Exploring the realistic nature of animation film in ecological storytelling
Osakue Stevenson Omoera
Department of Theatre and Film Studies, Federal University Otuoke, Nigeria
e-mail: osakueso@fuotuoke.edu.ng (corresponding author)
Charles A. Ogazie; Charity E. Markilolo
Department of English, Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo, Nigeria
AGATHOS, Volume 15, Issue 2 (29): 331-343, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.13954225
© www.agathos-international-review.com CC BY NC 2024
Abstract: As technology developed, storytelling advanced from being told from mouth to mouth to a phase wherein the mise-en-scene or diegesis of stories could come alive through the magnetic audio-visual medium known as film. Animation, a unique technique of film, has gone beyond merely amusing its ever-increasing audience with its exciting non-human characters to becoming an effective means of portraying reality with its incredible storytelling mechanism. This article uses the eco-critical theory to undergird its arguments on realism in animation. It employs literary, direct observation and media content analysis methods to examine selected animated films (FernGully: The Last Rainforest, The Lion King and Moana representing different environments of the Australian rainforest, African Savannah and Polynesian area respectively). The study considers the nature of animation in telling realistic ecological stories that live camera lenses, angles and conventional classroom situations may not be able to capture. It bared the fact that animation is an incredible film technique that can demonstrate stylistically the effects of the negligence of the environment by humans in a manner that film audiences/learners can gain insights and pragmatically become advocates for nature/green culture and environmental protection. The conclusion is that if the animation technique is creatively utilized in schools in different ecosystems, it can present to its audience/learners, complex ideas such as the need to preserve Mother Earth from wanton destruction for the common good of human beings in a simple but imaginative way.
Keywords: animation film, ecological storytelling, nature, ecocriticism, human behaviour, Green Culture
Introduction
Worldwide, storytelling is a vital aspect of culture that can be used to edutain, infotain and correct societal ills. It is a resourceful literary device that could be used to engender positive or desirable changes in human behaviour, especially in developing societies (Omoera 2012). Today, people seldom find it convenient to converge on a commonplace, such as the marketplace or village square, to participate in the art of storytelling due to reasons varying from tight schedules to finding it unnecessary to meet at orthodox venues of the enactment. Other reasons may be linked to religious, educational or social factors. But with the advent of technology and its development over the years, several storytelling media have emerged and among these is the animation film.
Animations or animated films are a means for storytellers to tell larger-than-life stories. It is a form of storytelling that naturally lends itself to creative and high-concept ideas (Lowe 2004). Although animated films appear not to be taken seriously in the adult world as they are deemed childish and lacking depth in content, a critical look shows that they finely address adult subject matters and sophisticated themes on different levels. Animated films have become one of the means for storytellers to interweave real issues affecting society such as ecological degradation and its resulting consequences to sensitise the audience on the need to preserve the environment.
Animations have the potential to serve both affective and cognitive functions. “Affective function refers to portraying things in a humorous, spectacular, or bizarre way so that learners will be attracted to pay attention to the learning materials and motivated to learn. Cognitive function refers to the clear presentation of dynamic matters (which might be abstract and difficult) that can allow learners to understand in an easier way” (Lowe 2004, 558). Going by this, telling ecological stories through animation technique presents a lively atmosphere for learners to be educated on the effects of certain harmful practices on the environment as well as understand the need to check environmental despoliation.
As a technique, animation is able to tell stories from a figurative and hyperrealistic point of view. It does this through the use of imagery illustration to build an integral representation of a phenomenon, sounds and colourful scenes. It attracts the attention of the learners and appeals to their senses of sight and hearing which foster retentive memory and recalling ability. As an art form, it is never without consequences as it holds the power to influence the conceptions and attitudes of its audience. It is in this context that this article examines animation film as a means employed by creative storytellers to expose ecological issues and mobilise learners/audiences/populace to protect and preserve the environment. In doing this, it hopes to arouse advocates of green culture for society’s transformation using qualitative research methods to interrogate three animated films, FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), The Lion King (1994), and Maona (2016).
