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Happy penguins, or liberal political animals?
Filed under: Media, That's Entertainment
Leave it the Guardian, UK, to examine the political subversiveness (or lack thereof) of children's cartoons. In the wake of comments by Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto that Happy Feet, the penguin dancing movie, is full of "far-left" liberal propaganda, the newspaper has examined a number of films, including Antz, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Ice Age and Cinderella.
We saw Happy Feet when it first came out, and, while my 2 1/2 year-old daughter was bored to tears by the seemingly endless, animated epic, I'm not sure I'd label it "far-left" or "propaganda." Sure, it poked fun at organized religion, challenged authority, promoted conservationism, and championed the cause of those weirdo, left-leaning creative types, but wouldn't "far-left" be a movie about the benefits of socialism, or the joys of living in Holland, or something?
In any case, it's an interesting read. How many conservative parents out there have taken their kids to Happy Feet (or any other mainstream kids movie), and been disappointed to find values you didn't agree with? Any liberal parents feel like you're finding the opposite?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
12-12-2006 @ 2:55PM
Kelly said...These discussions crack me up. Um, they're PENGUINS, people. "Far-left creative types?" Huh? If anything, it's about how it's okay to be different. Jeez. Reminds me of when Limbaugh said that SpongeBob and Tinky Winky were promoting homosexuality. A sponge. And a tubby. World gone mad!
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12-12-2006 @ 4:33PM
becca said...I'm not usually one to complain about political messages in children's cartoons, but I have to disagree with Kelly. The characters in the cartoons may be penguins, sponges, and tubbies, but the films/shows were written, directed and produced by real people who have real political feelings. Not to say that they always (or even often) insert adult political messages in children's entertainment, but unlike March of the Penguins or other animal footage documentaries (into which political messages are erroneously read), these fictional offerings can be just as ideologically indoctrinating as the writers want them to be.
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12-12-2006 @ 7:23PM
Jessica Escue said...Is there anything in this world that we can find reasonable?? Its a children's movie for goodness sakes...why twist it into something far fetched?
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12-12-2006 @ 4:51PM
Rory Hinnen said...Most of the time, I don't think there's any more message than, "how can I get someone to laugh".
Sorry, just don't see anything here worth getting worked up about. Half of the dissertation lost focus, I think as the writer realized she'd pushed her premise too far.
Overall, I'd probably give it a barely passing mark and hand it back to be re-worked with more substance.
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12-12-2006 @ 8:01PM
Bruce Cohen said...I saw it this weekend... it was *very* anti-seal. I'm surpised the pro-seal activists aren't all over this one....
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12-13-2006 @ 12:29AM
Jen said...And seriously, the "far left" agenda they're talking about is of the "save mother earth" variety. Doesn't everyone support this idea in some way? Is there a pro-destruction of the Earth group? I think not.
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12-13-2006 @ 8:31AM
Lea said...>> Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto that Happy Feet, [claimed] the penguin dancing movie, is full of "far-left" liberal propaganda
I know the Guardian is left of center. But this all started with a silly Fox News report. It's almost as silly as their "war on Christmas" thing.
Just pointing out where this started. It's a waste of everyone's time and energy—everyone except for vapid Fox News reporters, it seems.
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