The hero's journey is undoubtedly represented in the film Shrek directed by Andrew Admasom and Vicky Jenson, and the film Mulan produced by Tony Bancroft and Barry cook. These two films demonstrate the eight steps of the hero's journey, we can see these steps in Shreks quest to save Princess Fiona and Mulan’s adventures through the chinese war.
The film shrek definitely followers the hero's journey as you can easily spot out scenes and film techniques used by the producers. Call to adventure: when shrek come home to a shock of fairy tale characters invading his swamp he immediately goes to lord Farquad, this is when shrek is given a quest to save princess Fiona for a trade for his swamp back. Crossing the threshold: Shrek and Donkey now go
…show more content…
This moment leaves the viewers heartbroken and stressed because Shrek looked extremely vulnerable as he was ready to tell Fiona how he really feels but is then crushed by the harsh words of hideous and ugly.this scene absolutely tells us that shrek is entering the abyss stage of the hero's journey, as he just faced his most challenging event but is then …show more content…
This scene also leaves the viewers relieved, and happy because Mulan gets to stay the army and she has finally shown everyone else that she is just as good has them and even better.
Another film technique used in Mulan is a medium shot of when Mulan’s Father sees her for the first time, this scene is then put into a low shot as mulan gives the sword and emperor's crest to her father, a high shot is then shown in perspective of mulan watching her father look at the gifts. Then a medium shot is shown looking at mulan and her father hugging, this scene is truly heartwarming as mulan and her father meet for the first time. This was Mulan's return to her journey through the chinese war, this seals her hero's journey as she saved china and turned into a true hero.
The creators of films Shrek and Mulan have clearly shown us the hero's journey step by step through the different film techniques and effects used to represent the hero's journey. This has shown us how Shrek and Mulan formed into hero's through the events of call to adventure, crossing the threshold, challenges, the abyss, transformation, revelation, atonement and the
Most myths have a common pattern between them. Today, this pattern is often seen in some of our most beloved motion pictures. Joseph Campbell-a respected 20th century American mythologist, lecturer, and writer- observed this and created a theory based off of the similarities he saw. He showed the world that almost every story with a hero follows the three stages in his theory he called “Monomyth” (Campbell). The monomyth, often times called “The Hero’s Journey” or “The hero with a thousand faces”, includes the departure, initiation, and return stages (Campbell). In these stages the hero leaves his normal life behind, fulfills him/herself in some activity, and returns as a hero (Campbell). These stages can be applied to a smash hit released in 2009, a science-fiction film titled Star Trek. James T. Kirk in Star Trek closely follows Campbell’s theory as he departs from his childhood home in Iowa, fights a rogue Romulan enemy, and returns to Earth as a Starfleet captain.
Tens of thousands of stories fit into the hero’s journey archetype created by Christopher Volger. Out of these, a large number of them are stories with remakes that share notable resemblances to their heroes’ journeys. However, none of these quite match those very strong similarities found between Homer’s The Odyssey and Joel Coens ’s O
In “Creating the Myth,” Linda Seger outlines the essential aspects that make up the hero myth, and why movies that follow this outline are generally successful. In her analysis, she begins with the idea that every hero myth revolves around a hero who is called upon to accomplish a feat that nobody else in the story is able to do. The hero’s journey begins with an unlikely person being called upon to serve a purpose greater than themselves. Along their journey, the hero is influenced by several archetypical characters that either help the hero, or try to deter the hero from accomplishing their task. The hero’s journey ends when they have accomplished their task, and in doing so, become a greater person than what they were in the beginning. A film that found tremendous success by following this outline was “Kung Fu Panda.”
To fully appreciate the significance of the plot one must fully understand the heroic journey. Joseph Campbell identified the stages of the heroic journey and explains how the movie adheres meticulously to these steps. For example, the first stage of the hero’s journey is the ordinary world (Campbell). At the beginning, the structure dictates that the author should portray the protagonist in their ordinary world, surrounded by ordinary things and doing ordinary tasks so that the author might introduce the reasons that the hero needs the journey in order to develop his or her character or improve his or her life (Vogler 35). The point of this portrayal is to show the audience what the protagonist’s life is currently like and to show what areas of his or her life are conflicted or incomplete. When the call to adventure occurs, the protagonist is swept away into another world, one that is full of adventure, danger, and opportunities to learn what needs to be learned. T...
