Hoppers, like Pixar's pre-Disney films, is a delight. The beavers' world is immersive and richly realized, grounded in science but never dry. The plot zigs and zags between moments of absurdity and emotional heft to stirring effect; I cried multiple times, and not just because of the low-hanging fruit of grandma death.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.
(Courtesy of Disney) James Cameron's latest Avatar movie opens with a scene of innocent wonder. Two young brothers soar through the air on winged beasts, taking in the vertiginous views of their majestic home world. Both are Na'Vi, lithe bipedal inhabitants of the verdant moon Pandora introduced back in 2009 in the series' first entry. The boys experience Pandora as a playground, its psychedelic flora and fauna a boundless source of delight. The catch is that one of the brothers is dead.
This Earth911 inspiration comes from American environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill: "I wake up in the morning asking myself what can I do today, how can I help the world today." Earth911 inspirations. Post them, share your desire to help people think of the planet first, every day. Click the poster to get a larger image. Editor's Note: This poster was originally published on August 28, 2020.
But the film's singular animation style, watercolored, layered, and dreamlike, is its strongest hook, situating Wolfwalkers (2020) far apart from the CGI-heavy ilk and flattened, samey output proliferating in American kids' animation. Co-directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart of the Ireland-based studio Cartoon Saloon employed a mix of hand-drawn elements and digital tools to animate Wolfwalkers, pairing blocky city renderings of Kilkenny-inspired by medieval woodcuts-with organic, gestural depictions of the forest outside its stone walls.
After twenty years of campaigns, though, he sensed that the movement was going nowhere-and missing the deeper point. Too many environmentalists had "no attachment to any actual environment," he complained; they talked up the Earth but showed "no sign of any real, felt attachment to any small part of that Earth." A few years earlier, he had co-founded the Dark Mountain Project to promote what he would call "dark ecology." Its manifesto declared the fight against climate change lost and a "collapse" inevitable.
Her heart is huge and she is passionate about so many social causes, but sometimes her save the world ethos can be annoying. Case in point: she loves picking up litter that isn't hers. Maybe loves is too strong a word, but she can't help herself when it comes to picking up rubbish, and sometimes I feel it's unnecessary. If she sees a piece of rubbish on the pavement, she will pick it up.
Rivers, on a long view, are alive. They are born; they change; they shift their channels; they forge new routes to the sea; they move both gradually and violently; they teem (usually) with life; they may die a quasi-natural death; they are frequently maimed and even murdered.
During the protest, a tribe member blessed the protesters opposing the construction of an immigration detention center in the Everglades, emphasizing cultural significance amid ongoing tensions.
The very idea of de-extinction raises profound questions about the meaning of extinction and how we treat life, whether living, endangered, dead or extinct.
