{"id":47,"date":"2020-02-10T23:07:20","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T19:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/?p=47"},"modified":"2020-02-21T13:51:14","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T10:21:14","slug":"horton-hears-a-who","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/47\/horton-hears-a-who\/","title":{"rendered":"Horton Hears a Who"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
This animated flm, distributed under\nthe name of Horton in Iran, is a production of the\nBlue Sky Studios in 2008. The present review is written\nbased on the English version of the movie with respect to many changes made in\nits Persian dubbed version. The main story of the movie is based on a\nchildren’s book of the same name and it adheres to the original book very well.\nThis movie co-directed by Steve Martino and Jimmy Hayward in Blue Sky Animation\nStudios in 2008 and featured the voices of Jim Carrey, Steve Carrel, Carroll\nBurnett, Will Arnett and Seth Rogen, was liked by many people at the time of\nplaying. At the time of the screening, there was a lot of debate about the faith in God among the audience, which can still\nbe accessed on the Internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The film’s main story is about an elephant that\nrealizes, in a coincidence, some creatures live on a speck of dust. Because of\nthis understanding, his jungle neighbors put him in trouble, but by the end of\nthe film, everyone realizes he was right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to believing in the\nsupernatural subjects, the general story of this animation deals with many other topics such as the\nrejection of democracy, being moody, the community authorities abusing of\npeople’s trust, the difficulties faithful people face in a faithless society, sacrifice, perseverance and\nkindness. Given that this story has focused on an important and unprecedented\nsubject, faith, the film should be critiqued and evaluated in a group of people\nfrom various fields of expertise; therefore, it has been analyzed here regarding\nits creators’ beliefs on some important and invisible issues such as God,\nangel, heaven, and hell. The movie reviewers don’t believe in these issues, but\nwe have a different view-point about the film based on Islam’s teachings. In\nthe new doctrines of Christianity, faith has been significantly contrasted with the rationalist approach; but given that we are at the\nbeginning of the way on the issue of believing in God and the spiritual\nconcepts in children and teenagers’ media, paying attention to global experiences can greatly aid media strategies for\nchildren. Since the focus of this article is to examine how to covey a religious message to children, we will study the religious\nproblems later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is presented in this analysis has been done by experts in the\nfield of education and media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to explain abstract concepts to\nchildren?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
One of the important points in discussing how to convey religious concepts to children is the child’s perceptions and\ninferences. Just as everyone has his\/her own perceptions of each message and he\/she\nwill not perceive everything is presented to him\/her, everybody has a set of\nframeworks in mind; therefore when a message is sent to the person, he will, in\nfact, interpret it according to his mental frameworks. In discussing transferring\nthe concept to children, it is important to understand what the children’s\nperceptions of the issues we want to present to him\/her are. If the child’s\nunderstanding is not taken into consideration in the media, he or she will\ncertainly not understand the message. An example may help clarify better: Imagine\na child who is only able to perceive a single food called breast milk asks you\nabout the taste of a particular stew; what would you answer him\/her and how\nwould you explain it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The scope of the child’s understanding of and attention to\nsomething is one of the most important and technical topics of interest in\nexpressing concepts, particularly abstract concepts, for the child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Objective issues<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Piaget is well-known for expressing\nchildren’s understanding. He has raised this issue in his studies on children.\nLike any other empirical psychologist, he found that children think more about\nobjective things. This experience was formed based on the situation in which a\ntwo-year-old kid is playing with a ball and when his ball floats behind the\nsofa-where he cannot see it any more- he thinks that he has actually lost the\nball. So, in the child’s mind, there will be no balls anymore. It takes time\nfor the child to realize that the ball exists; so when this happens, he tries\nto get it. Likewise, the child’s mind will be improved to get a more complex\nunderstanding of objective issues. In this experience, Piaget found that\nchildren deal with objective concepts which can be seen around the age of 10\nand 12, and that they also understand abstract concepts such as justice,\nfairness, God, and love when they tend to be objective-like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to what has been mentioned here, the main intention of\nthe film’s creators was to break the idea of expressing supernatural concepts based on the basics of new theology. Given that the child’s mind\nunderstands all objective issues, the issue of revelation has expressed through objectifying things such as a power beyond human power with the symbol of elephant.