Green on the Big Screen

An animated predecessor of Avatar of sorts, Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest tells the tale of an enchanted rainforest of fairies who believe that humans are extinct until one fairy, Crysta, spots them cutting down trees. She accidentally shrinks a human lumberjack, Zak, who falls in love with the wondrous forest and together they battle to stop humans and an evil spirit (who consumes and gains power from toxic waste) from destroying their beloved Fern Gully.

Former Vice-President Al Gore felt passionate enough about global warming to make a movie about it. In An Inconvenient Truth, Gore explores the phenomenon of global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions, busts the myths and gives us a reality check on what we need to do now to avert a future meltdown. Kids will be able to see the frightening results of our past actions and learn how to take preventive actions now to reduce our carbon footprint.

Over the Hedge tells the story of a pack of woodland animals who wake up from their winter slumber to find that their home has been urbanized. Only a hedge separates their remaining patch of forest from suburbia. The movie follows the adventures of this motley group of friends as they attempt to steal food from humans. The green message in this movie is clear, that the urban sprawl is ever encroaching upon animal territory.

This is a poignant portrayal of the mating rituals of emperor penguins. The movie follows their single-file march in freezing winter to their mating ground, where they find a partner and mate. It shows how the father penguin goes hungry to protect his egg all through the harshest winter conditions imaginable until it finally hatches in spring. March of the Penguins will have kids falling in love with these endearing birds.

Happy Feet will instantly draw kids into the charming world of Mumble, a tap dancing emperor penguin who struggles to find love because he is different. As Mumble fights for acceptance a larger storyline about the dangers of commercial overfishing threatening the penguin food chain is revealed. This movie drives the environment message straight to the hearts of kids.

This movie was such a success that it spawned 3 sequels! The original Free Willy has an Orca whale Willy trapped by whalers and brought to an amusement park, where Jesse, a lonely orphan boy befriends him. As their bond develops, Jesse must save Willy’s life and reunite him with his family before the money-minded amusement park owner has him killed. The message this movie gives kids is to let animals be free in their natural habitat, rather than trap them for human amusement. Make sure you and the kids catch up on the previous movies before the latest installment hits theaters later this year.