Summer blockbuster encourages children to recycle
August 8, 2008 at 1:55 pm
School’s out and when the inevitable rainy afternoon brings young children and their accompanying adults to the cinema, Disney may well encourage them all to go home and recycle (after seeing WALL-E, that is).
Along with Pixar, the animators who have previously brought us Toy Story, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille, Disney’s summer blockbuster WALL-E transports viewers to a “galaxy not so very far away” in a film where not much is said, and yet a powerful message is put across.
In the film, humans live in spaceships whilst a sweet, courageous robot (whose name stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) works to clean up the planet that they have filled to the brim with rubbish. At once an endearing adventure story and a bleak promise of apocalypse, WALL-E is a film that may just bring home an idea or two about the virtues of recycling.
Having the recycling message mixed into their entertainment is likely to be a familiar experience for the very young. The two-to-six-year-old viewers of CBeebies can now tune into EcoBeebies, a range of programmes focused on our impact on the environment. Little ones can sing along at the end of programmes such as Green Balloon Club, “…All the little things we do/make a difference”, and parents can also find sticker charts on the accompanying website to put some of these ideas into action.
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