Jenny: I accidentally came across a TV show from Japan about a maple tree. A whole hour about one tree that turns unusually bright red in the fall that is famous in Japan. They call it the giant maple, although its only about 45 feet tall (which is rather large for a Japanese Maple). They had professors who study physiological ecology and phenology study the tree for a year and comment on it during the show. They show the tree in all seasons. It was amazing what a good job they did of using the tree to educate the audience about trees and ecology in general. Nothing like that would ever appear in a U.S. TV show.
Lee [email protected] wrote: > I love Miyazaki and find that many many other Japanese movies convey > high respect for forests. > > I've mentioned the Narayama movie > (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnkSHX96cuc), but I also recently saw > "The Mourning Forest" by Naomi Kawase (2007). A young woman > recovering from the death of her young son nurses a senile old man. > One day he wanders off into the woods and she has to find him and > then they get lost. Beautiful > movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jFVebzJ-y4 > > Another really really good and weird one is Fire Festival (Himatsuri, > 1985). A lumberman wages war against a developer in unexpected > ways. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt1UmDBRT8k > > There are so many more. > > No disneyfication going on in these movies, that's for sure! > > Jenny > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Andrew Joslin <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Thu, Nov 19, 2009 7:19 pm > Subject: Re: [ENTS] Family Activity: The Disneyification of Nature > > Ed, if I had kids I'd be glad to conduct your survey! > > Many of you have probably heard of the animated film director Hayao > Miyazaki whose movies do a great job of capturing the mystery and > importance of nature and the forest in a way that's appealing to > children and adults. He is an environmental populist with deep roots, a > rare species in the entertainment industry. My only caveat is try to > watch the English subtitled Japanese language versions as opposed to the > dubbed English versions. The voices of the Japanese actors seem to > convey the intent of the director better then the often poorly cast or > directed English dubbed voices. > > If you're not familiar with Miyazaki's work I recommend the following: > My Neighbor Totoro > Spirited Away > > For a great parable of uncontrolled human enterprise, technology and > destruction of the environment: > Princess Mononoke > > This Studio Ghibli wikipedia entry has a thorough list of Miyazaki's films: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_Ghibli > -Andrew > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki> > Edward Frank wrote: > > > > The Disneyification of Nature > > > > Andrew Joslin recently commented on the Disneyification of nature: > > > > /Yep nature metaphors are a double edged sword, you want to be able to > > communicate to a wide audience. At the same time the power of the > > metaphor can be diluted or co-opted/redirected by commercial/marketing > > forces. I guess that's why I think forest and nature metaphors/myths > > need to be reinvented and reinvigorated to stay ahead of > > "disneyification". (November 16, 2009)./ > > > > Certainly how nature is portrayed in the popular media influences how > > we perceive nature. In the latter part of the 19^th century and early > > part of the 20^th the safari’s in Africa by luminaries such as Ernest > > Hemmingway and Teddy Roosevelt popularized and glamorized the idea of > > the “Great White Hunter.’ This accompanied the romanticism found in > > the journals of Robert Stanley and his search for Dr. Livingston in > > the heart of Africa. Fictional stories by H. Rider Haggard such as > > “She” and the “King Solomon’s Mines” glamorized the jungle experience > > and in turn inspired a series of over two dozen Tarzan novels by Edgar > > Rice Burroughs. Later on in the thirties to the present animated > > movies and cartoons by Disney and others similarly influenced our > > perception of the natural world. The Bambi effect for better or > > worse has changed the public perception of hunting. More recently > > explorations of the natural world by Marlin Perkins in his Mutual of > > Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, Marty Stouffer’s Wild America, and Steve > > Irwin’s Crocodile Hunter put a human face anew upon explorations of > > the natural world. These television programs were produced against a > > background of documentary films by Disney, National Geographic, and > > various Nova producers showing a version of nature in which humans did > > not play an intermediary role. Some have characterized these > > documentaries as the elevator music of nature programming. There is > > little doubt that these examples of popular media influence our > > collective view of the natural world. > > > > > > > > How are television, movies, and video games influencing our children’s > > view of nature? > > > > Specifically how are trees and forests portrayed in these media > > formats? I am proposing a project that involves children’s > > programming on television. Many of you have children or have close > > relatives with children grade school age or younger (or perhaps you > > can rent some.) The perception of children of these media sources is > > different from our perception as adults. The goal would be to compile > > results from surveys of what children see and interpret from > > depictions of trees and forests in cartoons. In general terms > > participants would ask their children about what examples of trees and > > forests they remember from cartoons, then the children would be ask to > > mark down and comment on what tree and forest images they see in > > cartoons as they watch them. It can be treated like a game rather > > than a homework assignment. Specific information required would be > > the age and gender of the child and the name of the cartoon, in > > addition to the comments. > > > > > > > > Preliminary Survey: > > > > Before they sit down and make notes on the cartoons as they watch > > them, a series of questions should be ask. > > > > 1) Do you remember any trees or forests in the cartoon shows you > > watch? > > > > 2) What show were they in? (Doesn’t matter if the answer is wrong) > > > > 3) Were the trees part of the story or just things in the background? > > > > 4) If they were part of the story > > > > a. Did they have faces? > > > > b. Could they talk? > > > > c. Could they move their branches around? > > > > d. Could they walk around? > > > > e. Were the trees friendly or mean? > > > > f. Were they happy or sad? > > > > g. Do you know what kind of trees they were? > > > > 5) What did the trees do in the story? > > > > 6) Is there anything else they want to say about the trees (or > > even other plants)? > > > > The key is to not lead them into giving any particular answer, but to > > document their impressions. After this preliminary session, they > > should be given notepaper or a notebook so they can write down what > > they notice about trees as they watch their cartoon shows. You > > could even loan them a digital camera to snap photos of the television > > screen as they watch. Try to make it fun, a game or a contest. > > > > When these notes are completed, everyone can email them to me at > > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]?>> rather than post > > them > > to the discussion list, and I will compile them all into a report > > which I will post in a month or so. Feel free to include scans of > > drawings they may make as part of the processes. > > > > > > > > Edward Frank > > > > > > > > Check out my new Blog: http://nature-web-network.blogspot.com/ (and > > click on some of the ads) > > > > -- > > Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org > > Send email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > > To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]> > > -- > Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org > Send email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > -- > Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org > Send email to [email protected] > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -- Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]
