A Short Film for Fixodent: Saving Aslan
How & Why Fixodent made a doc about a lion and his lost teeth

When we think about lions, we associate them with their strength and ferocity. We think of phrases like ‘The King of the Jungle’. When we think about lions we think about their manes, their claws, and of course their teeth. Naturally, this last one is where Fixodent, a brand which creates dental products, chooses to focus in Saving Aslan.
Directed by Sven Harding, Saving Aslan serves as a means of illustrating the influence of our teeth and our comfort with them on our emotions and identity, by taking a look at the king of the Jungle.

Like all documentaries, we are shown a perspective. If you have seen a wildlife documentary you have seen how they often contain a combination of facts and anthropomorphisation. Its a combination of education and entertainment and anthropomorphism is much more emotionally engaging that stating facts plainly. Saving Aslan leans much more towards the perspective of anthropomorphism with the goal of making an emotional connection with the viewer in its six minute runtime. It is for this very reason that little screen time is actually dedicated to Aslan, or to the act of saving him despite the name of the film.
In order for the anthropomorphism of Aslan to occur, the lion must be given a voice. In Saving Aslan that voice is Kevin Richardson. As a result, the documentary must first illustrate not only that Richardson is a reliable narrator but also that Richardson is justified in being Aslan’s voice and advocate. Why should we listen to him? After all, visually within the film nothing really happens. Richardson is what gives the images within the film significance. We see Aslan and all of the lions within the film through Richardson’s eyes.

The vast majority of the films runtime is spent justifying Richardson’s perspective. In fact, on screen, we spend much more time with Richardson than the eponymous lion. But this is important for the film to function, especially given the film’s brief runtime. The first we see of Richardson he is walking calmly in a field as lions play nearby. We see him pet, wrestle, and kiss various lions. This, in combination with the fact that Richardson founded a Wildlife Sanctuary, helps establish early on Richardson’s familiarity and bond with lions.





The film next establishes Richardson’s close bond with Aslan specifically. We see pictures of Aslan from various stages in its life including one in which Aslan is carried by Richardson as a cub. We listen as Richardson tells a story about why Aslan is one of his favorite lions.
This establishes Richardson’s connection with Aslan, justifying Richardson acting as a voice for Aslan. He has seemingly known Aslan for all nine years of his life. And so when Richardson says something about how Aslan or any of the pride feel the viewer believes him. This is essential for the documentary to work.

Aslan is described by Richardson as “aloof”, “agitated”, “agressive” “insecure”, and “isolate[d]… from the pride” ever “since he broke his canines”. Aslan is described by Richardson as “just a different cat”.


As this is said we are shown three images of Aslan. Two of them are close ups of Aslan and one of them is a wide shot. These three images do not reflect what Richardson says other than the final one which could be interpreted to accurately reflect aloofness or isolation.
Throughout the film we are not really shown enough information to gauge the effects of Aslan’s lost canines. We are not shown what Aslan was like prior to losing his canines and so we don’t really know if he is in fact “a different lion”.




Aslan following the surgery is not aloof or agressive and certainly is not isolated. We are shown image after image of Aslan interacting with other lions and Richardson states that “the other lions are happy to see [Aslan] back”.




So the story that has been crafted within this film is essentially this: Aslan lost his canines, and as a result is socially isolated, unfriendly, and unconfident in his identity. He gets a dental surgery. As a result of this surgery, Aslan is no longer socially isolated and returns to his old self.

It’s a relatively simple story that can be gleaned from watching the film — or rather from listening to it. Saving Aslan illustrates the influence of narration. By setting Richardson up early on and throughout the film as a reliable narrator, the film is able to craft a story despite the fact that the images would not necessarily tell the same story on their own. The film works well because the right images are chosen and in combination with the narration a convincing tale is told. A story which is in many ways both empathetic and empowering to Fixodent costumers — despite being a film about a lion.