\nMoreover, God’s speaking to human is expressed through symbolizing the\nelephant’s speaking with the mayor. Symbolizing the question “where can\nGod be?” is fulfilled by symbolizing and objectifying it in a story\nsimilar to the situation of Horton and the city of Whivill. Since the\nimagination of a child can generalize the issue to other worlds, it\nsignificantly helps filmmakers to objectify supernatural things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Movie Analysis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The film’s main story focuses on\nthe idea that “If you can’t see it, you should try to hear or feel it in order to\nenjoy discover it better.” In the story, Horton the elephant hears a sound around\nhim, but he can only see a dust speck. In his childish imagination he thinks\nthat someone on the dust speck is asking for help. He then realizes that some\ncreatures are living on that speck which is like the Earth to us. They have\nlives and concerns for themselves, but Horton realizes that he is very much involved in the fate of the\ncreatures inside the speck. For example, he has the power to determine the time\nof day and night, or make the weather snowy there even in the heart of the\nsummer, or then melt the snow. The elephant, who accidentally heard the sound\ninside the speck, dedicates himself to it. Meanwhile, other animals in the\njungle deny him and put him into trouble, but he tries to protect the speck of\nthe dust and its people. The film’s antagonist is a doe (a female kangaroo)\nthat keeps his baby away from others in its protected pouch. He disagrees with\nall of Horton’s words, and tries to reject him\nwith bias and intimidation. Horton, unable to resist, starts moving toward a\nmountain looking for a safe place for the people living on the dust speck; he\nwants to put the speck on a sunflower away from the kangaroo. When Kangaroo\nfinds out that Horton strongly insists on what he believes, he enlists a sinister vulture to invade his dream. The vulture\nis almost succeeding, but Horton, who has lost his speck, can find it again\namong billions of flowers trying night and day. Kangaroo, then, tries to\npersuade monkeys in the jungle. Believing that the elephant’s ideology will\nmislead the society, the kangaroo makes other animals protest against him using\nhis superior social position, which somehow holds public opinion in the jungle,\nso that they capture Horton. Although, he tries to destroy the speck, with all\nthe efforts that the entire dust speck’s people made, the jungle’s animals\neventually can hear them and believe in them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whovill<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The name of the creatures living on\nthe speck are “who” and they live in a town\ncalled whovill (in the dubbed version, it is called “joon tapeh” (John\nHill)). The main connection of these people to Horton is through the mayor of\nthe town. He has 96 daughters and one son whose name is Jojo. Jojo is reluctant\nto become a mayor and has trouble communicating with his father, and eventually\nbecomes the main factor for the people of whovill to be rescued. Meanwhile, just\nlike Horton, the mayor of the hill is ridiculed by his fellow citizens for\nbelieving in a creature that is in another world. However, at the end of the\nstory, everyone realizes that he was right, like what happened in Horton’s Jungle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Character analysis <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Horton is the main character of the story who is a clever kid. In spite\nof the image we usually have in mind of an elephant which is fat and only knows\nhow to eat and sleep, the elephant is this story is sentimental, imaginative,\nactive and kind-hearted and doesn\u2019t care for his shape and body. In addition,\nhe sometimes thinks he’s even lighter than a feather! He fairly disagrees with\nhis community and pursues his own interests. He has a fantasy,\nself-sacrificing, rational, and kind personality, and it can be said that he’s\nthe best student, an assistant in the class, and children’s instructor in the\njungle. He is a charming and attractive character for both the children in the\njungle and the children among the audience. The kids in the jungle ride on his\nback, learn from him, make fun, and so on. He is the protagonist of the film,\nwho is role model as the jungle instructor for the\naudience. Horton’s color in the film not only makes children happy about the\nelephants, but also attracts them very well.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Kangaroo, on the other hand, is the negative lead (bad man) of the film\nthat has an empirical approach to the phenomena around\nhim and he is the symbol of disbelief and secularism in society. Since the movie was made with a childlike atmosphere,\nwith his strictness, he symbolizes the anti-hero element of the film. In fact,\nhe believes that when we cannot see, hear, or touch something, it means that it\ndoesn\u2019t actually exist. Besides, he is a narcissistic dictator. He has a great\nability to gather a lot of followers and is a successful manager in this area.\nHe abuses the fear of Horton’s having influence on other children, to condemn\nhim.<\/li>
The mayor is a hard working and conscientious person who loves his family; most of her success is due to his kind wife. He was born in a mayor family (all his ancestors were mayors)\nand has no good relationship with his only son who should be the mayor in the\nfuture. At the end of the story, he confesses to his son’s ability and can\nbuild a good relationship with him.<\/li>
Morton is Horton’s best friend who always tries to help him.<\/li>
Monkeys represent the majority of the community and they act as a\ntool for the king of the jungle, kangaroo. They have their own territory, and\nHorton must respect the laws of their territory. Horton’s defeat could be\nshaped in opposition to this majority.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Children in the movie:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
JoJo is the only child of the mayor who is not interested in\nbecoming mayor. He has designed a well-equipped observatory outside the city.\nHe does not speak throughout the movie until the last few minutes, but by the\nend of the story, he rescues the city with his voice.
