The empathic potential of animation

Save Ralph by Humane Society International showcased the potential of animation in animal rights

Three years ago, Humane Society International teamed up with American director Spencer Susser and puppeteer Andy Gent’s Arch Film Studio to create Save Ralph, a stop motion animation on animal testing. In the film, test rabbit Ralph - blind in one eye and suffering from skin irritation and a constant buzzing in one ear from painful experiments - reassures viewers he’s happy to do his ‘job’, so that humans can have safe shampoos. For four long minutes, the audience watches as Ralph, voiced by New Zealand actor/director Taika Waititi, literally disintegrates. The campaign’s message: “No animal should suffer and die in the name of beauty.” The short won the Grand Prix for Good at 2022’s Cannes Lions Festival.  

“Animation opens your eyes without showing all the reality,” reflected Gent at the time (1). “Ralph is such a sweet character. He tries to downplay the awfulness of what is happening to him, but his injuries tell the true story. Animation allows us to tell this tragic truth about something awful and unjust in a way that recruits people to win this fight with us.” Today, more and more animal advocacy groups are exploring the parameters of this popular art form to tell stories of animals that have been hidden for too long. In doing so, they join the long line of movements using animation as advocacy and cultural resistance. 

Six years ago, in an attempt to shift the narrative of migration from one of conflict to one of shared humanity, the UN’s Commission on Human Rights commissioned a series of animated shorts (2), each telling the story of migrants as mothers, sons, fathers. A video by Amnesty International USA to mark its 50th anniversary showed freedom as a red flower passed through different conflicts and is as urgent today as when it was released in 2011 (3). In 2021, in response to the Polish Constitutional Court’s decision to restrict abortion rights, outraged students at the Film School of Lodz collaborated to produce a collage of short clips (4).

With an infinite palette of sound, colour, techniques and technologies at its disposal, animation’s power to create connection is unrivalled, arguably even by film. Animation can address taboo subjects such as mental health or domestic violence, humanise the struggles of marginalised communities, challenge stereotypes and promote dialogue. Complex ideas can be simplified, as in a video from Myanmar, in which an animated Burmese activist discusses tactics of resistance with a live-action veteran from Otpor, the nonviolent political movement agitating against Serbian authorities (5). Injustice comes alive, resonating with audiences on a profound level; reminding them that social issues are not just statistics, transforming them from spectators into participants in some of the most urgent issues of our time. 

London zoo: Pole Pole reaches out to Bill Travers shorly before her death in 1984.

To watch the use of such a powerful tool in service to animal rights is enthralling. Last October, to mark 40 years since the death of the young elephant Pole Pole, conservation charity Born Free released an animation about the abduction of elephants from the wild, often as gifts to foreign zoos (6). Created by animator Andrew D Morgan and narrated by Dame Joanna Lumley, ‘Enough Is Enough’ describes the story of Pole Pole’s devastating kidnap as a two-year-old; her journey to London Zoo, as a gift from the Kenyan government; her isolation and her eventual collapse and euthanasia, at just 17 (“This beautiful, sweet little animal, torn from her family, never to see them again,” mourned Born Free founder Virginia McKenna, who, together with her husband Bill Travers, campaigned relentlessly for her release).

Exquisitely drafted, “Enough is Enough” is both tribute and call to action, in which Pole Pole is voiced by Kenyan actor Foi Wambui. “Now I understand,” she whispers, as she is killed. “I am going home.” By contrast, Animal Justice Project’s Lives Not Stock, by UP Videos for Charities, is an assault on the senses (7). The gut punch of flashing lights and harsh sounds shows the terror experienced by the farmed animals as they are led on and off trucks, crammed into small spaces, forced to stand for hours or, in the case of live transport, weeks or months, with the barest of sustenance - only to face slaughter in distant abattoirs. Though they barely scrape what the animals themselves endure, both films make for tough viewing.

An assault on the senses. Lives Not Stock by Animal Justice Project.

When non-profit Protect the Wild wanted to expose the hidden abuses of the hunting industry, it turned to Ben Sinclair of Fire Lily Studios. Focusing on brutal but commonplace practices such as badger culls, trail hunting, hare coursing and bagged foxes, Sinclair’s punchy work puts paid to the notion that hunting is simply a genteel social tradition, with dogs (8). The Bagged Fox, for example, refers to the keeping of trapped foxes in sacks before the terrified animals are ‘turned out’ for hounds to chase. Bewildered and disorientated, few make it far - which makes for a much better hunt day. (9). Those outside the hunting community don’t hear about the practice; it’s rarely shared in the pub after a meet.

