quarta-feira, 6 de novembro de 2013

Donkeys in Films

It is interesting when it comes to donkeys being represented in movies. At a first moment, we tend to not remember a film in which a donkey has appeared. However, if we donate just a few minutes thinking about it, a lot of characters will come to our minds.
                First of all, we can find different cinematographic versions of many literature pieces, such as the ones mentioned on the post about “Literature” (“Don Quixote” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”). Actually, parodies are commonly produced, bringing our special animal to a foreground; for instance, we can find a movie called “Donkey Xote”, in which the producers made a pun with the phonetic name of the main character, leading to a particular focus on the loyal animal portrayed in the original book.

The donkey is brought to foreground, playing an important role in the plot

                In “Donkey Xote”, an Italian-Spanish animated children’s comedy movie, the whole story is told by Cervantes, but he is interrupted by Rucio, the talking donkey, who re-tells the entire plot, wishing he was Rocinante, Cervantes’ horse. One more time, the donkey is brought to the forefront and catches public admiration.

                Below, everybody can check “Donkey Xote” trailer in English:

                Whoever has lived together with kids knows about Winnie the Pooh and his group, formed by animal characters as well. Each one is depicted as a different species and carries a particular personality, frequently replete of complex psychological matters. One of them is a beloved donkey, named “Eeyore”. He often appears in Winnie the Pooh movies, such as “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” and “Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore”, which focuses more on him.
               
                In “Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore”, Pooh and other friends are playing on a bridge over a river when they see Eeyore floating. At this time, the donkey tells them “Don’t pay attention to me, nobody ever does”. Nevertheless, his animal friends help him get out of the river. We can easily see that Eeyore was curiously expecting to be saved by the team. As the episode goes, public knows that is Eeyore’s birthday, and he sadly mourns the lack of gifts, cake and candles. In a gloomy way, he seems to deal with it. After the whole group arranges him a surprise party and unexpected gifts, the donkey kindly smiles. We can easily see that he did want their attention, but did not express that explicitly.

                Below, you can watch the entire episode:
                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5gj10SLsq0

                Eeyore seems a sad character, with a pessimist point of view, or he just prefers to be quiet in his place thinking about life, introspectively. This creates a feeling of compassion and pity in the public. We tend to see this little stuffed donkey as a creature wanting love, attention and care. His lovely appearance does not match with his behavior, and this evokes in us a desire of taking care of him, being special for him.  On the other hand, Eeyore is commonly used as a symbol to some psychological effects and behavioral classifications, such as for children who promptly find practical and realistic solutions to daily problems, or who easily accepts frustrating circumstances. For sure, some specialists say that this character can interfere in some kids’ behavior, but the whole team of Winnie The Pooh stories blends personalities and teaches different kinds of lessons regarding each one’s way of perceiving life.


Eeyore, with his greyish cover and a sad appearance.


Eeyore is commonly represented under a single cloud with rain. He seems to be resigned. This evokes a feeling of compassion in the public.


                “Shrek”, a well-known and successful movie caught the attention of children and adults. In many Shrek movies, one character that was surprisingly catchy was the Donkey. He is a talkative donkey, energized, excited about everything and can be clumsy and really clever at the same time. His loyal behavior towards Shrek makes him a real good confident who emanates safety and sympathy. Donkey often breaks the climax throughout the story with funny actions and jokes that amuse children but also contributes with references that adults will understand and laugh at. Some people say that Donkey has broken the stereotype of those regular animals, since general opinion considers donkeys boring animals, without facial expressions. This particular character smiles a lot and he projects a positive view regarding donkeys in general.

Donkey is constantly smiling and becomes a friend and confident to Shrek.



                Electronic Resources:
                Donkey Xote
                Talking Donkeys
                Eeyore - character

                The Eeyore effect

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