Screening Nature in Walt Disney's Bambi (1942) and Dr. Seuss's The Lorax (1972): An Ecocritical Approach to Enviro-toons

The present study is an attempt to fill in a gap in Ecocriticism which until recently has focused on literature defined as Nature Writing; poetry, fiction and drama. Yet, with the move toward ecocritical Film Studies, there is a place for work on animated feature films. The premise of the study is the ethical and environmental implications as exemplified in the two selected enviro-toons: Disney's Bambi (1942) and Dr. Seuss's The Lorax (1972). The depiction of wilderness and the representation of nonhuman animals provide a rich context to investigate ideology and power to explore oppressive practices of contemporary societies. The selected enviro-toons strongly articulate ecological crisis; hunting, species loss, pollution, deforestation and overproduction. The Lorax exposes overconsumption that is driven by the capitalism's profit motive and the pro-industrial character the Once-ler's "jobs –jobs –jobs" rhetoric. On the other hand, Bambi stands for a romanticized environment with the perspective that marks nature as an ecological sublime since the wilderness trope is worthy of awe and wonder. The peculiar language of animation is deliberately defined by multiple distinctions. Animation is an aesthetically determined lexis, interpreted by different animators, hence, animation bears a distinct authorial signature and a unique studio style. Disney's 'realist' style fits into orthodox animation while that of Dr. Seuss is 'abstract' and 'experimental'. The focus is on the poetics of enviro-toons, that is, not only what cartoons show but how they illustrate ecocritical sensibility and how it affects the way of 'seeing' and understanding the human/nonhuman world. Not only does Dr. Seuss tell fantastical tales of far-away places but he also illustrates a unique visual language that carries his stories to new heights of artistic expression. Surrealism provides the foundation from which he builds the structure of The Lorax. The structure is analogous to a dream-like state to underlie hidden sentiments beyond the orthodoxies of language. In contrast, Bambi is a monologic biography in photographic realism. Disney's mimesis and linear structure do not require deep interpretation and since it is only a warning with no handy action plan, there is no path to human redemption to exist in a world that upholds 'strong anthropocentrism' as a discourse of human dominion over nature. Finally, Ecomedia Studies is a promising pop culture field not only geared to adolescents and children, but also to human community to be aesthetically interpreted against a monolithic approach.