“Whether it’s wildlife crime or abuse in the meat and dairy industry, people are switched off by real footage of animal suffering, because it’s so hard to watch,” reflects Sinclair. “But [that means] that engagement with the issue is lost, too. Animation is a powerful medium for animal rights, because it allows a viewer to become involved, not only because the visceral reality is removed, but also through character and story.” 

Character and story are the elements that drive The Forgotten Foxhounds, the harrowing story based on evidence gathered by Protect the Wild’s Hunt Investigation Team (HIT) of foxhounds shot by their owners, the Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt, in Gloucestershire (10). Around the world, hunting dogs are routinely slaughtered when they get too old or too slow. Another open secret of the hunting world, it stands in conflict to claims by UK hunts that retired hounds are re-homed.

The real footage of the dog’s death was “so horrific, it was taken down on social media platforms for breaching terms of service,” says Sinclair. In one clip, one dog appears not to die with the first bullet and, after it shows signs of life, a gunman fires a second shot three minutes later to kill him. Another also needs to be shot twice. And a large, white hound is shot but her tail is seen still wagging as she is laid in a wheelbarrow. This heart-rending moment is re-captured in Sinclair’s film. (11) 

Character and story. The Forgotten Foxhounds by Firelily Studios. Image: Protect the Wild.

“For the first time, our undercover investigation showed a ‘trail hunt’ shooting their hounds dead in broad daylight,” wrote Protect the Wild founder and CEO Rob Pownall. “We were sitting on explosive footage but we weren’t able to get it seen by the general public. This is when we turned to animation.” (12)

Late last year, Protect the Wild and Sinclair teamed up to create a 90-second stop motion proxy for the story. “We focused on one of the hounds,” said Pownall. “She’d been nicknamed ‘Scamp’ by an HIT investigator who waded through the weeks of undercover footage, due to her naughty playful nature and her reluctance to leave the exercise field and go back to the kennels. Scamp was presumably drugged to keep her still and docile while they killed her due to her habit of running off to play. And so, it was felt that our animation would hit home the hardest via a portrayal of Scamp’s life as a hound.”

Animal lovers were left aghast. One of the comments on Instagram: “This is just terrible! I have no words and am in tears. Please tell me what I can do to help.” The video also encouraged others to share their stories: “We have a rescue foxhound from Ireland. He obviously didn't keep up with the pack and they left him. He has scars on his body and was running wild till he was caught in a trap by local people who fed him. He's been with us living his best life on the beach ever since. Damaged mentally by what he went through. But loved and cared for now.” At last count in April, The Forgotten Foxhounds has been viewed 3.4 million times - and a dog who was just a number will never be forgotten (12). “I felt I was giving voice to a specific animal, which made the process of animating much more visceral,” says Sinclair.

In The Forgotten Foxhounds, Scamp is shown as full of life; distracted and delighted by a frog and a mouse; bewildered when whipped but hopeful till the end, when she runs towards her executioner, expecting a biscuit. Hers is a personality whose joy we want to share and whose innocence we wish to protect - much like the dogs we share our homes with. “It’s often hard for people to see an animal’s emotion and expressions, although they all have them,” reflects Sinclair. “Animation can exaggerate it so that it becomes more obvious.” Keeping it from being parodic, however, is a job in itself. “If the film feels too Disney, the audience will trivialise it,” he admits. “It’s about finding the right balance.” Sinclair’s success is that he does this, again and again; enabling us to put ourselves into the animal’s terrifying places.

In footage by Protect the Wild’s Hunt Investigation Team, one large, white hound is shot. Image: Protect the Wild Hunt Investigation Team.

In 2010, writer, economist and orator Jeremy Rifkin made a powerful case for the extension of human empathy to other species in his work, Empathic Civilisation: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis (13). Describing the impact of animals in films such as The Yearling, in which a young boy befriends a fawn, Rifkin wrote: “critics argued that sentimentalizing and anthropomorphizing the human/animal bond not only painted an inaccurate picture of other creatures but also trivialiseed the harsh realities that separated the human and animal worlds - the Disneyfication of nature. True! But such portrayals on film also awakened the empathic imagination of millions of youngsters - and adults - to the plight of other creatures, opening up a new empathic domain for human consciousness.”

He adds, reprovingly: “As it turns out, Disney fared better in the portrayal of animals than many scientific experts of the day, with their belief that animals were little more than stimulus-response mechanisms, locked into instinctual behavioural patterns and unable to learn by doing or experience feelings …”  

The truth remains, however, that many advocates are inspired to agitate for change by real life footage and documentaries such as Joaquin Phoenix’s Earthlings or Dominion. This, perhaps, is the ambition behind more visceral offerings. PETA UK’s uncompromising Pig Farm was released this year to coincide with National Pig Day (14). Thirties hand drawn styles, marked by a raucous brutality, depict a pig farmer, who puts the mythical version of where pigs end up (“in a Piggy Promised Land!”) against the savage reality. Pig Farm ends with the screams of real pigs. When The Save Movement wanted to highlight factory farming, they juxtaposed animated images of the animals with original source material, moving between artificial and real portrayals, to challenge the viewer’s comfort (15).

