This 'n That Thursdays: Two Animated Films Worth Watching

From Entropy

Recently I watched two excellent animated films that I highly recommend.  They are very different from each other, but both will make you think.  First up is this very short science-based video:

"Why Dogs Have Floppy Ears: An Animated Tale" (2018) offers a theory to help explain a scientific phenomenon known as "Domestication Syndrome".  Domestication syndrome is the observation that domesticated animals species, both pets and livestock, tend to have certain physical characteristics in common that are distinctly different from their wild ancestors.  These traits in mammals include the titular floppy ears as well as other attributes like shortened snouts and multicolored coats.

If you love animals you will most likely find this film fascinating even if you have absolutely no interest in genetics or science in general.  The subject is explained clearly and simply, and since the film is only a few minutes long you do not have time to lose interest!  Should you wish to delve deeper into this topic, check out the NPR article here, and you can read the journal article here.  If you liked this short science video you can check out other films by Skunk Bear here.

The next animated film could not be more different from the first one, but it is equally thought-provoking:

"Grave of the Fireflies" (1988) is a feature-length animated movie from Studio Ghibli, the same company that gave us films such as "Spirited Away" (2001), which is my favorite animated film, and "My Neighbor Totoro" (1988).  All of Hayao Miyazaki's productions seem have a bit of sadness to them, but this particular film is truly heartbreaking (you have been warned!).  It focuses on the effects of war on a young brother and sister in Japan, who lose their mother during an air raid and struggle to survive on their own (if you watch the YouTube video above, remember to turn on the English subtitles unless you are fluent in Japanese!).

I first learned about this movie from an article entitled "10 Deeply Disturbing Movies That You Need To Watch, But Only Once".  I had never seen any of these movies, but after watching this one, which is probably the gentlest of the ten, I am sure I will never watch the other nine!  This film reminds me so much of "When the Wind Blows" (1986), another animated movie I described in an old post that also chronicles the tragic effects of war in a gentle but terribly sad way (you can watch this one here).

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Sometimes I feel that many people, in particular certain world leaders, often forget about the very real and devastating consequences of war on the lives of everyone involved, including ordinary citizens.  I realize that at times war becomes the sole choice left in certain situations, but surely only after all other options have been exhausted. The article I mentioned above about deeply disturbing movies had this to say about "Grave of the Fireflies":

"Perhaps if all the pro-war leaders were bundled into a room and forced to watch Grave of the Fireflies on a merciless, endless loop, the blissful prospect of eternal world peace may be a little closer than it's ever been before."

And I say amen to that.