Animation in Films
both films, Wall E and Waltz with Bashir, use animated characters to outline their stories. One is a traditionally animated film that seeks to entertain young viewers while teaching them various moral lessons. On the other hand, Waltz with Bashir is best suited for adult viewers. These two films use animated characters to entice viewers, arouse emotions, and create awareness of the stories they portray.
In the film Waltz with Bashir by Ari Folman, who is the writer, director, and producer, he goes on a journey trying to piece together memories of his time in the war(Landesman & Bendor, 2011). It is a fact that a lot of young male adults dream of joining the army. Folman capitalizes in that by giving his film a combat videogame feel as the said young adults invest a lot of their time on videogames. The videogame aspect will capture the intended audience’s attention and can thus draw them to the negative issues of war as Folman seeks to deglamorize war. In one of the scenes, a veteran speaks of how fear of war made them shoot at an approaching beat up vehicle (P.D, 2018, 19:36-20:08) due to their inexperience at war.
Later on, they find out that the car’s occupants are a family which devastates them. Using animation in this scene draws the audience’s emotions to the consequences of war, deglamorizing it. War is not all about glory and respect; it is a nightmare that keeps men awake at night, and Folman tries to communicate this fact. He tells of his predicament at being asked to dispose of the bodies of the dead (P.D 2018, 23:28-24:00), which is a disconcerting feeling for someone at his young age. Animating such violent scenes removes the harshness from them while still passing on the message.
Wall E is directed by Andrew Stanton, who uses animation to tell the story of a bot left on earth to get rid of the mounting garbage due to poor lifestyles. It ends up developing a personality that rouses a sense of loneliness in him. The film’s main aim is to teach lessons to human beings to stop being lazy and to take care of the beautiful planet. It summarizes these lessons in a beautifully crafted and unforgettable animated film. Commonly, animated movies are for younger audiences; however, anyone can learn from this movie at is has catchy themes. It cleverly uses bots to portray what the future has in store for human beings as the movie itself is set in the year 2805. At the beginning of the film, Wall E is seen watching an old movie with two characters that appear to be in love (Mix Videos, 2020 0:55- 1:00). It teaches humans that no one can live as an island; we all need social interactions to survive.
It is evident that for both films, animation seeks to arouse emotions from the viewers. Additionally, it creates a dream-like world most scenes in cinemas relate to a person’s real-life situations, and animation creates a world where one can impose themselves in the different stages, creating a level of satisfaction. Animation also sells, making films is a luxurious business, and animated characters sell more as they capture the interests of larger audiences. Animation does not conform to racial, political, or global prejudices. Waltz with Bashir neither the images nor the scenes explicitly detail its Israeli source; therefore, it does not alienate any potential audience. While in Wall E, the use of bots ensures that there are no prejudices.
Animated characters are great at appealing to human emotions and setting the mood for a film. They also attract a lot of attention to the film when compared to other forms of characterization as they appeal to all audiences. It is used in both films to teach human beings valuable lessons about life.
References
Mix Videos (2020, January 18). Wall E. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7iqUEWEPOA.
P.D. (2018, February 13). Lebanon War 1982, Waltz With Bashir. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynH68E1GEdc.