Respect for other species makes us better people and it is important that from a very young age, children learn and recognize that all sorts of life is valuable.
Gandhi said that the greatness of a civilization can be judged by the way it treats animals.
These are 10 movies that will help you teach your children the love for animals.
10 movies that teach love and respect for animals
Ideal for children and adults.
1. Beethoven (Brian Levant, 1992)
Review: A St. Bernard puppy escapes from a gang of thieves that break into a pet store. After spending the night in a garbage can, he is rescued by the Newtons. Little Beethoven is adopted by the family and in a short time he becomes 80 kilo dog that often causes problems.
Teaching: A classic in the family comedy genre that shows us the docile, playful, affectionate and sociable nature of dogs.
This movie made all the kids in the 90s know and love the Saint Bernard breed.
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2. Mía and the White Lion (Gilles de Maistre, 2019)
Review: Ten-year-old Mia develops a special bond with a beautiful white lion named Charlie. When Mia discovers a secret that puts Charlie in danger, she begins a journey across the plains of Africa to find him a shelter.
Teaching: This is a captivating and value-filled film. The director had the idea of doing it after doing a research he did for a documentary about the bond between children and wild animals.
It is based on a true story and a personal anecdote. The little boy who inspired the film risked his life when he discovered that his family raised lions to sell to hunters.
In the film, it is shown the affection of the little protagonist for her lion, and by saving him, she tries to compensate the damage to the rest of the felines.
3. Brothers of the Wind (Otmar Penker and Gerardo Olivares, 2017)
Review: In an unspecified place in the Alps, in the 60s, Keller (Tobias Moretti) and his son Lukas (Manuel Camacho) live in the mountains, alone, after the death of Maria, Lukas’s mother and Keller’s wife. She died when the family house set on fire.
Teaching: Critics called this film a poetic look at the environment and it marked the end of a trilogy about nature and childhood that is completed with other films such as El Faro de las Orcas (2016) and Entrelobos (2010).
It’s a fictional fable that fuses a documentary with a fantasy film. The story is easy, perhaps a little simple, but it teaches us how beautiful the planet and all animal species are. And it’s worth it for the cinematography.
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4. Bambi (Clyde Geronimi, David Hand, Samuel Armstrong, 1943)
Review: A young deer named Bambi discovers the values of life on his way to adulthood. He is accompanied by his new friends, Thumper, the playful rabbit, Flower, the shy and adorable little skunk and wise Friend Owl.
Teaching: Bambi is a children’s classic that teaches morals such as family, friendship and solidarity, but it also gives the opportunity to talk to your little ones about respecting the lives of animals.
Who has not cried with Bambi?
5. The Jungle Book (Wolfgang Reitherman, 1967)
Review: After being rescued by panther Bagheera in the jungle, a pack of wolves raises the newborn Mowgli. Mowgli’s happy and peaceful life in his adoptive family is shattered when the dangerous tiger Shere Khan arrives.
Teaching: The Jungle Book is a fantasy story, but it teaches us that the human being is one of the many other species that inhabit the Earth and that we are not the owners of the world.
Little Mowgli makes it is possible to instill in our little ones respect and appreciation for nature.
The film conveys the fun and enjoyment of everything in the jungle. If you surround yourself with nature and take advantage of all its resources with respect and harmony, you will be much happier.
Just look for the most vital!
Do not miss the opportunity to mention that the Spanish dubbing of Baloo is carried out by the great genius of Mexican comedy: Tin Tan.
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6. Spirit (Kelly Asbury, Lorna Cook, 2002)
Review: In the Wild West, Spirit is a wild mustang that gallops through the prairies. But everything changes when men cross his path.
Teaching: Spirit shows us the happy life of animals in freedom until they have the bad luck to meet evil people who want to take advantage of them.
It is a strong criticism of humans, but also a message that we can live in peace and respect with nature. Spirit logically refuses to be tamed, but later he forges a great friendship with a young man from the Lakota tribe named Little Creek.
He doesn’t own him, the boy and the horse become real friends.
7. Hachiko (Lasse Hallström, 2009)
Review: Parker Wilson, a university professor who teaches music, adopts a Japanese Akita dog abandoned at a train station. Parker discovers the intimate bonds that can unite a person and an animal.
Teaching: It is another film based on a true event. The real Hachi was born and died in Tokyo, Japan. In the place where he faithfully waited for his owner until his death, a statue stands as a reminder of the love and healthy coexistence between humans and animals.
This film teaches us that loyalty and friendship can be infinite, and that not only people are capable of feeling, but also animals.
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8. Les Oiseaux de Passage (Olivier Ringer, 2015)
Review: Cathy has a father with very curious occurrences. For her birthday, he gives her a duck egg with the intention that she incubates it and later be her mother. But, coincidentally, the one the duckling sees first is Margaux, a friend of Cathy’s who is in a wheelchair.
The little duck has identified Margaux as its mother, but her parents don’t want her to take care of it. To protect and save the bird, the two girls run away and embark on an adventure of freedom, in which they will discover much about themselves.
Teaching: Les Oiseaux de Passage has great messages for children and adults. The relationship between Cathy, Margaux and the little duckling is touching, but it also exposes the risks of overprotection and the need for emancipation that we all experience at some point.
Yes, it talks about love for animals, but also about self-love and the dream of freedom.
9. Celestial Camel (Yuriy Feting, 2015)
Review: In the Russian steppes, Bayir, a twelve-year-old boy, embarks on a journey on an old motorcycle to find Mara, the camel, who has escaped and is the basis of the family’s livelihood.
Teaching: A cute movie that moves us, but it is not corny. When Bayir finds out that the camel was sold by the patriarch, he doesn’t think it twice and sets off in search of him on an old motorcycle.
A story of love, friendship and justice. The little camel is sold when he still needed his mother. The suffering of the animals is noted when they force the calf to separate from his parent.
The approach is simple, the boy loves both camels and will do whatever he can to get them back together.
10. Kauwboy (Boudewijn Koole, 2012)
Review: Ten-year-old Jojo is often left alone. His parents divorced, so they don’t pay much attention to him, so the boy secretly finds some comfort with a crow that fell from his nest.
Teaching: In the company of his crow (a black bird similar to a magpie), the little boy finds happiness. JoJo lives with his father, who works all day and is not self-confident. His mother is absent and has left a great void in the child.
Jojo seems to only have his bird and becomes infatuated with it, even against his father’s wishes.
This is a film that shows the emotional bond that can be established with animals. Surprisingly it is reciprocal, even if we are talking about a small bird.
Translated by: Ligia M. Oliver Manrique de Lara
Spanish version: Here
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