate surround them.” (Heise 28) Heise claims a local approach to the environment is needed to protect the global environment. The contemporary problem of people is that they do not know the plants that are surrounding them but they do know some elements on a larger scale of the stratosphere (Heise 28). The alienation from local nature, caused by the intensifying of globalization, should disappear. The global sense is contemporary stronger than the local sense of place. The concept a sense of place leads to the assumption that knowing who you are, is in relation to knowing where you are: this creates an inner geography by which we locate the self (Heise 29). Thus, the local environment and the home are important to create an identity.
There are four environmental perspectives that emphasize a sense of place as a basic perquisite for environmental awareness: spatial closeness, cognitive
understanding, emotional attachment and an ethic responsibility and care (Heise 33). On these four elements I will analyse the Disney films in regard to the sense of place. I will explain these four elements in regard to my own thesis, thus how I will use these
elements. The spatial closeness expresses how close and engaged someone is with a landscape; this could be generated through an immediate depicted nature. Finding Nemo sets a great example of this. Even though humans are barely in the sea, still the film creates a spatial closeness through the immediate and lush representation of Nature. Fudge’s element of cognitive understanding leads to a deep understanding of nature through the characters in the film. This leads to next element of the sense of place namely the emotional attachment to nature, this could intertwine with the sympathy towards a character and how this characters’ perspective towards Nature is. Mowgli
loves the jungle and since the audience has empathy for the man cub they also feel emotional attached to Nature. And last there is an ethic responsibility and care, the final element and I think the ultimate goal for the Disney films. When the audience feels aligned with the characters in the film this could transfer to the fictionalized nature. The audience could create an ethic responsibility for the animated Nature in Disney films and as a consequence to the ‘original’ nature that is depicted in the Disney features.
The sense of place also reflects on a sense of home. Ecology has its roots in oikos, which in Greek translates to the word home; therefore ‘home’ and ecology are intersected. In the Disney films this search and need for a home is what drives the plot. In Finding Nemo and The Jungle Book the search for a home is important for the
protagonist. In a less visible way this search is also visible for Tarzan, Brother Bear and
The Fox and the Hound. In this search for home the audience spectates the surroundings
and nature of the inhabitants and this strong feeling creates a more concerned attitude towards the shown environment in the film. Thus, by the sense of place the audience learns about the natural environment of the protagonists of the Disney films and can create awareness about ecological messages.
Conclusion
To explore the ecological dream I have categorized my thesis in three different main chapters. In each chapter I will analyse two films and I will sometimes reflect on the previous discussed films. The films are connected on the level of human interference, categorized by to the degree in which humans are apparent in the films. My first chapter will consist of the films Bambi and Finding Nemo. In both these films the humans are barely or not visible, nevertheless, humans still have a major influence on the plot. In the second chapter I will analyse the adopted feral children of Disney; Tarzan from
Tarzan and Mowgli from The Jungle Book. The human impact is not too apparent
because animals raise both protagonists within the jungle. It is only when civilized humans become involved that the troubles begin. In my third chapter there is a high degree of alterations in nature caused by humans. In both Brother Bear and The Fox
and the Hound the humans have a big influence. For The Fox and the Hound this is
expressed in domestication of animals, and in Brother Bear the transformation of a human into an animal leads to new insights considering hunting.
The discussed theories of this chapter will be used in every chapter of my thesis. However, for each chapter my main focus will be on several theories. The structure of sympathy theory combined with Branigan’s level of narration and the general theory considering anthropomorphism will be apparent in each chapter, because these theories contribute to my main argument and the level of engagement created by these three theories are of importance for conveying the ecological message of each film. I am making a case that Disney films can be seen as ecological films. The focus of each chapter is on different theories. However, this does not mean that they are excluded from the other chapters. Each theory is intertwined with the chapters singular from the focus. For my first chapter “Human interference with nature in Bambi and Finding
Nemo”, my theoretical focus is on immediacy and on Morton’s Nature/nature because
of glorified and authentic depiction of Nature. For my second chapter “The animal-raised feral child in The Jungle Book and Tarzan” I will combine the anthropological machine and immediacy as central theories. The anthropological machine can offer insights about to what degree the protagonist are considered human or animal. For my third and last chapter “Impact of humans in The Fox and the Hound and Brother Bear” my focus will be on the anthropological machine and the sense of place. The
anthropological machine comes primarily to its right concerning Brother Bear, whereas the sense of place offers insights considering domestication in The Fox and the Hound. To concentrate on different theories in different chapters I will argue that each animated Disney feature of my corpus can be seen as an ecological film since they conveyed ecological messages.
