Up (2009)

When most of us think about diversity and representation in film, we usually think about three things: race, gender, and disabilities. However, there is an often forgotten topic... age. When you truly think about it, most media is about young or middle-aged people and many films about elders are ignored or demonizing (such as using them in horror to be creepy). Statistically, the world population of people aged 65 or older is around 10% (around 788 million people), and the U.S. population of elders is around 19% (around 63 million people). Those numbers are projected to double or even triple by 2050. A study in 2016 found that out of all of the speaking or named characters (in American cinema), only 10% were above the age of 60. This number is lowering every year and it's suggested that only 5 in 100 movies have an elder protagonist.

After leaving several million people out of the film industry, you would think that you hear about this more often. However, not many are talking about it. Even so, there are still quite a few films out there with elderly protagonists that more people need to be aware of. Here are just 12!

(P.S. Sadly, much of elderly cinema is focused on Alzheimer's disease/physical difficulties of aging, so be aware that it may be harder to find films without it.)

Abominable is the story of a yeti in Hong Kong who escapes imprisonment and makes its way to the roof of an apartment building to hide. The apartment building happens to be the home of a young girl, Yi, who has busied herself with odd jobs to avoid dealing with the recent death of her beloved father. When Yi discovers and befriends the yeti, she takes it on a journey home to Mount Everest. Yi and the yeti are joined by her neighbors, Jin and Peng, as they outrun and outsmart the British bad guys, Dr. Zara and Burnish who want the yeti, dead or alive, to display as proof of its existence.

There are a few twists and turns to the plot. For example, the yeti has magical powers and the bad guy changes over the course of the film. However, the story does not feel original. It is pretty predictable and familiar. Sidenote: why do children’s movies always involve a dead parent?

This film was produced by both DreamWorks and China’s Pearl Studios. This is evident in the visuals of this film. There are scenes that take your breath away with its beauty — like nothing we have seen in a DreamWorks film before. As the group moves along their journey, the landscapes are completely stunning. The co-production aided in an accurate representation of a beautiful and varied country.

I love Disney, and I’m sure you do too. Disney has given us such classics as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. But Disney has turned those movies and others into live action because, apparently, they care more about making money than anything else. With all these remakes, it makes one wish for the days of hand drawn animation. While Disney has kicked that form of animation to the curb, there are still studios utilizing it.

As it’s the month to celebrate St. Paddy, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about Cartoon Saloon. This is a small animation studio based in Kilkenny, Ireland, with only 80+ employees so far. They work on both film and TV, as well as provide illustration and design services.

Cartoon Saloon was founded in 1999 by Tomm Moore, Paul Young and Nora Twomey. The three studied together at Ballyfermot College of Further Education in Dublin. There, they begun working on their first animated film, The Secret of Kells.

The film is about a boy named Brendan who lives a sheltered life at an abbey. One day, an illuminator (someone who decorates manuscripts) arrives with an unfinished book, and beckons Brendan to help him finish it. The book turns out to be the Book of Kells, a real, illuminated manuscript that was written around 800 AD.

This is one of my favorite animated movies. The animation is beautiful and vibrant, taking inspiration from Celtic and medieval art. The film also takes inspiration from Celtic mythology with the inclusion of a pre-Christian deity and a forest fairy.