Happy Feet and The Politics of Children's Animation
Man, I love Happy Feet. It's one of the few films I vividly remember watching when I was a child, and this is partially because it takes you on a wild, eventful ride. So much happens throughout its 108-minute runtime, but it also stuck out to me with its clear environmental messages and encouragement of self-expression. While I lightly understood some of the religious themes, it wasn't a few years later that I realized its warnings about religious extremism, though. "Penguin" holds a strong symbolism for practically any religion, and the term is used quite often to mean the norm throughout the movie.
"It just ain't Penguin."
Phrases like this are said throughout the film by the elder penguins to judge and single out the tap dancing main character, Mumble. He's different from the rest, and this is thought to upset their leading divine entity, the "Great Guin." Because of this, he's blamed for the food shortage, a curse for not conforming, and is eventually banished from the colony. The film dives much deeper into comparisons of ideas of purity, cult-like religious councils, lack of faith, and, not to mention, the environmental aspects. I could go into much heavier detail, but that's actually not the point of this post. I'm here to start a discussion on the politics included in children's films.
Happy Feet isn't the only children's animated film to touch on politics. Some other notable examples include A Bug's Life, WALL-E, and Zootopia. I'd also like to include the Star Wars franchise, even though it's not animated, due to the cultural impact and wide acceptance it has had. This is a touchy, nuanced subject because there's reason to be wary of indoctrinating children. They're a vulnerable portion of the population, and it takes a lot of responsibility to be in charge of their media. With that being said, we should not underestimate children. They are capable of growing their critical thinking skills and are naturally curious about everything. I'd argue that films should be encouraging this, albeit in a responsible manner, and with the caveat that parents should be ready to have conversations that aid them in forming their own opinions. Children deserve good films with powerful messaging, not just adults.
Indoctrination directly discourages considering different perspectives and encourages unquestioned acceptance. One's interpretation varies from viewer to viewer, too, so political themes may not necessarily mean inherent harm or even be present upon initial viewing. Again, parents play a big role in this. It's largely up to them to foster reflection in these films if children are curious to engage. Now, I'd like to open up the discussion. What do you think about the politics included in children's films? What about children's media in general? The recent removal of federal funding for PBS may be a relevant topic here. Feel free to disagree or bring up any arguments I've missed.
Happy Feet is one of the few childhood movies that I don't remember watching. Maybe this is my sign to rewatch it. WALL-E was one of my favorite movies as a kid. Even when I was little, I understood the majority of the political messaging, which is what made the film entertaining. I feel like parents try to shelter their children from the world, which can lead to groups that are against any kind of children's media from having political messaging. I wouldn't consider movies with political messaging "indoctrination." I doubt that children who watched the movie Boss Baby suddenly became conservative capitalists. Similarly, I don't think kids who watched Bugs Life will start using talking points from the Communist Manifesto. I also agree that a movie's political message is often left up to viewer interpretation. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHappy Feet is one of those children films thats able to start the process for kids to critically think. On one hand you can dumb the movie down to just a bunch of dancing penguins, but on the other you have such a complex movie that talks about the dangers of global warming, religious hierarchy, and ego leadership. I have actually done some light research on children's movies and how artists use this as an opportunity to sort of "prime" children for real world discussions.
ReplyDeleteHappy Feet was definitely a special movie growing up, and it reminds me of other movies I watched often as a kid that I never really associated with politics or thought too deeply about at the time. I do remember very vividly the lessons about family values, honesty, and friendship that were emphasized in so many shows, as well as the morals they taught. Looking back now, it’s interesting to see how some of those stories also carried deeper themes that went over my head as a child. I think that, when done thoughtfully, including these kinds of themes can help encourage critical thinking without taking away from the innocence of children’s media.
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