What is less often talked about, however, animation’s potential for visioning new worlds. It happens in the stop motion animation The Cow’s Dream by animator Buta Matharu, which shows a cow escaping the slaughterhouse to feel grass at her feet and sun on her face - albeit briefly (16). The movement needs more of this. In the meantime, Sinclair continues to call out wildlife abuse. “Wildlife is still being treated awfully. It’s time we upped our game,” he says. “Many people are detached from what goes on in the countryside. By exposing these issues through emotive, visually engaging storytelling, I hope my films create the opportunity for people to take action, whether that’s a signature on a petition, or something more powerful like joining a hunt sabotage group.”  

As of April 2024, Protect the Wild’s animations have been viewed over 35.8 million times. Image: Protect the Wild.

“I’m a strong believer that using different mediums like animation is the way forward for animal rights campaigning,” offers Pownall. “The numbers we are seeing are testament to this belief. At the time of writing, our animations have been viewed over 35.8 million times. That’s a staggering number of people who may have never come across the issues we work on otherwise. And I believe this success has come about because we have been able to craft share-worthy content that is accessible and palatable. Simply sharing real-life footage doesn’t cut it anymore. Social media platforms are cracking down on what they deem to be ‘graphic content’ and we’re seeing a situation where people have become immune to ever more shocking content combined with a precondition to swipe past animal cruelty.

“Art will forever play an integral role in society and in shaping and reflecting the beliefs and opinions of people at a given point in time. It is up to us to ensure our voice is not lost in the process,” he continues. “We can ensure the message of championing wildlife and eliminating animal cruelty is seen by more people than ever before. It’s why animations and creative licence will remain at the heart of what we do at Protect the Wild. We cannot sit by and merely hope that the public sees what we’re seeing. We must be strategic, forward thinking and adapt to the ever-changing online landscape to ensure those who abuse wildlife for kicks have nowhere to hide.” 

References

(1) Humane Society International. How you can help save Ralph. HSI.org, April 15, 2021. https://www.hsi.org/news-resources/how-you-can-help-save-ralph/

(2) OHCHR, Storytelling on Migration - an animated video series calling to stand up for the human rights of all migrants. ohchr.org https://www.ohchr.org/en/migration/storytelling-migration-animated-video-series-calling-stand-human-rights-all-migrants

(3) 10 Best Human Rights Videos. www.amnesty.org, May 14, 2015. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/education/2015/05/10-best-human-rights-videos/

(4) Nikolov, M. Why animation is a powerful medium for cultural resistance. Waging Non-Violence, February 4, 2022. https://wagingnonviolence.org/2022/02/why-animation-is-a-powerful-medium-for-cultural-resistance/

(5) Video 2: Spectrum of Allies. Pots and Pans, Nov 24, 2021. https://youtu.be/fGkhIV4_Vi4?si=o5PwB7iidxJnaz0M

(6) Remembering Pole Pole. Born Free, October 17, 2021. https://www.bornfree.org.uk/news/remembering-pole-pole/ and Elephants in Zoos? Enough is Enough. October 17, 2023. https://www.bornfree.org.uk/news/elephants-in-zoos-enough-is-enough/

(7) Lives Not Stock. https://www.animaljusticeproject.com/campaigns/lives-not-stock

(8) Animations. Protect the Wild Video Hub: https://protectthewild.org.uk/media/animations/

(9) Protect the Wild. What is a Bagged Fox? https://protectthewild.org.uk/fox-hunting/what-is-a-bagged-fox/

(10) Protect the Wild. 'The Forgotten Foxhounds' animation is out now! Nov 22, 2023. https://protectthewild.substack.com/p/the-forgotten-foxhounds-animation

(11) Dalton, J. Secret cameras caught hunt shooting dead unwanted foxhounds. Independent, October 10, 2021. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hunt-hounds-foxhound-shot-dead-b1935183.html

(12) Pownall, R. The Power of Animations. Substack, April 18, 2024. https://protectthewild.substack.com/p/the-power-of-animations-35-million

(13) Rifkin, K. The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis (pp469 to 470). Polity, 2010

(14) PETA. New PETA U.K. Animation Reveals Twisted ‘Tail’ of Pig Slaughter. peta.org, March 4, 2024.