HUMAN INTERFERENCE WITH NATURE IN BAMBI AND FINDING
NEMO
Bambi and Finding Nemo resemble each other considering the aspect of human
interference and on the level of immediacy and anthropomorphism of the animals. Both films portray the world of animals, respectively in the North-American forest and the Great Barrier Reef. Humans are rarely or not shown, these films nevertheless show the impact of human beings as a major influence on the lives of the animals. These two films are important because they both have an accurate depiction of nature and nearly have the same level of anthropomorphism; the animals are not wearing clothes and live in their natural habitat, but are altered for a more appealing appearance. It is striking that the aftermath of the film on an ecological level is completely different, which I will elaborate later in this chapter. I will analyse how the human interfere with nature and how immediacy, Nature and anthropomorphism are illustrated in each film and
contribute to environmental messages and awareness amongst the spectator. I will first analyse each film separately and then compare them both in the conclusion. By
comparing the films on these anthropomorphism, immediacy and the idealized Nature I will argue that both films are ecological films in the sense of a glorified depiction of Nature and both attempt to convey an anti-hunting or anti-domestication message, with a good outcome for Bambi and a sorrow result for Finding Nemo.
The films Bambi and Finding Nemo have a similar narrative. First the entire forest or ocean including every animal, plant and organism coexists with each other in line with a sentimentalized Nature. Secondly the peace is disturbed caused by human interference in Nature and this is where the plot of the films begins. For Bambi this means the death of his mother as a consequence of hunting. Therefore little Bambi must be strong and transform from a fawn into a deer to survive in the forest with the help of his friends and father. This is in contrast to the peaceful world from before his mother was murdered, a peaceful coexistence between animals. Therefore there is an idealized Nature within Bambi, which is exemplified by immediate features of the film. In
Finding Nemo the plot is driven because the title character is taken by scuba divers to
place the little clownfish in an aquarium. His father is willing to do anything to find his son and bring him back home. Thus, for both films the action is driven by the
However, there are also differences between both films. This difference is set in the beginning of Finding Nemo when a predator eats Nemo’s mother along almost all their eggs. A major difference with Bambi where all the animals live peacefully together, the ocean is more severe with predators. This is in contrast to Bambi’s forest, where the only danger comes from humans with their large scale hunting expedition. Thus, there could be said that there is more immediate natural depiction of nature in
Finding Nemo than in Bambi in the narrative, in visuals they are considered equal. The
remediation in the films is immediacy – the screen almost disappears by the accurate depiction of Nature. Both films have a high degree of immediacy on which I will elaborate in each film analysis. Remediation, Nature and anthropomorphism enhance the Bambi’s anti-hunting message, however, for Finding Nemo the affect is that more people domesticated fish – in contrast to the film’s ecological anti-domestication message. Although both direct results of the film differ, Disney still tries to create environmentally aware films by making use of engaged spectators who are aligned with the anthropomorphized.
Bambi: an accurate environment in lush Nature
Bambi is an adaptation of Felix Salten’s book: Bambi, A Life in the Woods. Disney
made a few alterations by sentimentalizing the original story, the major difference is that in Disney’s world there are no predators, while in Salten’s book this phenomenon is visible. Both stories tried to represent an accurate, immediate nature in the images and the behaviour of animals, but to ensure the empathy towards the characters
anthropomorphism is utilized. Because of all these elements, there is a lush Nature with idealized features.
This immediate idealized nature starts in the opening shot of Bambi, a tracking shot that circles inwards the forest through a misty light that slowly reveals trees, stones and a river as the camera moves into the intimate heart of the forest (Whitley 63). The spectator sees through a point-of-view of the small forest animals the special event of the birth of a fawn in the realm of animals that is normally unobserved see illustration two. This leads to an intimate feeling of sympathy, in Murray’s and Branigan’s sense, towards the forest inhabitants. Due to the anthropomorphizing of the animals,
more compassionate about forest animals and will be discouraged to grow up to be a hunter. However, according to Lutts the films immediate impact is not limited to children, it also shaped the opinions of many adults (162). Strong reactions came from audience with an environmental agenda. Bambi acquired an iconic status within discourses about hunting and environmental debates. Whitley states that the
environmental ideas reached further than one could except from a sentimental animated children’s feature (74).