Theoretical infrastructure
This study uses the eco-critical theory to foreground its interrogation of realism in selected animation films – FernGully: The Last Rainforest, The Lion King, and Maona – that serve as textual referents. Ecocriticism has been apprehended as the study of literature and the environment from an interdisciplinary standpoint, where scholars analyse texts that explicate environmental concerns and examine the various ways literature treats the subject of nature (Schneider-Mayerson Weik and Małecki 2020; Akoh and Ugwu 2023). The point here is that ecocriticism or eco-critical theory takes a multidisciplinary perspective by exploring the works of writers or researchers in the context of environmental issues and nature. The theory envisages a critical approach to the study of ecology as represented in literature.
Glotfelty (1996, xviii) affirms that “ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment. Just as feminist criticism examines language and literature from a gender-conscious perspective, and Marxist criticism brings an awareness of modes of production and economic class to its reading of texts, ecocriticism takes an earth-centred approach to literary studies”. In essence, ecocriticism argues in its literature that a host of environmental problems including climate change effects such as flooding, erosions, epidemics and pandemics are caused by environmental degradation – an unhealthy interaction within the ecosystem (Akoh and Ugwu 2023). The theory holds that the protection of the natural environment is key to safe living. It, therefore, “advocates systematic usages of natural resources like coal, gas, forests, etc., for a sustainable future” (Mishra 2016, 168). Marland (2013, 846) adds that ecocriticism is “the representation in literature ... of the relationship between the human and the non-human, largely from the perspective of anxieties around humanity’s destructive impact on the biosphere”. We argue that the selected animation films in this study, FernGully: The Last Rainforest, The Lion King, and Moana, in their nature, raise issues that speak to the kind of anxieties Marland alluded to. It is in this context that eco-critical theory or ecocriticism is apt to this research that seeks eco-perspective remediation of a contemporary environmental situation.
Methodological considerations
This study adopted a qualitative methodology that was expressed in the modalities of the literary, direct observation and media analysis methods to interrogate the texts that were selected for exploration. We reasoned that a combination of these methods could give us an insight into how “human activities have significantly altered three-quarters of the land and two-thirds of the oceans, changing the planet to such an extent as to determine the birth of a new era” (Jeffries 2020, 3). Hence, a robust methodological approach that could probe technological and artistic boundaries of what has been called “technoetic arts” (Ododo 1999) is apposite. We consider animation films under “technoetic arts,” which focuses upon the juncture between art, technology and the mind in this study as divisions between these areas are gradually dissolving due to developments in science and cultural practice in the age of ‘de-compartmentalization of knowledge.’ As Glotfelty (1996, xx) claims, there is “troubling awareness that we have reached the age of environmental limits”. Therefore, the solution to the issues of the environment requires the contributions of not only science and technology, but arts and literature, and animation sits at this juncture as a storytelling technique.
Animation as a storytelling technique
Animation is an abstract form of expressing ideas that has a ‘documentary feel’ and is an effective storytelling technique in showcasing reality. Wells in his 1998 book, Understanding Animation succinctly declares that there is a relationship between the abstract expression of characters through the models and the constituent elements of the everyday world, which lends itself more towards mimesis. Most often, when an animated film (story) presents an abstract world or idea to the audience, it does not really mean that the idea presented is totally strange. Instead, the world being presented is made recognizable to the audience. The model character may not be human, yet its unique qualities and behaviour will represent that of real people in society. In a bid to remain recognizable as well as believable, model characters will exhibit human behaviour in talking, expressing their feelings as real people will do, and above all, discussing the day-to-day issues that affect the populace.
According to Mayer and Moreno (2002, 85), “Animation is viewed as a simulated motion picture depicting the movement of a drawn (or simulated) object”. As a unique storytelling technique, it aids in visualizing abstract processes, ideas, concepts and issues. Although animated films are often reserved for recreation and entertainment, it suffices that it has a positive impact on the education process. Together with other techniques elaborated as a result of rapidly developing information and communication technologies (ICTs), the use of animations has been strongly encouraged as an innovative, constructivist and students-centred alternative to the traditional learning approaches in many countries (Sanger, Brecheisen and Hynek 2001).
Rieber (1990) posits that it is easier to understand abstract and difficult themes such as ecological challenges using animation techniques. Some of the most important benefits of animation as a storytelling cum teaching technique according to Sanger, Brecheisen and Hynek (2001) are that they assist to understand abstract and invisible learning concepts as well as improve students’ learning motivation. Ecological issues such as environmental degradation, pollution of different kinds, deforestation, ozone layer depletion due to harmful environmental practices and their contributing effects on human beings and the ecology can be presented to learners in a way that is technologically mediated and easy to understand through animated storytelling.