Mulan goes through being rescued when she fights Shan-Yu on top of the roof of the Emperor’s palace and Mushu helps Mulan pin Shan-Yu down and blow him up with fireworks. Mulan‘s ego decreases when Mushu successfully tries to help her get rid of Shan-Yu. She considers herself a hero now and does not want Mushu to think she cannot fight her own battles. Mulan in the end disregards her ego in order for her to not die on the roof. Mulan crosses the final threshold when she returns to her home with the gifts from the Emperor hoping her family will forgive her for leaving the family to go fight in the war. Her father accepts Mulan’s new power and wisdom and told her that, “The greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter.” Mulan’s return to the past is pleasant and safe knowing that nothing can change her family’s love and affection for her. In addition, Mulan enters into the final step in the hero’s journey: the freedom to live. Mulan shows her freedom to live when she invites her soul mate, Li-Shang for dinner. This event marks the end of Mulan dwelling on the past and makes her excited, but not concerned about what the future
The hero’s journey can be seen as a set of laws or challenges that every hero faces through their own journey(Christopher Vogler). The hero’s journey is used as a general term such as all
The Hero's Journey is a theory created by Joseph Campbell and expresses the idea that most heroes are essentially the same person embodied in different ways. Lawrence C. Rubin describes the monomyth as, “The hero, or mythic protagonist, from birth to death is on a journey, replete with demons, both inner and outer, challenges both great and small, and a cast of characters, some enemies, others allies and companions” (265). The 2001 animation Osmosis Jones is no exception to this assumption. In the film, a white blood cell named Osmosis Jones goes on an epic adventure to save the life of Frank and prove himself to the people of his community. In the beginning of the movie, Osmosis starts off as an egotistical jerk who believes he can do everything on his own; however, as the film progresses, Osmosis realizes that sometimes two brains are better than one. Jones finds out the hard way that without a helping hand, there is little he can achieve alone. Osmosis’s journey through the monomyth develops the theme of teamwork because help from others proves to be essential to Osmosis’s triumph.
I went years without knowing that the hero 's journey is involved in most of my life. We read it in books, see it in movies and can even apply it in our own lives! Some examples of this journey would be a high school graduation, getting a indian name, or even Ariel 's journey to human land in The Little Mermaid. In these big events otherwise known as the hero 's journey we experience a,"process of separation, initiation,and return...each stage must be completed successfully if the initiate is to become a hero"(Harris and Thompson 50). This process has been around for years and will be around for years to come but have you noticed it? Mattie Ross a young girl from Arkansas goes on a hero
Refer to specific examples. What sets your hero’s journey in motion? What elements of the hero’s journey does it conform to? Use distinctive examples of what you see on the screen. Include quotes from the movie.
The Hero’s Journey is an ancient archetype that we find throughout our modern life and also, in the world of literature.Whether metaphorical or real, the journey that a character goes on shows not only the incredible transformation of the hero but it also gives them their life meaning. It is the ultimate human experience and it reflects on every aspect of life. Take Logan, also known as Wolverine, from the X-Men movie as an example. His adventure starts with “The Call,” which is the first step of the Hero’s Journey. This step happens due to the realization of imbalance and injustice that the character has in their life. Logan steps into the first stage of the pattern but is hesitant to start his adventure because he does not know what and
From the call to the return, Toy Story Two is a modern example of Homer’s classic Journey of the Hero cycle. The movie Toy Story Two is taken right out of Homer’s archetype for his book the Odyssey. Both Toy Story Two and the Odyssey both go through a mundane world, the first stage that the hero does not want to be in, a call to adventure, and the point where the hero leaves the first world and goes to a different one. There is also a path of trails where hero goes on a new adventure meeting new people, and the Master of two worlds stage, when hero returns to old world as a changed person. All of these thing fall under the journey of the hero archetype. The next paragraphs will explain specific pieces from the movie and how they relate to the journey of the hero archetype.
Overall, the Disney movie, Mulan, demonstrates gender roles, socialization of gender roles, and consequences of breaking the gender roles. By Mulan going to war for her father, in China, many things were at risk, life, honor, and the country of China, itself. Displaying the characteristics a man had was the only way for Mulan to survive, granted, she was not great at displaying woman characteristics in the first place. Being caught in war, as a woman, meant death, but Mulan was lucky for her bravery when saving Captain Li Shang, for he spared her life, which allowed Mulan to help save China and the emperor in the end. Even though China had very strict gender roles, Mulan broke them to save her father’s life and became the person she was meant to be.
The first comparisons between mythology and the Disney film are ones pertaining to the nature of Hercules character. In both film and myth Hercules exemplifies the hero myth and goes through what is known as the Hero’s Journey. In both stories eventually Hercules becomes a hero. In the movie Hercules was born
The widely popular film Shrek, produced and distributed by DreamWorks in 2001, grossed a total of $484,409,218 in worldwide sales (Box Office Mojo). The success of the film has led DreamWorks to create several shorts, companion films, and sequels. From its memorable characters to its whimsical, edgy humor, Shrek was an amazing, highly successful animation that would pave the way for DreamWorks to make billions off the franchise. Shrek’s success can be attributed to three main factors: the range of ages it appeals to, its creative use of intertextuality, and its ability to cover a wide range of the fairy tale functions proposed by Vladimir Propp.
The directors have been able to convey the binary of appearance and reality. Fiona was first disappointed by Shrek’s appearance. However, as Fiona develops a relationship with Shrek, she realises that there’s more to Shrek than what meets the eyes. The scene in the movie where Fiona is revealed to Donkey as another appearance is the major focus. On a spell, Fiona takes appearance of an ogre after sunset. Fiona is ashamed of her unattractive appearance, determined to marry Lord Farquaad in order to break the spell. Nevertheless, when Shrek sees Fiona’s ogre side, he is not disappointed and rather gets the courage to confess his love to Princess Fiona. Fiona’s wish comes true; True love’s first kiss, and takes love’s true form, the ogre. Non diegetic romantic music is used to show Shrek and Fiona’s connection. A mise en scène is created,