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 [email protected] Media Studies: Film Studies Word Count: 23549 University of Amsterdam Date: 24 June 2016 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. Keywords: Disney, ecology, nature, anthropomorphism, immediacy 2 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 Film List 65 3 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 4 habitat, could be seen as ecological films. The films convey anti-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 5 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 research I 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’.