Realistic nature of animations
Animation is a form of cinema that does not depend on a photographic reproduction of the real. The concept of realism is slippery to pin down due to the fact that animation is inherently artificial. Hence, in this article, an attempt is made to give an insight into how animation’s depiction of reality is a look-alike of the actual physical world we live in – the similarities and differences between the world represented in animations and the actual experience of real life. Unlike in a live-action context, realism is difficult but not impossible to achieve in animation. Wells (1998) makes such an attempt at explaining realism in animation with the term ‘hyper-realism’. He claims that in animation, the depiction of characters, objects and environments are “over-determined and exaggerated so that they move into “a realism which is simultaneously realistic but beyond the orthodoxies of realism” (Ibid.). What this means is that animations capture reality but stretch it a bit to create a particular kind of reality far above the possibilities of real life.
In agreement with Wells’ concept of realism in animation, Rowley (2006) in Life Reproduced in Drawings: Realism in Animation uses the term “ultra-realism” to describe this tendency towards a heightened or exaggerated depiction of the real. According to him, “this reality is not defined by the correlation between the animated world and the real world (or classical live-action cinema), but instead by a set of conventions that serve as animation’s particular substitute for reality”. This implies that different animated films will portray reality in different ways. Hence, an analysis of the conventions that generally define the notion of ‘realism’ in animated cartoons is necessary to illustrate the different types of realism found in cartoons. Rowley identified several types of realism that can be seen in animations, such as; visual realism, aural realism, realism of motion, narrative and character realism and social realism. As much as each of the types of realism highlighted above may not achieve literal realism, they aid animated films to achieve a sense of believability and verisimilitude (closeness to reality) as one of the greatest challenges of the animated form has been to creating realistic effects in a medium that is inherently artificial.
Synoptic analyses of selected animated films
The three animated films with discernible environmental themes selected for examination are FernGully: The Last Rainforest, The Lion King, and Moana. The feature films are weighty in their ecological messages. Human beings are portrayed to be ‘aggressive destroyers’ of nature all in the name of survival and in a bid to initiate new things through oil or chemical-driven technology. This article furthers its discussion through synoptic analyses of the aforementioned films and footnotes of inherent ecologically instructive messages.
FernGully: The Last Rainforest is an Australian-American animated musical fantasy film. It was adapted from a book of the same name written 15 years prior by Diana Young. It is set in an Australian rainforest inhabited by fairies including Crysta, who accidentally shrinks a young logger named Zak to the size of a fairy. Crysta is a fairy with a curious nature living in FernGully, a pristine rainforest free from human intervention. The fairies of FernGully once lived in harmony with humans, but believe them to have gone extinct after being driven away by a malevolent spirit named Hexxus (pollution). Crysta is the apprentice of Magi, a motherly figure fairy who imprisoned Hexxus in a tree.
Crysta explores a new part of the forest and meets Batty, a bat who claims to have experimented on humans, giving him an obstreperous and unstable personality. Crysta refuses to believe him (the bat) until she encounters lumberjacks cutting down trees. She sees Zak, a young human whom Crysta accidentally shrinks when she tries to save him from being crushed by a falling tree, though does not know how to restore him to normal size. The tree that Hexxus is imprisoned in is cut down by Tony and Ralph, Zak's superiors. Hexxus quickly begins to regain his powers by feeding on pollution. He manipulates humans to drive to FernGully. In FernGully, Zak meets Pips, a male fairy envious of Zak’s relationship with Crysta. Zak begins to fall in love with Crysta but hides the true reason that the humans have returned. When the signs of Hexxus's resurrection begin to manifest in poisoned trees and rivers, he admits that humans are destroying the forest. The fairies mount an attempt to defend their homes, but knowing their fight is hopeless, Zak convinces Batty to aid him in stopping the machine before it destroys them. When Zak makes his presence known to Tony and Ralph, Hexxus takes over the machine and begins to destroy the forest.
