For decades, media curated to children has played an important role in the development of their worldviews and convictions as they mature into adulthood.
However, not all kids’ media has carried the same care in their messages. Some prioritize entertainment and monetization above having a positive impact on the youth.
Hoppers, the latest film from renowned children’s animation studio Pixar, is a great example of good media. The film follows Mabel, a young environmental activist who lives in the city of Beaverton, as she attempts to stop a highway from being built on top of a forest glade.
What starts off as a relatively simple premise escalates quickly when Mabel discovers a robotic beaver that she can transfer her consciousness into. From there, the film continues to ride this escalation to ridiculous levels.
One standout moment happens during a car chase when a great white shark, who we’re told has a lovely personality, is carried through the sky by a flock of seagulls and is sent to kill Beaverton’s mayor.
The film is funny and exciting and is propelled forward by a manic energy that keeps viewers constantly guessing where the story will go next.
But Hoppers also has a heartfelt story at its core, with complex and fleshed out themes on the importance of environmental protection, community building and the dangers of projects that harm the planet.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is the latest film to come from another well-known children’s animation studio, Illumination.
It follows Mario, a plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom, and his friends as they attempt to rescue Princess Rosalina from the evil Bowser Jr.
What starts off as a relatively simple plot quickly becomes convoluted, as Mario and his crew split up while beginning their quest. From there, the film starts to lose track of its large ensemble cast and the story drifts into tangential territory.
One of the worst examples of this is when Mario and Luigi are turned into babies and run off into a forest where Yoshi and Toad have to rescue them from an evil T. Rex before returning to the rest of the group and never bringing it up again.
Maybe it’s unfair to compare these two films—Pixar is a beloved studio by people of all ages while Illumination has a track record of appealing mostly to young children while being divisive among older kids and adults.
But while sitting in the theater watching Illumination’s latest $110,000,000 dollar effort, you can’t help but question whether the film has any value as a piece of children’s media.
The film feels unbelievably lazy and phoned in, as if they were solely focused on recreating the accidental “memeability” that helped make the first Super Mario Movie a success, rather than trying to make a film that is worthwhile for a child’s mind and development.
Super Mario Galaxy cost a fortune to make, and outside of Nintendo and Illumination’s profit incentives, the only thing that that money went to was a trite message about friendship and a reductive message about the inability of flawed people to grow and change.
Hoppers cost $150,000,000, and while I’m sure that Disney’s primary goal was to make money, the film also says something and tries to give very thoughtful lessons about a myriad of subjects to its audience of children.
Both of these films have earned hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, but if we allow giant corporations to make that amount of money off of children, shouldn’t we expect them to give something meaningful and lasting back to those kids
