Films and Television Of Importance

Films And Other Shows Of Importance

Here is a list of Films and Television Shows that have important
themes that have to do with Environmental Issues or Human Issues
that are just as important.

Ferngully: The Last Rainforest

A Rainforest by the name of Ferngully is threatened by logging interests.
When Ferngully's Fairyfolk encounters a human for the first time, they accidentally
welcome him into their world. When that human Zak is revealed to be one of the
loggers, they show him the threat that will befall their world if the logging
continues. Zak must help the Fairyfolk or all will be destroyed.

A film for all ages.

Pom Poko

Raccoons are being threatened by development by Humans. If they are to survive
they must use magical powers to become Human and learn their ways. But will
it be too late for them to survive before they lose everything?

Transformers

Transformers came out during the times of the Energy Crisis that was in the 1980s.
It also reflects the current war over resouces and the overconsumption of them.
It is a series about robots who can think and feel and can transform into a variety
of vehicles and weapons. The peaceful Autobots and the evil Decepticons have been
at war for millions of years. Because of this their resources of energy have been
exhausted. Leaving their home planet of Cybertron, they crash on Earth, where millions
of years later the war resumes. The Decepticons want to get resources from everywhere
they can on the Earth to succeed in their plans to rule the galaxy (even if it means
the destruction of the Earth which they almost succeed in doing in the Ultimate Doom Episodes of the first season).

The series also deals with many issues, including the
horrors of slavery. The Autobots in the 3rd and 4th Seasons would fight their former slave masters as well.

Transformers the Movie (20th Anniversary Ed. Available Now)

Now that the Decepticons have all the energy they need, they finally take over Cybertron
for good. Doing so, they initiate a huge battle against the Autobots to finally destroy them.
But something even more powerful than them both which is a threat to the universe has emerged.
A monster planet that devours planets for sustinence threatens all life, and it is up to
the Humans, Autobots and Decepticons to stop it. And for the first time, the Autotbots
encounter the Transformers creators, the Quintessons. The Quintessons once enslaved
the Transformers and created Cybertron, and have a perverted sense of justice which is death
no matter if they are innocent or not.

The Return of Optimus Prime

Two scientists who have a racist hatred of all Transformers leads them to release a virus
that makes them hate and destroy each other. The virus not only infects Transformers but
all life. With the universe on the brink of destroying itself, it's only hope is the long
dead Optimus Prime. If he can be resurrected, those who aren't infected by the Hate Plague
(Autobot, Decepticon, Human and Quintesson) must all work together to stop it, or nothing
will be left of the universe.

[In real life Humans have released plagues to destroy those they hated with terrible consequences.
Native Americans were intentionally infected with Smallpox to kill them since they had
no immunity. Wolves were destroyed by Humans in the U.S. by being infected with the virus called
Mange. It is even speculated that HIV and AIDS was engineered to infect only certain types of people.]

Transformers: Beast Machines

The last series of Transformers where the descendants of the Autobots, the Maximals land back
on Cybertron. However the evil Predacon Megatron beat them first. The Maximals, discover that
Cybertron was not originally a robotic industrial planet, but in fact an Earth-like planet before the Quintessons arrived.

Discovering this, they plan to defeat Megatron and his forces by restoring Cybertron back to
a natural planet. This is the sequel to the series Beast Wars where the Maximals and Predacons
went back in time and crashed landed on Prehistoric Earth and once again repeated the war of the
Autobots and Decepticons by once again fighting for resources and wanting to return to Cybertron.

[A metaphor on how Earth was once a natural planet to be later transformed into an industrial planet
by Humans. And how to save the planet we must restore Nature back to it's former glory.]

Captain Planet

Earth is in trouble. Humans are destroying the environment and each other and it is up to her champions to help. Mother Earth has selected five champions to help. Each has a ring that has a power from the Earth. When her champions use their five rings they can summon Captain Planet. This show was created by Ted Turner and had a successful run from 1990-1993. Below are a few clips from the series. Since the series, much like X-Men 90's aren't on DVD, you will have to find the tapes on Amazon or Ebay.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Xr2iZ-oWJAA&search=Captain%20Planet%20Episodes

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zT20B-xWL_A&search=Captain%20Planet%20Episodes

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EY_aLk8VV6Y&search=Captain%20Planet%20Episodes

X-Men: Days of Future Past (Or anything X-Men for that matter)

X-Men is about a world where Humans have evolved to a higher form where they have superpowers.
The world is against them by far and the X-Men, a team of Mutants, fight for a peaceful co-existence
between Humans and Mutants. A series that dives into the issues of racism, predjudice and the
battle for civil rights for all.

Days of Future Past from the smash X-Men Animated Series of the 1990's is a saga based on the Days of Future Past comics that came out in 1980.

It is a dark future where the X-Men are gone and Mutant hunting robots called Sentinels rule the
world. Humans are also oppressed by the Sentinels. The world's only hope relies on one time traveler
who must change the future so all will survive.

Try to find the old VHS tapes on Amazon.com or Ebay. Maybe one day Marvel will release the series on DVD..

[Mutants are a metaphor for those who are oppressed, human and animal who must live in a world
who prodominately hates them and must battle for survival and co-existence with humans that fear
and hate them. In Days of Future Past, one can find the Mutants much like Wolves who are hunted
down and slaughtered by machines created by Humans. In fact you can see a parallel of the fate of Wolves and other wild creatures and even Humans in past history. In the 2nd part of Days of Future past when you find out how things came to be for Mutants. You can see lots of metaphors here that apply even today. The Canadian Wolves as of last year were framed and hunted for a death which they were never proven to have caused, but in any case Wolves shouldn't be murdered anyway. The Mutant Control Laws which are mentioned in Pt.2 is also like what happened once Wolves were reintroduced.]

The X-Files

A series that ran successfully from 1993-2002 about Agents Mulder, Scully, Doggett, and Reyes who are FBI agents that investigate the paranormal and must stop the machinations of the government as well as aliens. It illustrates the conspiracies and lies that the U.S. Government and it's agencies as well as other ones around the world create and perpetuate.

Several Episodes that hit home on the environmental issues are listed below:

Season 1

Darkness Falls -- Agents Mulder and Scully must find missing loggers. Once in the forests they find out what happened to the loggers. They also discover that the loggers were illegally destroying old growth forests and unleashed a threat unlike anything ever seen before. Mulder and Scully must find out the truth of the matter or they and their comrades will be next to die.

Season 2

The Host -- Agent Mulder investigates deaths in the sewers of Newark, which leads to the discovery of an unnatural creature of immense power. Can Mulder stop it? And the most damning thing of all is that this monster was created by man through pollution of the worst kind.

Fearful Symmetry -- Mulder and Scully following the investigation of the death of a federal construction worker, happen to discover a zoo that's animals pregnancies have never came to term. It is clear these animals children are being taken away, but for what purpose? And what does it spell for Earth since it is dying?

Know any other environmental episodes or films? Submit them at mike@heartofthewolf.org

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