Rudy is the Kangaroo’s son who is trapped in his mother’s pouch. Despite\nhis mother’s objection, at the end of the story, he believes in Horton and helps\nrescuing the speck and the creatures living there. Interestingly, Rudy is in his\nmother’s pouch throughout the movie, except for the time that he believes in\nHorton; therefore he comes out of the pouch when he wants to rescue the\ncreatures inside the speck, which is a symbol of freedom.<\/li><\/ul>
The children in Horton’s Jungle that are kind of playful, but they\nfollow Horton the elephant.<\/li><\/ul>
JoJo’s sisters who are somehow complementary to the personality of\nthe mayor’s family in the movie.<\/li><\/ul>
The vulture that is a symbol of mafia and is a murderer in the\nfilm.<\/li><\/ul>
The innocent kids in the jungle who believe in Horton’s words with\ntheir pure nature; and the people of the city- whovill-living inside the dust\nspeck are other characters in this work.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The main idea of \u200b\u200bthis film is\ntaking a look at the creation emphasizing Ptolemy’s theory. According to the\nMiddle Eastern myths, it is said that the Earth is located on a cow’s horn and\nthat cow is standing on the back of a fish which is swimming in an endless\nocean. Notice that in the movie the world is located on a speck, the speck is\non a clove, the clove is in an elephant’s hand, and the elephant is on the\nEarth (Horton could be on any other planets, actually). In fact, the narrator\nof the movie doesn\u2019t include any signs implying Horton’s being on the Earth;\ninstead he tries to attract children’s attention to a childlike story with a\ngood elaboration of an old idea taking the extent of the children’s\nunderstanding and imagination into consideration. The movie makers do not\nattempt to explain “the Ten Categories”, but, rather, they attempt to answer the children’s\nquestion -whether there is a God beyond our earth- using the “Cultivation Theory”. As we all know children\nimagine God as a father or a favorite superman. For this reason, storytelling for children requires creating the characters\nwithin the scope of his imagination in order to help them recognize abstract concepts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, this work has attempted to\nsimulate the subject of God according to the theological foundations of\nChristianity because, according to the church beliefs, the Earth has been and\nis the center of the entire existence, so any contrary opinion is considered\ndisbelief. Ptolemy’s theory had been accepted among the companions of the cross\nuntil Galileo’s theory.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, this movie teaches the\nchild to respect others’ opinions as the child in the movie facing\nsocial opposition, tries to prove his wants despite all objections he faces.\nThis is effective for children to create hope and help them to find facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is worth mentioning that the\nmayor’s family life, his wife’s behavior, etc here can be a model for the\naudience. In this respect, the film is capable of analyzing the family\nbehavior. Moreover, it can be said that the main theme of the film- Kangaroo’s\nFailure- makes the movie an anti-feminist one, since Kangaroo’s behavior, ordering, not displaying\nKangaroo’s husband, and her behavior toward her son may be some forms of feminism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The movie makers have made good use\nof the children’s imagination. The presence of imaginary creatures called\n“who” inside the speck is very appealing to children, or even adults\nbecause it is a description of the sweetness and hardships of childhood ideals\nand imaginations- the same world that Horton cares about. It is a kind of experience of having creation power\nand acceptance of new possibilities for the young inhabitants of Nool Jungle\nwhich leads to creativity in children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The belief that “a person is a person, no matter how\nsmall” and the way Horton behaves\ntoward other animals and plants in the jungle can also be a good model on how\nto preserve the environment. Another point is that “You have to evaluate what the society\nsays about something. If you could find it true and believe in that, accept it”. In this story, Horton the\nelephant refuses to believe that if you don’t see something, you shouldn’t\nbelieve it. On the other hand, everyone in the community views this disbelief\nas crossing the red line, but he researches and finds some creatures that do\nexist but cannot be seen, so he persists on his belief. This can create a good\nmodel in children’s mind for rejecting superstition and also encourages them to\nsearch about everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, in some cases the verbal\npranks in the movie remind Henry Kissinger and John F. Kennedy; when talking to\nthe citizens of Whovill, all the portraits of the former mayors of Whovill are\ndepicted behind; or the scene the mayor talking to his son about his family\nhistory is taken from famous paintings such as Mona Lisa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Horton’s words to the citizens in\nthe speck when heading to Nool Mount that “your three indisputable rights are guaranteed”, refer to John Locke’s theory of life, liberty,\nand property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Showing the Kangaroo and Horton\nface to face reminds the trial of Socrates in ancient Greece or the trial of Galilee. Of course, Kangaroo’s statement that “something you cannot see, hear or\nfeel does not exist” is Aristotle’s theory who believed that perception equals to reality. Also, Horton being accused of “brainwashing the kids” is similar to the historical\nSocrates accusation that “he has brainwashed young people in\nAthens”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Horton’s voice actor is Jim Carrey. He is Canadian and starred in another work called\nBruce Mighty which deals with theology and\ndivine wisdom. He is currently writing a book against the gun dealers in the United States because of\nthe murders that have happened recently\nat American schools. As one of the popular children’s characters, Jim Carrey attempts\nto present new products for children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Children’s programs writer; the writer of “Rangin Kaman”\n(translation: Rainbow); and has written some texts about children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Qadri Yildiz<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Dentist; Master of Television Production; from Turkey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Nasir Abedini<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Master of Science in Psychology; PhD student in the Office of\nSeminary and University Cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mahmoud Alipour<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Graduated from the Qom Seminary (3rd<\/sup> grade) and Master\nof Television Production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ehsan Shariati Najafabadi<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Graduated from the Qom Seminary (3rd<\/sup> grade) and Master\nof Television Production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How to explain abstract concepts to children?<\/p>\n
How to explain abstract concepts to children?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[29,13],"tags":[158,157],"yst_prominent_words":[726,732,65,314,724,733,722,191,735,723,736,734,721,730,729,728,473,731,725,727],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1474,"href":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions\/1474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/koodak.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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