Cartoons With A Conscience - and $$$s

Fox and U.S. Forest Service Team Up on 'Rio 2'

Hollywood appears to be using cartoons to educate and moralize on social issues - as it has become routine for animated films to be 'message' driven and it seems that this tactic is proving very popular with moviegoers.  For example, the recent and very successful, 'Mr. Peabody & Sherman' (DreamWorks), about a dog that adopts a child and travels back in time, encountering historic (real-life) people and their problems.  Or for the upcoming, 'Rio 2' (Fox) in which a blue parrot and his pals battle extinction will debut with a PR campaign in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service - to encourage children to spend more time outdoors and connect with nature.  Studio sponsored, public-service announcements are planned with a view to educating young children on appreciating nature and animals and instilling a sense of environmental stewardship. The U.S Forest Service estimates that over 245 million Americans live within 100 miles of a national forest or grassland - and 88% of children say they enjoy being in the outdoors.

Later this year, DreamWorks will be releasing 'Home', which depicts the relocation of people to reservation land in Arizona - the comparison between Native Americans and the arrival of white settlers is central to the film's message of environmentalism and multi-cultural themes.

But this is more than Hollywood's attempt to send youngsters moral messages - it's about great business opportunity as well.  The audience for animated movies is much broader than for action/superhero movies and since the mega box office success of eco-friendly films such as 'Avatar' and 'Wall-E', Hollywood sat up and noticed that addressing social issues was not a bad way to go.  According to Dominic Patten of Deadline Hollywood, "This has been true for animated films for some time. They are not for kids anymore - parents and children only make up 50% of the box office, the rest of the audience is adults 24-68. It's a wide, multinational demographic."  Which is way these movies make so much money. 'Frozen' not only made over $1 billion at the box office globally, but its soundtrack was number 1 for weeks on the top-hits chart.

From Hollywood's perspective, this is all good, really good.  It's not about getting on a soap-box rant but highlighting issues that people know are important and impact the whole world.  And telling these stories through cartoon characters really seems to connect with moviegoers.


"It has to do with recognizing the power of the moving image in the 21st Century", Barbara Boyle, Assoc. Dean of UCLA's School of  Theatre, Film & Television told CMG. "Animators have been including social responsibility in their films for many years, now they are getting to be more important. Animators can do anything.  They're not limited.  It's a true art form. You can have animals speak.  You have no boundaries to reality.  If you are learning about human or social issues it doesn't matter if  it's a rabbit talking to you."

I agree. People want to have their social and environmental concerns confirmed through films - and the animated ones can do it better and much easier to a much broader audience.

Best
Jim Lavorato