D1: Compare and Contrast Different Genres

    Compare and Contrast Different Genres

 Animation is an amazing way to create media products. However, they can be interpreted in different ways depending on the country and culture. In this report, I will explore the different animated movies that are controversial across different cultures and why. I will also analyse and compare films from different global animation studios.

                                                  Moana

Disney is a famous multi-media conglomerate company created by Walt Disney in 1923. They produce 2D and 3D animated films and live action films, their first 2D animated film being Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They have now branched out to also create games, merchandise, music, they have their own Disney Plus subscription service where Disney fans can watch unlimited movies and TV shows depending on what subscription you pay for. They also have theme parks such as Disney World. Their famous mascot is Mickey Mouse and the company targets mainly younger children and families. Since Disney is an American company, they influence Americans and UK citizens the most. However, they do distribute their media and media products worldwide. This means they have to be aware of sensorship across the world. Disney have aquired Marvel Studios, Lucas Films (Star Wars), Pixar... To this day, Disney is a multi-million U.S. Dollar company and they are still producing popular media products.

 Moana is an animated family adventure movie created by Disney. The movie is about a girl who is trying to save her home by going on an a quest with the demi-god Maui to restore the heart of Te Fitti to her. Most of us will think this is just a fun kids movie but the Maui kids costume were highly controversial and offended Polynesian and pacific people. They believe that their tattoos show someone's story and the brown skin was too far, celebrities such as Jessy Nelson have received backlash for black fishing (making her skin darker) because lots of people find this offensive. Furthermore, Maui's character was also controversial and offended Polynesian people because he is depicted as overweight and he didn't fit the myths. Polynesian people are not overweight and it is a harmful American stereotype. However, other people believe this is okay. In the myths, Maui is seen as a trickster or hero so they think he deserves to look like he does in the myths. Some people see the movie Moana offensive, while others see it as a fun kids film.

                                                   Mulan

 

 Mulan (1988) is an animated Disney movie about a girl who takes her dad's place and pretends to be a man to fight in the war. The purpose of this movie is to entertain audiences. The movie wasn't popular in China for many reasons. Many criticise the film for not representing Hua Mulan correctly and for also not representing the Chinese culture correctly. They also believed Mulan's character acted more western and they believe having Mushu the talking dragon in the movie was disrespectful to their culture. Others believe that Mulan was a great representation of feminism and women, we can fight in wars and we are just as strong as men. The movie also resembles how damaging the Chinese culture is by forcing women to follow cultural norms: being the best wife and looking after the house and kids. We also learn to stand up for ourselves, what we believe in and how important family is.

                      

                                             Turning Red

 

Turning Red is a kids movie about a 13 year old girl called Mei who turns into a red panda when she has strong emotions (excitment, anger, sadness, happiness) and has to learn to control it and love who she is.  Her Chinese parents are very strict and they all worship their ancestor who prayed to the gods to change her into a red panda and protect her people and family. This "curse" gets passed down to their children throughout the family and the only way to get rid of it is to do a ritual when the red moon appears. The purpose of the movie is to entertain audiences and also give them a moral message through the movie, it is okay to be yourself.

 This movie is controversial because is is a metaphor for puberty, they reference pads throughout the movie. Turning Red was deemed as inappropriate by some parents and some people in the audience because it shows how boy crazy Mei is and because it handles more mature themes in a playful way about growing up. This might be troublesome for some cultures that shy away from talking about topics related to puberty and sexual health. Chinese parents don't talk about puberty with their children, the Chinese education system also doesn't teach children about puberty so seeing a film based around a Chinese family referencing puberty might be unsettling and be seen as inappropriate and uncomfortable for their culture. Lots of people believe the movie is not broad enough and only focuses on a specific target audience because they don't relate.

 Comparing studios that specialise in different animation styles

 For this task, I will be comparing the movies My Neighbor Totoro (3D animated movie by Studio Ghibli) and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were- Rabbit (Stop motion animation from Aardman). Studio Ghibli is a Japanese 2D animation film company that has created famous Japanese movies such as My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. The animation company was founded in 1985 and it is still one of the most well known animation companies in the world. Aardman is a British animation studio based in Bristol that specialises in stop motion animation. They have created famous stop motion movies such as Chicken Run, Shawn the Sheep movies, Wallace and Gromit, Flushed Away and Early Man.

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation company that produces media in the film and TV industry. They also create merchandise for their fans. Some of their famous animated movies include: My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away... Studio Ghibli target children and families with their fun animations and brilliant storytelling. Since they are a Japanese company, they have Japanese culture in their media. In My Neighbor Totoro, they include traditional Japanese houses and they include spirits as a part of the storyline. The Chinese and Japanese believe that spirits are real. Their 2D animated films made millions for the company and their 2D animations are loved by lots of different cultures.

Aardman Animation is a stop motion animation company founded by Peter Lord and David Sproxton in 1972. They have produced famous animated films and shorts targeting children and families. They make their animated characters using clay. Some of their films are: Chicken Run, Flushed Away, the Wallace and Gromit franchise... Since Aardman is a british company, the voice actors are mainly british. In Wallace and Gomit, Walace talks in a british accent and so do the other characters. In their houses, they have british items such as kettles.