Magi sacrifices herself to give the fairies a chance, and she tells Crysta to remember everything she's learned. Zak manages to stop the machine, depriving Hexxus of the source of his power, but he manifests himself within the oil in the machine and begins to ignite the forest ablaze. Crysta seemingly expends herself by allowing herself to be devoured by Hexxus and all seems lost until he begins to sprout limbs and leaves like a tree. Pips with the rest of the fairies rally the powers they have been given, which causes the seed that Crysta feeds him to start growing riotously. Hexxus is crushed and erased by the newly grown tree at the very border of FernGully which bursts into bloom. Crysta appears after the fight, having survived her ordeal and admirably succeeds Magi as a magical fairy. She gives Zak a seed, begging him to remember everything that has transpired and she sadly restores him to his human size. He (Zak) buries the seed in the soil and tells Tony and Ralph that things need to change. The seed sprouts new growth for FernGully, while everything returns to normalcy.
This film exhibits the danger and the need to preserve the world’s ecosystem. Through an eco-critical reading of the film, some lessons are discerned. From FernGully: The Last Rainforest, for instance, the rainforest is located near Mount Warning, on the eastern coast of Australia, but the film shows that the entire universe is this article’s range of signification. The film further explains the consequences of rainforest destruction and addresses the economic push behind this destruction. The character of Batty introduces the secondary lesson of animal experimentation, though with a light touch that presents this potentially horrifying motif as essentially humorous. However, this does not invalidate the lesson thereof.
Next is The Lion King. It tells the story of Simba, a young lion who is to succeed his father. The story is situated in the Pride Lands of Africa. A lion rules over the animal kingdom from Pride Rock. King Mufasa’s newborn son, Simba, is presented to the assembled animals by Rafiki, a mandrill who serves as shaman and advisor. Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands and explains to him the responsibilities of kingship and the ‘circle of life,’ which connects all living things. Mufasa's younger brother, Scar, covets the throne and plots to kill Mufasa and Simba so he can become king. He tricks Simba and his best friend Nala (whom Zazu reveals is betrothed to Simba) into exploring a forbidden elephants' graveyard, where they are attacked by three spotted hyenas who are in league with Scar. Mufasa is alerted to the danger by his majordomo, the hornbill Zazu, and rescues the cubs. Though angry with Simba, Mufasa forgives him and explains that the great kings of the past watched over them from the night sky, from which he will one day watch over Simba.
Scar sets a trap for his brother and nephew; luring Simba into a gorge and having the hyenas drive a large herd of wildebeest into a stampede that will trample him. He informs Mufasa of Simba's danger, knowing the king will rush to save his son. Mufasa saves Simba but ends up hanging perilously from the gorge's edge and is betrayed by Scar, who sends him tumbling to his death. Scar convinces Simba that the tragedy was his fault and advises him to flee the kingdom which he heeded. To cover up, Scar tells the pride that both Mufasa and Simba were killed in the stampede and steps forward as the new king, allowing a large pack of hyenas to live in the Pride Lands.
Simba collapses in a desert and is rescued by Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog who are fellow outcasts. Simba grows up in the jungle with his two new friends, living a carefree life under the motto ‘Hakuna Matata’ (‘no worries’ in Swahili). Now an adult, Simba rescues Timon and Pumbaa from a hungry lioness who turns out to be Nala. She and Simba reunite and fall in love, and she urges him to return home, telling him the Pride Lands have become a drought-stricken wasteland under Scar's reign. Feeling guilty over his father’s death, Simba refuses, runs off and encounters Rafiki, who tells him that he does not know who he is. Rafiki reminds Simba that he is Mufasa’s son and Mufasa’s spirit lives on in Simba. He is then visited by the ghost of Mufasa in the night sky, who tells him he must claim his rightful place as king. Realizing he can no longer run from his past, Simba chooses to return home.
Aided by his friends, Simba sneaks past the hyenas at Pride Rock and confronts Scar who taunts him over his role in Mufasa’s death and forces him to the edge of the rock, where he reveals to Simba that he murdered Mufasa. Enraged, Simba pins Scar to the ground and forces him to reveal the truth to the others. Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu, and the lionesses fend off the hyenas while Scar, attempting to escape, is cornered by Simba at the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs for mercy and attempts to blame the hyenas for his actions; Simba spares his life but orders him to leave the Pride Lands forever. Scar then attacks his nephew but Simba manages to toss him from the top of the rock. Scar survives the fall but is killed by the hyenas, who overhear him betray them to Simba. With his enemies gone, Simba takes over the kingship as it begins to rain. This signifies a kind of renewal of life in the charred land. Later, with Pride Rock restored to its former glory, Rafiki presents Simba and Nala’s newborn cub to the assembled animals, continuing the circle of life.