The anti-hunting and preservation themes are the ecological messages of this film. An expansionist worldview is being presented in the film; this perspective is defined as a prediction of the ever-expanding world economy, including an exploitation of the resources from the natural world (Taylor in Whitley 64). This worldview is in
Bambi represented as the human hunters and their desire to exploit the environment by
killing animals. Portrayed as fearful and destructive in the film. The death of Bambi’s mother is the most important scene for this anti-hunting message, also contributing to this idea are a human-raised dog pack chasing Bambi’s girlfriend Faline and when Bambi gets shot (Lutts 161). All these events are accompanied by a general panic of the wild animals in relation to men. In the entire film not a single word against hunting is said, it al happens on an emotional level because of the alignment from the spectator with Bambi and the glorification of Nature. This sympathy with Bambi transcends to the real world. A proposal by Aldo Leopold to control an overpopulated herd of deer in hunting season was denied by public opposition in 19432. Both Susan Flader and Curt Meine suggest that Bambi played a role in this decision (Flader 199, Meine 442). This
2 Bambi was released in 1942, one year before Leopold’s proposal in 1943
conveys an ethic responsibility towards Nature due to the spatial closeness of the film’s setting and the area of the legislation. Another illustrative example of the impact of
Bambi is the no-burn policy founded by the US Forest Service; sought to eliminate even
naturally occurring forest fires (Steindam 100). These examples are a direct causal effect of the emotional attachment towards Bambi and his late mother. Significant is that humans are absent for the eye; the human figure is never seen in the entire film. Even though human actions drive the plot. It represents the animal viewpoint towards humans; they will probably die when they see mankind.
Therefore, the Nature is more visible due to the animals’ viewpoint. It is an accurate depiction of nature, even more because a new camera was invented to create a dimensional effect in the film. Whitley states that Bambi had a too high degree of accuracy that disturbed some viewers, according to them the aesthetic boundaries where pushed too far and were inappropriate for animation (61). The visual pleasure of the background is similar to landscape painting and photography and enhances the atmospheric sense of the forest. Environmental historian Ralph Lutts claims in his article from 1992 “The Trouble with Bambi: Walt Disney's Bambi and the American Vision of Nature” that to ensure the accuracy of nature, a background artist spend six months sketching nature and a pair of fawns was shipped to the Disney studio to become models as well (163). The artists even had a special training in the drawing of wildlife. A new standard for naturalistic realism was set (Lutts 163). Thus, there is a sense of hypermediacy since old media, such as drawings and paintings, are visible in the animated feature. “However, Disney did often aim for immediacy by evoking what the culture regarded as authentic emotional responses to the narrative, in such early, "heartwarming" classics as […] Bambi.” (Bolter and Grusin, Remediation 149) This animated aesthetics cause an idealized image of the balance of Nature, whereas the reality of ecology is chaotic and unstable (Ingram 18-20). Hence, the immediacy of the film is apparent and generates alignment for Nature as a character from the spectator. The immediacy also implies a message of conservation of natural resources; not only through the film’s storyline but also through the way the landscape is represented. The previous discussed absence of humans could also enhance the beauty of Nature,
untouched by human presence (Whitley 66). Here the immediate depiction of nature and lush Nature intertwine to create an aligned spectator.
The preservation of this mystical Nature is even more reinforced by the film’s devastating fire. Fire equals men because this fire is originated form the human
campsite. The ecological strength of this sequence is that the entire environment is shown; animals and plants. The whole forest is victim of this scary element of nature. The camera is tracking them in close-up to emphasize the fear of the animals. The screaming of the animals creates a level of external focalization of Branigan’s model. This in combination with the sympathy creates an engaged spectator. Fire could benefit the soil of the ground to make it more fertile, however it still dramatically affects the ecosystem and the landscape (Solnit 297). The scene after the fire shows the site and offers an enormous contrast of the first beautiful, flowery place and the now uniformly charred environment with a few blackened stumps of trees (Whitley 73). The
environment is both devastated and regenerating. Troubling is the lack of predation in the forest, even more because the interruption of humans is the only force that causes death in the forest (Lutts 167). This exaggerates the fear of humans in the films and strengthens the environmental anti-hunting message. Since the fire started with a human-made campfire, they are also responsible for that harm to nature.