 

My Neighbor Totoro and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were- Rabbit

 

My Neighbor Totoro is about a family that moves to the countryside so they can be closer to their mum who is ill in a hospital. They explore their new home and meet the Totoro creature and they go on an adventure so they can see their mum. Since this is a Japanese movie, the Japanese culture can be seen. The Japanese believe that everything has a spirit. Wallace and Gromit is a British icon. They go on different adventures across their short films and feature length movies such as Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. In the movie, Wallce and Gromit run a business called Anti-Pesto. They find out that lots of rabbits are trying to eat the vegetables that are for the giant vegetable competition but instead of killing them like Victor wanted to, they use a machine to catch the rabbits without harming them. Wallace uses the mind-o-matic to brainwash the rabbits to not eat vegetables so they are not a threat. However, this goes wrong and a new creature, the Were-Rabbit terrorises the town.

In My Neighbor Totoro, the main character is Totoro which is the spirit of the forest. Totoro is a spirit that guards the forest and it is a cross between different animals, extremely fictional. The two little sisters in the movie are called Mei and Satsuki Kusakabe. These are the main characters from the Japanese movie. In Wallce and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the pair consists of a british man called Wallace who is a cheese obsessed inventor and Gromit, his best friend and Beagle human-like dog. As you can see the characters are very different and come from different backgrounds (Japan VS Britain) and are different ages. The family from My Neighbor Totoro follow traditional Japanese traditions and they seem to believe in Shintoism religion (although it isn't confirmed or denied). The Wallace and Gromit movies are more based on science and logic since the films have lots of inventions in them, the world is more realistic compared to My Neighbor Totoro; Furthermore the animation styles of the characers are completely different. The characters in Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit say English phrases: Wallace says he is "Crackers about cheese" and one of the townsfolk say "Lovelies". Wallace is also obsessed with cheese which is mostly linked with British culture.

The 2D animation in My Neighbor Totoro combined with the colours and the way the characters are designed reach the child audience. The animation also helps the film take us into a different world of fantasy; it is a unique way to animate with hand drawn frames. This is a little different since lots of movies are now 3D animated and this movie was released in 1988 when 3D animation started becoming popular. Compare this to the stop motion animation from Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. This movie is stop motion animation, they use clay models for the characters. Wallace and Gromit (the main characters) look funnier and a little more lifelike compared to the My Neighbor Totoro characters where they use more exaggerated facial expressions. The UK are known for their love of comedy so the characters match this. Claymation is more unique than the 2D animation of My Neighbor Totoro; modern animation is changing to more computerised 3D animations. In result, stop motion animation is becoming very rare since it takes ages to create and it is more costly than 2D and 3D animation now.

My Neighbor Totoro is set in Japan. The environments are mostly outside in the forest while they are going on adventures with Totoro. The house is Japanese styled, they have partitions and Japanese house items. Wallace and Gromit is based in England. They own a very traditional British house with a kettle, tea bags.... Lady Tottington has a mansion that is very old fashioned, somewhat victorian and posh. These settings are very different; the Japanese and British cultures are very distinctive in these films and you can see how different the traditional homes are.

My Neighbor Totoro is based around a few themes. It is themed around childhoods and perspective. The children in the story find nature and the world fascinating, Totoro is a metaphor for their wonder and the creature shows how us connecting with nature can make you feel happier. The movie is a metaphor for childhood innocence and shows how children use their imaginations to distract themselves and help them cope with serious real life situations like their mum being very ill in hospital. Furthermore, the movie also contains a family theme. Satsuki takes care of her little sister while their mum is ill. They have to cope with the situation and they do this by having adventures outdoors with Totoro. When their mum is back home with the family, Totoro is seen in the distance which symbolises how the children don't need a distraction anymore, they are happy that the family is back together. And finally, the movie shows how powerful nature is, nature is always there for us. My Neighbor Totoro may be a family movie but it holds some very important messages. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse Of the Were-Rabbit is more of an entertainment movie so it doesn't have as many themes. In my opinion, the movie is a metaphor about not hiding who you are, don't hide your worries/problems away and bottle your emotions up. I think this because Wallace turns into the Were-Rabbit. This could be a metaphor that he is going through a lot with his mental health, when he ruins the vegetable gardens it could resemble how he is having outbursts and taking it out on others. Victor remembles people who think mental health is fake and he tries to take down Wallace. You could also take this scenario as a bullying metaphor. An obvious theme in this movie is friendship. If Gromit didn't get the carrot trophy, Wallace would be dead. Best friends are always there for us when we need them, Gromit is like family to Wallace. You could also say that this movie is against animal hunting since Lady Tottington doesn't want Victor to shoot the rabbits.

In conclusion, Studio Ghibli and Aardman both created fantasy adventure styled movies but in different animation styles. They contain different characters, are revolved around different cultures (Japanese and English), they have different animation styles and they are set in different countries while also including different themes in both movies. However, both of these movies can still be enjoyed by different cultures. For example, My Neighbor Totoro is a highly beloved movie to everyone no matter what culture or who they are.