Review Section

Society and Animals 18 (2010) 421-432 brill.nl/soan

Review Section

Thinking about Imaginary Animals in Film:The Golden Compassand The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep The Golden Compass. 2007. New Line Cinema. Directed by Chris Weitz; The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep. 2007. Revolution Studios and Walden Media with Beacon Pictures. Directed by Jay Russell.

The Golden Compass(2007) and The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep(2007) portray relationships between children and animals. What makes these films interesting is that this relationship takes place between real humans (some in fantastic worlds) and imaginary animals. This review examines this trend and asks what it means for our culture that films about human-animal bonds have moved into the realm of the imaginary. The first decade of this century have seen a proliferation of children’s fantasy films in the mainstream.1 The most successful of these is the Harry Potter series (c. 2001-2011).2 Like that series, the two films discussed here are drawn from books3 and attempt to appeal broadly to children and adults. Despite an abundance of animals in the Potter films, they do not play a central role in the development of the story’s heroes. Harry Potter and his friends are extraordinarily distant from animals, who are portrayed as dangerous and uncommunicative. Often they are tricksters, like the rat disguised as a murderer, or two- faced, like the werewolf professor who turns on his students after transformation. The central evil of the series is an initially bodiless Voldemort who can inhabit other human beings and control snakes. One of the hero’s greatest assets and fears is his ability to under- stand and speak to snakes. Being animal is possible in Potter’s world, but it is not a good thing; it represents deception and loss of control.4 Understanding the animal point of view was the goal of two films released in 2005, which also happen to be two of the most successful animal documentaries ever made. March of the Penguins and Grizzly Man created a brief stir in the media—much greater a stir than is usually allotted for documentary films. Both have since been criticized for their portrayal of animal behavior. March of the Penguins humanizes breeding habits and creates a narrative of family values (mother and father penguins work together to hatch the egg) that ultimately falls apart in reality (both parents leave their hatched young, never to see them again). The film acknowledges this, yet ends on a note of family bonds and morality. It insists on its moral tale despite this glitch in the actual behavior of penguins. Thus, animal behavior is made to fit a mold undermined by reality.Grizzly Man looks at a man’s relationship with bears and was criticized for the imagined kinship the subject, Timothy Treadwell, believed he had with wildlife. He thought he possessed access to “the secret world of animals” (a quote from his diary) and lived unharmed for over a decade until, late one fall, he was attacked and eaten by a grizzly.5

Both of these films about real animals fail to satisfy the cultural desire for a peaceful kinship with wildlife. March of the Penguins erased humans (filmmakers are seen briefly only during closing credits); Grizzly Man portrays the horrific fate of a human who imagines that wildlife is kind and tolerant. Given these problems, it is not surprising that since 2005 live action movies portraying human-animal relationships have drawn from imagined and mythical bestiaries rather than from existing wildlife. The Golden Compassshows human- animal relationships in imaginary worlds. The Water Horse portrays a familiar world, with an animal some think imaginary, the Loch Ness monster. Why are these stories of heroism and emotion bound to mythical creatures instead of existent ones? Have we lost faith in the ability of real nature to teach these values?

The Golden Compass The Golden Compass follows the travels of twelve-year-old Lyra Belacqua, whom we first meet as she is playing carefree with other children. Her world is dramatically changed when she saves her Uncle Asriel from drinking poison and overhears his conversation about a mystical force called Dust. Her curiosity leads her away from the halls of her col- lege home to search for children who have been kidnapped by an organization called the Magisterium, which runs experiments to remove their daemons. In this imaginary world, all humans are accompanied by a talking animal companion called a daemon. In adults, these animals take a constant form, whereas in children they change shape. Lyra’s daemon, Pantalaimon, for example, takes the form of an ermine, a wildcat, a moth, and a mouse. These daemons function as totemic companions, guiding and helping their humans. They reflect the self and express emotions even when the human tries to hide his or her turmoil. The Magisterium wishes to separate humans from their daemons to better control the population and to abolish free will. In addition to her daemon, Lyra forms a bond with an outcast member of the Panserb- jorne—a race of armored polar bears with their own culture and politics. Lyra convinces Iorek Byrnison (an outcast bear) to help her make her way north and, in the process, over- throw the evil ruler of the bears. Iorek is skeptical at first because he no longer has his armor and, without his armor, he feels he is nothing. His connection to his armor is like Lyra’s with her daemon; it provides strength and fulfillment. Lyra’s relationship with Iorek is akin to her experiences with humans, except that he treats her like a peer, while human adults try to protect her and hold her back. In Pantalaimon and Iorek, Lyra has animal companions (both digitally rendered)—the first is an extension of herself. The second, a protector. Both help her navigate the deceptive adult world. Reviews of the book The Golden Compass were generally blinded by the controversy over its anti-Catholic message, which its author, Philip Pullman, openly acknowledges. He sees his tale as a reaction to C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, which also appeared as films in 2005 and 2008. Critics ignored daemon animality and focused on Pullman’s use of daemons as representative souls that seem to replace God with individualism and free will. The film, however, waters down much of the controversial matter, making the daemons seem more like companion animals than souls. Lyra’s animal friends fulfill the fantasy of loyal companionship in animal form when human friends are untrustworthy, unable to help, or uncertain at best.