Next to the immediacy of the film, there is another aspect of the film that is emphasized; the glorification of Nature. For example in the song ‘April Showers’ where rain and thunder compose the music. Natural elements are used as instruments; with every raindrop there is a high pitch sound. This claim is also argued by Steindam, he states “music is used to evoke a reference for nature.” (Steindam 99). This enhances the purity of the lush Nature presented by Disney. Nature is an ideal image, like a painting it is self-contained from afar (Morton Ecological Thought 5). Despite this beneficial depiction of Nature, the harsh element of nature is missing; there are no predators in the forest except for the men. Disney presents a distorted image of woodland ecology where all the animals live at peace (Lutts 165). Thus, Disney’s view on nature in Bambi is in line with Morton’s unnatural qualities of the harmonious and pristine Nature
(Ecological Thought 3). The romanticizing of Nature is also visible in the friendship of Friend Owl with Thumper and Flower, apparently the predator of a rabbit and a skunk, an owl, does not eat fellow inhabitants in Disney’s forest (Lutts 165). The
representation of Nature creates spectator engagement, because Disney glorifies the unrealistic wild Nature of Bambi and nature is presented as immediate.
Anthropomorphism contributes to the spectator engagement as well; the animals are drawn with human characteristics to generate a higher degree of sympathy. Through anthropomorphism an animal can be represented as being human, then an important distinction between the species has been eroded (Fudge 77). Bambi has few
anthropomorphized elements in relation to other Disney movies (that are dismissed from this thesis), but, as with almost every animated animal, of course it is visible. One element that is highlighted is the distortion in the deer’s bodies to make them look cuter and more human (Lutts 164). Visualized in larger heads for the deer with enormous eyes and human characteristics as eyelashes, these alterations account for the other animals as well. As an effect the animals have much more expression in their face that leads to allegiance: Disneyfication in its purest form. The anthropological machine creates a subspecies between deer and human; to feel allegiance with the deer it has to have human characteristics. Otherwise human spectators would feel less sympathy towards the deer. However, in comparison to other Disney films such as Finding Nemo, there is no pseudo-human world recreated. The characters live the life of an animal and therefore the audience feels aligned with how Nature endeavours, and not with how animals live like humans. Anthropomorphism in only used to generate more empathy with the spectator towards the wildlife and a level of allegiance is reached with Bambi.
The anthropomorphism in combination with the lack of predators and the invisibility of humans offer false images of the ecology in the forest (Lutts 165). However, the film raises awareness for the consequences of hunting and fire in the forest. The animal-perspective as offered in the film gives the audience a new
perspective. The opening shot of the film draws the spectator into nature and from there he/see sees another world with a gorgeous Nature but also life endangering situations. A level of allegiance is reached because of the immediacy and spatial attachment of the film. Therefore people feel more empathy with the animals than before, which could be life changing for the audience and – perhaps even more important – nature changing for the ecology. All in all, the film motivates a deep concern about nature and promotes wildlife through minimalistic anthropomorphism. This sentimental stance towards Nature is even named the “Bambi complex”. How Cartmill credits it: “probably the most effective piece of anti-hunting propaganda ever made.” (7) As a result Bambi probably has had the greatest influence on societies vision of wildlife and most enduring statement against hunting. Thus, by analysing Bambi on different theories, such as remediation, anthropomorphism and Morton’s ideal Nature all in combination with spectator engagement, the anti-hunting legislations can be explained which is an ecological aspect and direct message of the film.
Anthropomorphic fish and immediacy in Finding Nemo
Set in the Great Barrier Reef, a clownfish called Marlin starts the search for his son, Nemo. After Nemo was being a rebel against his overprotective father, a scuba diver took him. Nemo is placed in an aquarium in Sydney that is displayed in a dentist’s surgery. This plotline already suggests a film with an ecological message packed in family movie. Due to the immediate representation of Nature and anthropomorphism the film generates sympathy, which leads to engagement with the ocean and its inhabitants. I will argue that the film bears environmental messages via an analysis of Morton’s nature or Nature and the immediate depiction of this Nature in combination with the all-encompassing generation of sympathy from the spectator.
First of all the depiction of nature with a small n is more apparent because, in contrast to Bambi, predators are visible in Finding Nemo. Lutts argues the following: “Disney’s world is a world without predation” (165)3. Obviously this has changed in roughly 60 years. Finding Nemo is more accurate about wildlife in the opening scene. And therefore nature is less idealized in the first scene of the film when a predator barracuda eats Marlin’s wife and almost al their eggs, this happens in nature.
Consequently this ensures a level of allegiance from the beginning with Marlin. Later on in the film this danger of predators weakens because Marlin encounters a therapeutic group of vegetarian sharks. They are dedicated to overcome animal’s primal instinct to eat other fish (Whitley 132). However, when the shark Bruce sniffs blood his natural drive is reasserted. He tries to eat Marlin and Dory; nature retrieves the grip on him. Further on in the film there is one other encounter with a predator called the deep-sea anglerfish. The clear stated framework from Disney pre-Finding Nemo is distorted by this new vision on predators. Predation and death are present, independently of the presence of men (Lutts 165). Including predators in films about animals is a more realistic way to portray wildlife and on that point the films depiction of nature is accurate but not glorified.
