Animations
“Fix it? How you gonna fix this?”
“Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.”
— Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Quite difficult to argue with that logic, and frankly, I’m pretty sure we can probably fix even global warming with this!
Animated movies have always been a favorite of the people. Toy Story, The Incredibles, Madagascar, Shrek, How to Train your Dragon, Tarzan, Mowgli, etc. were almost always running on repeat!
One of the best parts of these animated movies is that they always, always have valuable messages in them, and often portray our complicated society in a simplified manner. They’re in every nook and corner of the movie, that most of it are internalized by us, without even realizing it. And of course, no child-centric story (written or visual) can be called a great story, unless people of all ages can enjoy it. And the beauty of it is, you learn something new, every time you watch it.
In the movie Shrek, he struggles with his identity as an ogre, an identity entirely determined by appearance. His encounters with humans only serve to further enforce this thought. They are often terrified or repulsed at the sight of him. Fiona’s greatest desire is to be a beautiful human Princess always, not just during the day. She tells Donkey, “princess and ugly don’t go together,” revealing the pressure to be attractive. She hides her ogre form, even from another of her kind, out of self-loathing. At the end of the movie, she is still insecure about her looks, claiming “I don’t understand, I’m supposed to be beautiful.” This clearly portrays the societal pressure faced by men and women alike.
It is unclear if magical creatures in this movie are deemed a race, a social class, or a separate species but it is an example of treating an entire group unfairly because of prejudicial bias. These creatures have fewer rights, no representation, and an inferiority complex developed from years of human mistreatment. Lord Farquaad sees fairy tale creatures as lesser, without feeling, and unworthy of fair treatment. It is only by Shrek making a deal that Farquaad agrees to remove the creatures from his swamp. The creatures are not treated as sentient beings, they are objects that can be picked up and relocated just because a human says so.
If you watch closely you can find many more such instances in this movie, as well as any other animated movie. These are what give animated movies an edge over live action movies. Especially seeing as they target a younger audience and help in shaping and molding young minds.