Ecology-wise, there are two major lessons in this film. First, the sheer scale and spectacle of the African savannah are shown in all their glory. Through this film, the audience/learner is made to see one of the last world’s true wildernesses and the last place on earth where we have both herbs of wild grazing mammals and large numbers of mammalian top predators inhabiting in harmony. The filmic images exemplify the beauty of nature and the balance in the ecosystem before human intrusion to kill off, eat and domesticate the rest of the large mammal populations. The savannah is rightly ‘worshipped’ by the animation in The Lion King. The opening circle of life sequence is a powerhouse that never fails to leave an emotional impact on readers.
Second, we have the notion of ecological connectedness and sustainable use. For instance, the wise father figure Mufasa, spends a good deal of time schooling the young Simba that all parts of the savannah (ecosystem) are connected. The green grasses serve as food for lower animals such as rabbits, goats and antelopes while predators such as hyenas, tigers and lions in turn depend on these lower animals for survival. This shows the essence of the circle of life. Mufasa intellectually and practically understands his role as a keystone predator and tries to educate Simba urging him to respect every living creature because they in one way or the other have a role to play in preserving the ecosystem. If the smallest earthworm is eliminated from the ecosystem, the plants feel the pain, the herbivorous animals are exposed to danger while the carnivorous animals like the lion and leopard suffer the hazardous effects and so does everything else in the system.
From the diegesis of the film, Mufasa (the lion) is seen as king because he has the power and wisdom to manage the whole ecosystem. This is exemplified when Scar runs the show and abuses the roles that guide the circle of life, the entire system collapses and there is starvation, erosion, drought and death. This is a powerful message for us humans, who are after all the most important keystone predator on this earth. To have the best of the environment, humans must respect every living and nonliving thing in their environment to preserve and ensure nature’s continuity.
The last film to be considered is Moana. This animated feature film tells an adventurous tale of a spirited teenager who sails out on a daring mission to prove herself a master way-finder and fulfil her ancestors’ unfinished quest. During her journey, Moana meets the once-mighty demi-god known as Maui. Maui steals the mystical heart of goddess Te Fiti. The heart is a small luminous stone which has the power to create life. He steals it to gift it to humanity, but as he flees the island with the stone, he is attacked by a lava monster, Te Ka, causing the stone to fall from his hand and disappear into oblivion. Centuries later, we meet Moana, the princess of a small island in Polynesia, who has a special connection with the ocean. The ocean calls out to her but her family prevents her from venturing out beyond the reef, for fear of losing her. As Moana grows up, she is told that a life of being the village’s chieftain awaits her. But her heart is set on venturing out into the ocean.
The islands around them slowly begin to fade away and fall into disrepair because of the curse caused by Maui when he stole the heart. Several stories and secrets are revealed to Moana by her cocky grandmother, and they convince her that she has been chosen by the ocean to find Maui and restore the heart of Te Fiti. She set out on the ocean along with her pet chicken HeiHei to search for Maui. When she finds him, she realizes that he is an extremely self-centred, self-absorbed, egomaniac. She has to get inventive and treat him with the utmost respect to get him to find the lost heart of Te Fiti. Moana forms a special bond with Maui to navigate their way through the waters to replace the heart of Te Fiti with the mother island. Although Maui loses his magical hook during the process and leaves Moana to finish the task on her own through newfound courage, she puts her skills to use and replaces the heart of Te Fiti. Goddess Te Fiti returns in full bloom and the islands around Polynesia are rid of the curse that was causing them to perish. Te Fiti eventually repairs Maui’s broken hook and restores his powers.
Reading Moana through the lens of ecocriticism reveals a fascinating story of nature that fell out of balance and became a destructive rather than nurturing force when Maui stole the heart of Te Fiti, the goddess of creation to win the approval of humans. When humans plunder the beauty of the earth, they reap the dire consequences of their actions. The film captivatingly takes hold of us when Te Kā, the furious lava monster, is revealed to be Te Fiti herself running amok. In a haunting moment, Moana walks straight up to Te Kā and sings, “I know your name / They have stolen the heart from inside you / But this does not define you / This is not who you are.” Touched by the sincere song, Te Kā sees how empathetic and remorseful Moana is refrains from her aged-long anger and allows Moana to touch her. When Moana returns the heart, Te Kā reverts to Te Fiti in all her green, grassy, and floral splendour.
