Kiddie Commentary

At young ages, we adore the extravagant colors and outlandish plotlines of children’s films; as we get older, those plotlines seem far less ridiculous. Funny stories about talking animals grow into allegories about the modern world; silly tales of an endlessly polluted planet start hitting a little too close to home. On the surface, children’s films are created with the intent of keeping kids entertained; in reality, they’re much deeper than they seem. I’ve recently had the opportunity to reexamine three of the most popular children’s films of the 2000s: Robots (2005, Blue Sky Entertainment), Zootopia (2016, Pixar), and WALL-E (2008, Pixar). All three of the films comment on multiple social concepts, all while projecting the image of being silly kids’ stories. The student body may have grown up with these films, but have they ever stopped to consider their true message?

Blue Sky Entertainment’s 2005 film Robots follows the story of Rodney, a robot with big dreams of becoming an inventor in Robot City with chief inventor Bigweld. When Rodney arrives in the city, he realizes that Bigweld Industries has been taken over by the antagonist, Ratchet. Ratchet is driven by money and power; Bigweld was driven by a desire to make life better for all. Bigweld Industries begins marketing outrageously-priced upgrades and threatening to melt down those who cannot pay. Rodney decides to put his dreams on hold to help disadvantaged robots and stop Ratchet, a goal in which he succeeds with the help of Bigweld. On the surface, Robots is a simple story about following your dreams and helping others; in reality, it is a commentary on healthcare and corporate kleptocracy. The expensive upgrades are representative of rising healthcare costs; the melting down of robots is an exaggerated representation of higher illness-related death rates in low-income communities. Ratchet does not care about the good of the people, and would rather focus on money. The film highlights the problems with allowing money-obsessed leaders to gain power and suggests that leaders who actually care will always reign supreme. “I recently watched Robots and realized how much it reflects on capitalism,” said senior Jade Hogarty. “It also makes me wonder how it has shaped the way those kids now view capitalism.” Films like Robots carry meaning for both kids and adults alike.

Pixar’s 2016 film Zootopia explores the story of Judy Hopps, a hopeful rabbit with dreams of becoming a big city police officer. She perseveres through adversity and makes it to the city, only to be assigned the position of “meter maid.” Her time in the city brings her friendship, fame, and a desire to make things right. Zootopia is a brilliant story about embracing our differences and existing peacefully; however, it has several other underlying messages. The film examines power dynamics within a workplace, racial prejudice, and implicit bias. Power dynamics exist between Judy and the police chief, especially when it comes to important cases. She is powerless against his actions out of fear of being fired. Racial prejudice plays a major role in the film, especially with predators. A scheme is set up to turn predators savage, which causes the city to turn against them. Implicit bias appears specifically between Judy and her fox friend, Nick. She was raised to be scared of all foxes, which ends up appearing when she interacts with them. She keeps fox repellent on her person at all times, and even brings it out when Nick pretends to be savage. Zootopia is portrayed to be a haven for inclusion and culture; in reality, it is riddled with discrimination and bias. “There are a lot of social analogies in Zootopia,” said sophomore Colin Gach. “The city is not as great as it seems.” Animals like Judy represent people flocking to idealized cities, only to realize they are not what they seem. While the film was made for kids, there are several messages for adults as well.

Pixar’s 2008 film WALL-E takes place seven hundred years in the future. Earth has been over-polluted to the point where humans have fled on a giant space cruiser called the Axiom, manufactured by fictional megacorporation Buy n’ Large. WALL-E meets another robot named Eve when they return to Earth and follows them all through space. They end up on the Axiom where humans have become immobile, screen-addicted entities, which drives WALL-E and Eve to embark on a mission to get humans back to Earth. For kids, the film is a touching story of love and helping others; for others, it explores environmentalism, capitalistic illusions, and the assumption of gender. Environmentalism is reflected through pollution and its looming effects. Earth had become a dry, uninhabitable wasteland due to mass consumerism, initiated by Buy n’ Large. “There is a distinct possibility that the future of this world is similar to WALL-E’s,” said junior Coria Chaloupecky. Real-world megacorporations like Amazon and Apple are frighteningly similar to Buy n’ Large. In the film, their wealth allowed them to become so powerful that they were able to take over the government and control people’s lives. By sending people away from Earth and creating robots like WALL-E, they created the illusion that they were solving the problem; in reality, they were the problem. Regardless, humans bought into their illusions and complied. The film also examines how we interpret gender. WALL-E and Eve’s genders are never concretely stated; yet, viewers interpret them to be male and female. WALL-E exhibits characteristics considered “typical” in men: sturdy, hardworking, and strong; in comparison, Eve exhibits characteristics considered “typical” in women: sleek, clean, and put-together. They also engage in a heartwarming romance. Almost everyone who sees the film generalizes the robots based on their characteristics and relationship, even though they are simply robots. At older ages, the film allows for introspection into our own biases and the future of our planet.

Children’s films may be intended for younger eyes, but they provide valuable messages that are beneficial to all. Robots may never really exist, but you can apply their message to our society today; Zootopia may be a silly animated story, but its concepts are consistent with the real world. WALL-E is more realistic than the others and is a glimpse into a frighteningly possible future. These films all provide easy-to-decipher messages that can be applied to our world. Instead of using them as a way to keep kids engaged and out of the way, we should be using them to teach about what our world is, and what it threatens to become.