Secondly, Finding Nemo also dealt with a problem concerning accuracy and immediacy with the creation of the underwater world. During the production process the water looked too realistic so the animators had to alter it to let it fit in the animation-style aesthetic “…to exploit the expressive freedom of the medium fully.” (Whitley
3
Lutt’s article dates from 1992, Finding Nemo was released in 2004. It was an argument from that time applied to the already released films of Disney.
130) Thus, to gain an expressive environment the representation of nature should be hypermediated; otherwise spectators could be distracted from the narrative. For a proper sense of immediacy the Nature should be represented as slightly fantastical and not resemble the real completely. Then the spectator could be immersed in the screen of a glorified world. The computer does not disappear completely; a sense of hypermediacy is needed to develop fantastical Nature. Computer graphics processing has taken over the animated cartoon (Bolter and Grusin, Remediation 48). Bolter and Grusin claim that with the advent of the digital screen remediation changed, however the equivalent for computer animation should not be distinguished from a traditional film to conceive immediacy since both images are moving (Remediation 28). There are no abrupt shifts in graphic style in Finding Nemo; the film has the smoothness of a computer algorithm. (Bolter and Grusin, Remediation 148). Bolter and Grusin state that the claim of
remediation works in both directions for computer animated features: “Computer graphics can now not only supplement manual methods but eliminate the traditional human technique entirely.” (Remediation 148). To create the right form of immediacy all members of the production team went scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, thus they could feel the atmosphere of the coral reef. Furthermore the animators were taught by a professor of animal physiology to learn the movement of the fish (Whitley 129). The Pixar Studios that created the film invested in the underwater world with accuracy in every frame – but not too accurate. The film is praised for its detailed presentation of the physical environment as can be seen in illustration three. The water surface was created with 3d modelling and new techniques of perfect light movement. The film’s setting in the water provides a different location than other animation films.
Illustration 3 Immedate Nature in Finding Nemo
Thirdly, the anthropomorphism of the fish and other animals in Finding Nemo is on the same level of physical appearances as the animals in Bambi. The fish as a leading character in a film is a break with tradition. One reason could be that fish are less
obvious as cuddly protagonists as in the oeuvre of Disney. It was the first time children could feel empathy with fish as protagonist and not as sidekick (Whitley 129).
Therefore, the fish had to undergo alterations with enormous eyes and round, cuddly forms. The anthropomorphism goes a level higher than in Bambi. In most films with animals there is a pseudo-human society (Fudge 72). This also accounts for Finding
Nemo; in the underwater world is a school, traffic – including fish that function as
traffic lights – and neighbourhoods in the coral. In most Disney films the animals are acting as if they are humans. They react the same as humans and are able to
communicate within the realm of animals. “This is anthropomorphism at its most extreme, and paradoxically, at its most invisible. We forget that the animals are animals.” (Fudge 72) Whereas the fish do not wear any cloths of very much look like human, they are living a human life. Marlin and Nemo also have concerns and
motivations that appear almost exclusively as human (Whitley 130). These concerns are on Branigan’s level of deep internal focalization, the spectator knows the thoughts of the fish and therefore there is an engagement towards them (89). The self-imposed vegetarianism of the sharks is also an anthropomorphic trait, eating fish is an instinct of the fish that can barely be changed. This level of anthropomorphism could be of a higher degree than in Bambi because fish resemble human less than forest animals, they are not mammals and differ a lot from human. Through the lens of the anthropological machine they have more human traits in order to spectators can feel more alignment for the fish, because there are more resemblances.
Another element of anthropomorphism is the ability to talk of the fish; every fish and even birds can communicate with each other. It is striking that the jellyfish are not capable of the act of speaking and the seagulls only know the word ‘mine’. This claims a hierarchy in fish; jellyfish are too non-human in their physics - they can’t be
anthropomorphized. They lack eyes, a ‘normal’ mouth and ears and therefore they are eliminated of the suggestion of speech, what other fish and birds can have in the
animated Disney-created Sea. Thus in contrast to Agamben’s theory: there is taxonomy. The jellyfish are neglected of speech and are in a lesser rank. The anthropomorphic elements are used to create more sympathy for the main characters, just as in Bambi. The ambiguous state of Finding Nemo is that on the one hand the nature is more