Te Fiti breaks the curse of species extinction, crop loss, and pollution that has inflicted the ecosystem as soon as Moana returns her heart, i.e., as soon as she commits to treating her with more care. Maui took for granted the blessings of Te Fiti (beauty of nature) and plundered too much. Te Fiti responded by becoming Te Kā (maltreated nature or nature in disrepair), who cursed the land and made it inhospitable. Moana corrected this wrong and invariably told a bold parable about environmental stewardship. Obviously, ecological damage cannot be reversed as quickly as it is in the film, but the film’s audience is shown a more pragmatic way to preserve Mother Earth for human existence and benefit.
Conclusion
Ecological degradation is a serious issue with palpable grave repercussions globally. Filmmakers over the years have focused on this issue using animation techniques to sensitise the audience/learners/populace on the consequences of harmful practices on the environment. This article used an eco-critical reading of FernGully: The Last Rainforest, TheLion King and Moana to reiterate the need for observance of a profitable ecological awareness (Green Culture) by governments and individuals around the world.
References:
Akoh, Dennis A., and Anthony E. Ugwu. 2023. “Eco-Perspectives to Playwriting in the Pandemic and Post Pandemic Eras.” In O. S. Omoera, B. Ojoniyi, & V. O. Ihidero (Eds.), One Tree a Forest: Studies in Nigerian Theatre Poetics, Technology and Cultural Aesthetics, pp. 207-219. Lagos: National Theatre.
Allers, Roger, and Rob Minkoff. 1994. The Lion King. California: Walt Disney Pictures.
Glotfelty, Cheryll. 1996. “Introduction: Literary Studies in an Age of Environmental Crisis.” In C. Glotfelty & H. Fromm (Eds.), The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology, pp. xv-xxxvii. Athens: University of Georgia Press.
Jeffries, Barney. 2020.”The Loss of Nature and Rise of Pandemics: Protecting Humans and Planetary Health.”https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?361716/The-loss-of-nature-and-rise-of-pandemics [accessed: 10.09.2023].
Kroyer, Bill. 1992. FernGully: The Last Rainforest. Sydney: Peter Faiman and Wayne Young.
Lowe, R.K. 2004. “Animation and Learning: Value for Money?” In R. Atkinson, C. McBeath, D. Jonas-Dwyer, & R. Phillips (Eds.), Beyond the Comfort Zone: Proceedings of the 21st ASCILITE Conference, pp.558–561. Perth, Australia.
Marland, Pippa. 2013. Ecocriticism. Literature Compass, 10(11): 846-868.
Mayer, Richard E. 2002. Multimedia Learning. The Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 41: 85-139.
Mishra, Sandip. 2016. Ecocriticism: A Study of Environmental Issues in Literature. Journal of Educational Research, 6(4): 168-170.
Musker, John and Clements, Ron. 2016. Moana. California: Walt Disney Pictures.
Ododo, Sunday E. 1999. The Usage of Technical Aids in the Nigerian Theatre Practice. Makurdi Journal of Arts and Culture (MAJAC), 2: 104-116.
Omoera, Osakue S. 2012. Film and Audience Perception: The Message of Gary Marshall’s Pretty Woman Revisited. LASU Journal of Humanities, 7: 133-141.
Rieber, Lloyd P. 1990. Using Computer Animated Graphics with Science Instruction with Children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(1): 135-140.
Rowley, Stephen. 2006. “Life Reproduced in Drawings: Realism in Animation.”
https://www.sterow.com/?p=797 [accessed: 10.09.2023].
Sanger, M. J,, D. M. Brecheisen, & B. Hynek. 2001. Can Computer Animations Affect College Biology Students’ Conceptions about Diffusion and Osmosis? The American Biology Teacher, 63(2): 104-109.
Schneider-Mayerson, M., V. M. A. Weik, and W. P. Małecki. 2020. Empirical Ecocriticism: Environmental Texts and Empirical Methods. Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, 27(2): 327-336. doi:10.1093/isle/isaa022.
Wells, Paul. 1998. Understanding Animation. New York: Routledge.