The Environmental Emergency: An Animated Success Story?
Rang-tan: the story of dirty palm oil
With the Global Climate Strike, Greta Thunberg, environmental disasters and the rise of Extinction Rebellion, it seems like this is the decade when the world is waking up to the environmental emergency. However, it is clear that the research that climate-induced natural catastrophes and multiple activist organisations have existed for decades (especially if we cast our minds back to the 1960s), without leading to a real sense of urgency, albeit due to enormous efforts by big polluters to deny the science. This is where animation comes in. Data from hardworking scientists and policy analysts have illustrated the rapid destruction of our natural habitat for decades. But today, media – and animation in our case – has been able to obtain a much stronger impact on civil society – and, by extension, politicians – and amplify the voices of those who have been too easily dismissed in the past. While eco-animated films that address environmental concerns have been popular since the 1930s (see Murray and Heumann 2011), it is perhaps only recently that environmental activists and live-action directors have directly worked with the animated medium to convey their political message. This post will engage with the political power of animation and its ability as a fantasy to draw attention to environmental concerns, give a voice to outcasts and transcend traditional hierarchies between species.
In the contemporary era of social media, the production of content to describe, shame or rally around climate and environmental catastrophes is constantly increasing. Hashtags reacting to extreme weather events (#HurricaneDorian), large corporations’ responsibility in the crisis (#ExxonKnew) or the #FridaysForFuture campaign overflow our online accounts. In the midst of it all, one short video published in 2018 seemed to catch the eyes of the general public: the GreenPeace orangutan short (see above). This short film, narrated by Emma Thompson, focuses on two characters: a little girl and an orangutan. The girl complains about the animal living in her room and destroying her living space. The orangutan, in response to this, tells her about the destruction of its home in the forest, where trees are being cut down to produce palm oil. The message is clear: the palm oil industry is disruptive to its natural habitat and represents a threat for biodiversity and our environment. The simplicity of the short, using a linear style of narration and an easy-to-understand plot, along with evocative images of pain and suffering cued visually by dark colours and close-up shots of crying eyes, make for a particularly successful and tear-jerking piece.
Fig. 1 - Okja and Mija living together in the wild before Okja is called back to the slaughterhouse.
The Greenpeace short in itself is only one example of many animated works that can be classified as “Enviro-toons” (Pike 2012). This particularly style of political animation showcase the ability of the animated medium to prompt bodily effects from its audience, and cue their emotional subjectivity through the use of the fantasy of non-human, anthropomorphic characters. As cultural critic Jaime Weinman argues, such characters and characterisations not only humanize nature, but function as a way of commenting on the abuse of nature and the natural, especially by humans (qtd. in Murray and Heumann 2011: 2). Indeed, it is only through animation that the silent beings, orangutans in this case, are able to be represented in a form that equates to a human. What animation is able to do is essential to the meaning and impact of its political message: it gives a voice to the outcasts, those who are living but incapable of human communication. The audience, recognising emotions in the tale of the small orangutan and its representation as ‘human’, is perhaps more inclined to feel empathy for the character and, by extension, for the climate cause. This effect is only heightened by the use of the voiceover and the famous voice, in this case Thompson, acting as a device of verification. Indeed, the presence of the star acts as an authenticating marker of credibility, and ensures the short can be shared widely.
Fig. 2 - The orangutan and the little girl decide to join forces to fight against the palm oil industry, as equals.
Animation can also have a strong impact on audiences when it is used for environmental means in predominantly live-action films, such as Okja (Bong Joon-Ho, 2017), a film that uses fantasy to denounce the extreme aspects of capitalism and its industrial production of meat. Director Bong Joon-Ho creates a CGI animal (Fig. 1) to tell a tale of friendship between a little girl named Mija and Okja in a South Korean forest. This “Super-Pig”, made in the lab of the Mirando corporation, is forced to go back to the slaughter house after being raised by Mija in the wild. Bong explores the world of fantasy by thinking of the consequences genetically modified animals could bring about in the future. The imaginary animal is able to move the audience by demonstrating what we would usually consider human-like qualities, in particular the development of intelligence. This is shown by the animal’s ability to save Mija from falling from a cliff, or its emotional reactions to leaving or reuniting with the little girl. In a similar manner to Disney’s Bambi (David Hand, 1942), Okja advocates for what Robin L.Murray and Joseph K. Heumann describe as “animal rights based on these animals’ humanlike qualities, helping them build a community of family and friends in a protected forest free from human intervention” (2011: 49). Both the Palm Oil advertisement and Okja, one from an activist organisation and the other from a world-renowned live-action director, expose the inherently political essence of the animated medium through its fantasy, and its role in communicating (and perhaps making palatable) a powerful environmental message. While “Enviro-toons” have existed since the 1960s, more recent examples now come directly from environmental organisations and a cinema that has understood the power of the animated medium, and who are also turning to these forms of ‘animated’ communications to address the general public. Reality, as it stands, can seem much more “real” in an animated short, a CGI character or, for that matter, graphic symbols or through data than live images or documentaries. Moreover, previous mainstream representations of environmental concerns and animal rights in animation have usually shown animals as serving three purposes: to entertain audience, worship the lead human character and to connect them to the human world through humanlike roles (Murray and Heumann 2011: 69). This is now no longer the case. The orangutan and Okja’s “Super-pig” are both portrayed as victims of a wider system, but their roles are much more complex. Their ability to fight back and communicate with their human counterparts enable them to be equal to the little girls and transcend traditional tropes in “enviro-toons” (Fig. 2). Let’s make sure this new form of animation is able to flourish and achieve its full potential to address the climate and environmental emergency at all levels, whether it be at the heart of activists’ communications campaigns or live-actions films from critically-acclaimed directors.
References
Murray, Robin L. and Joseph K. Heumann, That's All Folks?: Ecocritical Readings of American Animated Features (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011).
Pike, Deidre M. Enviro-Toons: Green Themes in Animated Cinema and Television (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2012).
Biography
Emmanuelle Dot is a Communications Officer at the Aldersgate Group, a multi-stakeholder alliance championing a competitive and environmentally sustainable economy. She is a recent graduate from King's College London with a degree in Liberal Arts where her inter-disciplinary studies have included studying animation through a political lens.