Exploring the realistic nature of animation film in ecological storytelling

As technology developed, storytelling advanced from being told from mouth to mouth to a phase wherein the mise-en-scene or diegesis of stories could come alive through the magnetic audio-visual medium known as film. Animation, a unique technique of film, has gone beyond merely amusing its ever-increasing audience with its exciting non-human characters to becoming an effective means of portraying reality with its incredible storytelling mechanism. This article uses the eco-critical theory to undergird its arguments on realism in animation. It employs literary, direct observation and media content analysis methods to examine selected animated films (FernGully: The Last Rainforest, The Lion King and Moana representing different environments of the Australian rainforest, African Savannah and Polynesian area respectively). The study considers the nature of animation in telling realistic ecological stories that live camera lenses, angles and conventional classroom situations may not be able to capture. It bared the fact that animation is an incredible film technique that can demonstrate stylistically the effects of the negligence of the environment by humans in a manner that film audiences/learners can gain insights and pragmatically become advocates for nature/green culture and environmental protection. The conclusion is that if the animation technique is creatively utilized in schools in different ecosystems, it can present to its audience/learners, complex ideas such as the need to preserve Mother Earth from wanton destruction for the common good of human beings in a simple but imaginative way.