Fantasy Genre In Films example essay topic

Fantasy Films Film genres are categories, classifications or groups of films that have similar, familiar or instantly-recognizable patterns, techniques or conventions that include one or more of the following: setting, content, themes, plot, motifs, styles, structures, situations, characters (or characterizations), and stars. The genre that I chose to review was that of the fantasy genre in films. In general, "fantasy" is fiction in which things can exist and happen that would not normally exist and happen in our waking lives. Unlike science fiction, it is permissible in fantasy to violate physical laws as we know them, even to flout logic itself -- although most modern readers favour stories in which fantasy elements are consistent within themselves. Though modern fantasy fiction is usually set in a world other than our own, this is not necessarily the case. Much of dark fantasy and magic realism is set in our world, with only minimal fantastic elements.

Typically, fantasy includes several races, like elves, dwarves, and a variety of monsters that often takes place in Middle Ages. But fantasy can also take place upon the modern world, which uses real life and mysterious realms to create a sub-division of life. Magic plays a powerful role in the world of fantasy film. The Collins Co build Dictionary defines it this way: Magic n. Magic is a special power that occurs in stories and that some people believe in, that can make apparently impossible things happen... Fantasy film often takes the audience to netherworld places where events take place that normally wouldn't in real life.

Fantasy transcends the bounds of human possibility and physical laws. They often have the element of magic, as proposed before, myth, wonder and the extraordinary. They also may appeal to both children and adults, depending on the particular film. In many cases, fantasy film often overlaps science fiction and horror genres in film. In fantasy film, when involving a hero, he / she often undergoes some kind of mystical experience, and must ask for aid from some kind of powerful subhuman forces on the outside.

Typically however, princes and princesses are predominant in fantasy film. Some fantasy films also include quasi-religious or supernatural characters such as angels, lesser gods or fairies. Odd phenomena, physical aberrations, and incredible characters (sometimes monstrous characters that represent the divine or evil spirits, or magnificent magicians and sorcerers) are incorporated into fantasy films. They are usually inspired or taken from myth or legend and fill us with a marvellous sense of awe. The four fantasy films that I chose to review were Hook, directed by Steven Spielberg; Wizard of Oz, directed by Victor Fleming; Mary Poppins, directed by Robert Stevenson; and Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland. I chose these four films because they were filled with endless magical schemes and plots, as well as mysterious and mythical creatures that added intensity to the film.

Through each film that I have reviewed, I plan to show how each movie is dominant in the fantasy genre of film. HOOK, directed by Steven Spielberg: Steven Spielberg's Hook is based upon the legend of Peter Pan. In many cases this film fits even better into the fantasy category than Peter Pan itself because it deals with real live people who believe that such things are of the impossible. Hook proves this by showing how blind the grown up Peter Pan, played by Robin Williams, is now that he is a lawyer living in the big city.

This film is filled with many magical characters. The most popular magical character of this film would probably be Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell is Peter Pan's fairy sidekick, who is able to help defeat evil against the nasty pirate Captain Hook, who has taken over Neverland. Tinkerbell holds many powers, as well as the ability to make herself increase to human size, from her natural pixie state of being. The Lost Boys of Neverland also hold the ability to remain ageless when living here. They stay young forever, which holds fantasy to many.

The Lost Boys patrol Neverland, reassuring Captain Hook of their presence with dangerous obstacles and traps. Hook takes place in two different realms upon Earth. The world of fantasy, being Neverland, is able to cross over into the real world, and the real world is able to influence actions into fantasy world. Captain Hook is able to bring his evil and dangerous manner into the home of the grown Peter Pan, and steal away his children, to take them to a world beyond the clouds. Captain Hook does this by ripping through an inanimate object being a painting of his ship in Pan's home. Hook tells a story of how the good uses magic and the skill of great warrior like fighting defeats the selfish and evil ways of the enemy.

This is truly a great fantasy film that adds adventure and suspense to the screen. Wizard of Oz, directed by Victor Fleming: In an expressionistic, sepia-toned opening, young adopted orphan Dorothy Gale, played by a young Judy Garland, hurries down a flat, dusty Kansas road with fences on either side, accompanied by her small black terrier Toto. After trying to complain to her family and farm helpers about the evil neighbour, Dorothy wanders off in defeat. This cues up the forlorn and crestfallen Dorothy for the singing of her beloved, haunting and plaintive, yet immortal song "Over the Rainbow". Dreaming, yearning and wistfully longing for a trouble-free, fascinating, far-away world beyond her home-land where happiness can be found - where bluebirds fly and there are colourful rainbows. Soon after, the appearance of Dorothy's wicked neighbour Miss Gulch, Dorothy finds herself running away from her home where she ends up finding Professor Marvel.

