Human beings share the planet with some very interesting other creatures. The films on this list portray our counterparts on the planet in a variety of different ways. Whether they do it lovingly, passionately, or comically (or even inaccurately), they are all very entertaining films.
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
We often view donkeys as stubborn, hardheaded creatures, and they used to be viewed as nothing more than machinery to get work done. This film, however, shows us life through the eyes of a donkey. Robert Bresson, whose films are simplistic but complex all at once, directs this beautiful but sad story. We see the donkey Balthazar’s happier times in his life, paralleling with that of his owner, Marie. When they eventually become separated, they both are abused and experience many hardships and lead rather unhappy, difficult lives. You’ll never look at a donkey as just a stubborn, stupid animal after seeing this film.
Babe (1995)
As far as talking animal films go, Babe is the best. It’s one of the best “family films” with animals I’ve ever seen. It even got nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The storyline is crazy, but entertaining, following ultra-cute piglet Babe as he learns about the ups and downs of farm life, the downs being that he could possibly end up being dinner someday. The rest of the cast is made up mostly of other animals, some real, some animatronic, some friends, some foes. Babe eventually decides that he wants to become a sheep-herding dog, and so he does. The film makes it difficult to think about eating bacon ever again.
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
This crazy comedy stars Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant, along with a troublesome leopard named Baby. We don’t see Baby too much during the film, but she plays a pivotal role in this romantic comedy by conveniently disappearing. A dog named George also plays an important part, by stealing and running off with a very important dinosaur bone. The quirky storyline makes it stand out from other romantic comedies, and in what other film from this time period will you see a tame leopard as one of the main stars? Perhaps the premise of this film was a little too much for audiences at the time, because it did horribly at the box office, but it has since become a beloved classic, and its screwball story makes it even better.
A Day at the Races (1937)
Another film where we don’t see the animals, racehorses, all that much, but it is about an industry that revolves around animals. I love the Marx brothers, and I love horseracing, so I just have to put this film on the list. Groucho, Harpo, and Chico are up to their same crazy antics, with Groucho playing the head doctor of a sanitarium, when he really only has a degree in veterinary medicine. The brothers plan to save the sanitarium by winning a big horserace, but of course a villainous bad guy wants to stop them. One of the greatest scenes is where Groucho buys book after book from Chico trying to figure out a tip on a race that Chico gave him in code.
Grizzly Man (2005)
Director Werner Herzog created this film from the footage of a man who went to go live with grizzly bears named Timothy Treadwell, along with interviews of various people who knew Treadwell (or who at least had opinions about what he was doing). The footage in the film is simply amazing, because Treadwell really does get right up next to wild grizzly bears and manages to live beside them, as well as with a group of foxes that seem to become very attached to him. The film is supposed to be about Treadwell, who is a very interesting and complex character, but the bears play an extremely important part. This film shows us that no matter how close we get to nature and how much control we believe we have over it, nature is a volatile and dangerous power, and there’s no way of us completely predicting of what it’s going to do.
Harry and Tonto (1974)
This film about an elderly man and his cat that decide to travel across America together after he is forced out of his apartment has many great funny and touching moments. One of my favorite parts of the film is when Harry (played by Art Carney), gets caught urinating in public and is thrown into jail, where he meets Sam Two Feathers (played by the great Chief Dan George), a Native American medicine man who cures his bursitis. The conversation they proceed to have is hilarious. Tanto the cat gives a great performance in the film, as well.
Jaws (1975)
This film that made Steven Spielberg is a great thriller, but the damage it did to the reputation of great white sharks is terrible. Hopefully by now the world has learned a little more about these very complex creatures and realizes that they don’t all need to be eradicated, and that they definitely don’t have an appetite for human beings. This film spawned many more animal horror flicks, unfortunately. The craziest thing about it is, had the mechanical shark that is featured in the film (there is very little footage of an actual white shark) worked during filming, it wouldn’t have been nearly as frightening, and you never know, Spielberg might not have become the giant he is today.
Planet of the Apes (1968)
This is a different kind of horror film. People who watch this film see the apes as these terrible, evil creatures, when in reality, this film is just a role-reversal between animals and humans. It’s strange to me that Charlton Heston is the star, considering he was such an advocate for hunting and didn’t seem to appreciate animals very much. By making human beings the animals, it really does make you realize how badly animals are treated. Of course no one really sees this side of the film, and many just think that it’s a great sci-fi movie, or they really like Charlton Heston. Too bad that such a great theme has completely gone over everyone’s heads.
The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003)
This film is probably the best documentary I’ve seen done about an animal. It follows the story of a domesticated rare white baby camel whose mother rejects it immediately after it is born. It’s a Mongolian film, and is shot in the sands of the Gobi desert. A group of nomadic shepherds care so much about the mother accepting her baby that they do everything they can to get her to do so. The film takes you into a world very, very different than that of America, where the pleasures in life are very simplistic, but thoroughly enjoyed, by the nomadic family. It’s a very interesting documentary, and you’ll definitely grow attached to the poor baby camel and the family caring for it.
Winged Migration (2001)
This breathtaking documentary focuses on the migrations that birds undertake every year, and is filmed on all seven continents of the world. Most of the footage is filmed on a plane, capturing the birds in flight. The effect is meant to make viewers in a theater feel as though they are flying alongside the birds. The shots of the birds in flight are very impressive, and the film really does draw you into it, as if you’re right there taking the incredible journey with the birds.
There are a few other films I’ll put here for honorable mention. Another film about birds, Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, might not place the animals is such a good light, but it is an entertaining movie. March of the Penguins is a great documentary that aims to be a family film, glossing over events in the penguins’ lives like death and mating. Whale Rider doesn’t show whales all that much, but it is a very good movie. And finally, my husband told me to put Umberto D. on here (I haven’t seen it). He says that it’s somewhat similar to Harry and Tonto, with an elderly man’s only true friend being his pet dog, and that if I had seen it, I would surely have put it on this list.
So we need to thank our animal cohabitants for giving us some great inspiration for films, along with giving some great acting performances of their own sometimes. If you’re an animal lover and film lover, you’re sure to enjoy any of the films on this list.
