Our youngest movie-watchers are tasked with taking care of the environment in the years to come. We picked five films that have helped to cultivate the next generation of environmentalists and send them to the box office in droves.
The nominees are:
FernGully: The Last Rainforest
And the winner is...
Cris Bisch says:
I predict that the popular vote goes to Wall-E. Too bad Gorilla in the Greenhouse falls outside the movie-going venue!
The Green Dude says:
I am giving this one to Wall-E as well - it takes a special kind of movie to get the same message (in different ways) to people of ALL ages. Spirited Away is a close second though.
Jordana G. says:
I'd like to write "March of the Penguins" into this category because... remember how many kids saw it and how popular penguins have gotten as a result? Remember all the penguin toys and stuffed animals? They're still around! I don't think Wall E toys/paraphernalia have gone platinum like the penguins did, have they?
Debbie S. says:
Wall-E was excellent and Fern Gully was one of the first films about this subject, another excellent film.
Ken O. says:
SPirited Away. I liked WallE and think it's nice for adults, but it didn't connect as well. But I"m not a kid either...
Sherry T. says:
I loved both Wall-E and Fern Gully, but I have to cast my vote for Wall-E, the pollution was just so horrible!
Ken O. says:
I'm not changing my vote, but Over the Hedge was a good film, like WallE. One film you're forgetting to include in any of the categories is Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. It seemed like an ecologically minded film to me, at least as an undercurrent. The film's plot is centered around James Lovelock's "Gaia theory."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirits_Within
Adam W. says:
No question this is a tough category. Wall-E is one of the best movies I have ever seen, but I don't necessarily know how well it will translate into action for kids. Over the Hedge had the entire soundtrack made by Ben Folds, which is awesome, but I was not a huge fan of the movie. I think I am going to have to go with FernGully on this one.
Jay G. says:
I'd vote for Wall-E2 the sequel if it showed how all of those barely-walking people actually made Earth inhabitable again.
Elli A. says:
Spirited Away is a masterpiece. Not only for animation and environmental topics. An apex of exploding creativity and quality. “Castle in the sky” also has environmental context, but its more of a story about human nature. I have seen very few movies that match that perfectionism on all the aspects of movies making, story, visuals, etc.
It is ranked as one of the TOP 100 MOVIES OF ALL TIMES in IMDB (#61) and won an Oscar. Really, there are few other movies playing in that league.
Charles B. says:
Vote for Spirited Away.
Zoey L. says:
I'd like to write in "Finding Nemo." It was a beautiful film that I believe inspired an entire generation of conservationists.
Gemma P. says:
I'm with Cris B. Gorilla in the Greenhouse! OK, so it's not a full-length movie, but in 7 or 8 minutes it inspired me and I would imagine inspires kids even more, with their young and oh-so-open minds. This is the kind of inspiration we need in kids' cartoons, there's enough violent cartoons out there. Go Gorilla!
Mariel T. says:
Wall-E was awesome!!!!
Brian H. says:
Hmm, good stuff. Haven't seen Wall-E yet, and I loved Ferngully.... hmm. I'd like to write in Finding Nemo though also, good call Zoey (love that name btw)
Abby G. says:
Sprited Away? What's this movie about? So confusing, I didn't get it at all. Can someone explain? I vote for March of the Penguins.
Alejandro R. says:
I think one of the films not mentioned that had a strong enviromental message was "Happy Feet".
Ken O. says:
@Alejandro: Agreed. Happy Feet should have been included. I saw some not-so happy feet at the Calif. Academy of Sciences over the weekend in SF... they sure looked cute but their area seems far too small to accommodate so many penguins. It's also missing "Nausicaa" which consistently ranks top 25 on IMDB under science films.