The next major event is the horrendous tornado that rips through their Kansas farm. Unfortunately this is where Dorothy is hit upon the head with a flying window, and is knocked out, in which she starts to dream of all the things that she encountered that day. The most classic line in this film is when Dorothy is unable to understand where she is. "Toto, I've a feeling we " re not in Kansas anymore. We must be over the rainbow".

This is when the movie changes from being very sullen looking to bright and amazing colours, with great depth and hues. The Wizard of Oz has all of the classic characters such as the good witch of the North, and the evil witches of the East and West. Through Dorothy's adventures, she encounters a village full of munchkins, a live scarecrow that doesn't have a brain, a live tin-man who doesn't have a heart, and a cowardly lion that doesn't have any courage. Dorothy's main objective in this movie is to make her way to see the Great Emperor of Oz so that she can get home to her sickly aunt. But through her journeys, she must stay away from the wicked witch of the West, who wants Dorothy to give up her red glittery magical shoes that the good witch of the North gave her. This film has many magical characters that would only be seen in fantasy films.

For example, there are evil flying monkeys, grumpy talking trees that throw apples at those who pick from there branches, and the evil things that patrol the witch of the West's castle. In the Wizard of Oz, every character has a certain task that they must perform in order to receive what they are looking for. To create magical situations, evil characters and sub-plots are used to include a mystical feeling throughout the movie. Mary Poppins, directed by Robert Stevenson: Mary Poppins plays on the fantasy genre by including not only real life people, but cartoon characters into the plot as well. This film tells the story of how the Banks' family is looking for an outstanding nanny to care for their two bratty children. Little do they know that Mary Poppins is a magical person, who soars out of the London skies to bless everyone she meets with magical iridescence.

Mary Poppins brings a carpetbag of magical adventures into the lives of the Banks family who live on Cherry Tree Lane. Through painted pictures in sidewalks and walls, Mary Poppins is able to create a world in which humans can visit these cartoon places that are enchanted with talking animals and friendly people. Mary is able to give people the ability to float while drinking tea, turn medicine into flavoured drinks, and control the movement of inanimate objects. Through musicals, live cartoons, and the mysterious streets of London, England, Mary Poppins is able to create a new look at fantasy through normal everyday situations such as cleaning one's room, or going for a cup of tea. There are no evil characters in this film, nor any amazing obstacles that must be tackled, but just the simple fact of a family looking for the perfect nanny for their children.

However, this simple task does take on some peculiar turns, where fantasy is full-fledged. Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland: A blend of fantasy, animation and music create a kaleidoscope of adventures in this colourful Disney movie based on Lewis Carroll's immortal story. The story takes place on a "golden" afternoon, where young Alice dreams. Soon we can see Alice following a White Rabbit, who disappears down a small and dark rabbit hole. Quickly trying to keep up with the frantic White Rabbit, Alice topples down the long burrow, where she magically floats by the span of her blue dress, and enters the topsy-turvy mystical world of Wonderland. Today's Alice in Wonderland seems much less scarier than the original written by Lewis Carroll, but still holds the same imagery.

Wonderland is filled with many weird and crazy creatures, nothing that would ever seem normal in the real world. Animals are made from still-objects, and everything isn't what it seems to be. Many characters in this film are quite crazy, such as the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, with their tiny "sleepy" mouse friend. The most amazing character in this film is probably the Cheshire cat, who is smart and crazy at the same time, and enjoys confusing Alice.

He also explains to Alice just how crazy everyone in Wonderland really is, and suggesting that he isn't really all there himself. Alice's main objective in this film is to find her way back home from Wonderland once she realizes that she can no longer follow the White Rabbit. The only way to find her way home however is to take the nasty Queen of Hearts way home. Alice finds herself in many predicaments during this film. When watching this film, many people have tried to decipher the hidden messages or metaphors that they believe Lewis Carroll was suggesting when he wrote this story.

It isn't hard to miss the suggested metaphors throughout this movie. This is supposed to be a children's story, and yet there is a sufficient amount of "recreational" narcotic use throughout the story. There is the character of Dodo, the big bird with the constantly lit pipe. There is the extravagant caterpillar that is continually smoking colour smoke from a "bong".

Alice is also consumed by these many factors such as drinking and eating from unknown boxes and bottles, and her constant consumption of mushrooms, in which she doesn't know the effect that it has on her. However, these many messages, whether they be or not, continues to play on the world of fantasy, and how our world can hide in the world of children's stories and fantasy. Therefore, the films that I chose to review fit comfortably within the fantasy genre. Each film has a sufficient amount of characters that add a great detail of imagination to the storyline. Fantasy plays on the subject of good against evil, in which each of the films sooner or later encounter, whether it is very significant or minuscule. Fantasy is a genre in which the mind of imagination is able to lose itself to the real world.

Each of these films allows for one to be projected into a different world without rules or limits, and where the impossible is always possible.