call of the wild.pdf

8/12/2019 call of the wild.pdf

1/8

Scherrer Keio, spring semester 2013Jean-Baptiste

Comparison between the novel and the animation film: Call of the wild

The mutual fascination between east & west has a cyclic intensity. The current interest inJapanese cultural product such as animation films has induced a demand for explanatorytheories and comments about the secret of Japanese creativity. During a discussion withMiyazaki at the University of California, Berkeley in 2009, the writer ofJapanamerica,Roland Kelts, claimed that the idea of apocalypse was a subtext of Miyazakis films andgave the example of the tsunami which threats to destroy the settingin Miyazakis lastfilm, Ponyo. But, contrary to Keltss expectations, Miyazaki explained that the tsunami wasnot an element of an apocalyptic worldview, but the result of the belief according to whichthere is no separation between human beings and nature (ningen no naka ni shizen gaaru). Thus, Miyazaki explained that the tsunami which was the nature inside Ponyo did

not destroy the town but was like a cleansing.

Here, the misunderstanding should be explained by difference in cultural references. Kletzused the Christian mythology as background and Miyazaki used Buddhist and, or Shintoistinterpretation. Denis de Rougemont in "Amour et Occident" claimed that the emotion oflove in Western world had been understood from a religious perspective, the passion ofthe Christ and saw interwoven between apparently independent conceptions. According tohis approach, we interpret always through cultural frame which is based on assumptioncoming from the dominant religion(s).

The trace of cultural mindset is very significant in intellectual and artistic works. Hence,through an analysis of German films and with sociological works, Siegfried Kracauer in hisbook From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Filmargue that wecan see the expression of Nazi ideology in German cinema during the prewar period.

We would like to do a similar study but through the comparison of an American novel withits Japanese adaptation in animation. The goal is the reveal the difference of approachbetween concerning animals. We have chosen to do a close reading of a novel written by

Jack London in 1900, The call of the wild, and a faithful adaptation (

), directed by Kz Morishita (),with a scenario written by Keisuke

Fujikawa () and produced in 1981

I. Deleted elements in the animation

a.Inferiority of animals

Londons book begins with the sentence, Buck did not read the newspapers. Therefore,animalsinferiorities are immediately stressed. In contrast, the beginning of the Japanese

version depicts the equality between humans and animals at the dawn of civilization.According to Aristotle, only man has the intellectual or rational soul.Some scientific theories such as the research of Van Petrovich Pavlov claim that animals


2/8

learn by habitude, a try-and-error approach not by logical reflection. In, Londons book, thistheory is used when Buck, the dog, did the experience of the club. He had never beenstruck by a club in his life, and did not understand. () A dozen times he charged, and asoften the club broke the charge and smashed him down. He saw, once for all, that hestood no chance against a man with a club. He had learned the lesson ().Christianity can be used to justify a dichotomy between animals and humans. The status

of man is regarded as halfway between the beasts and the angels. A polarity between thecategories "man" and "animal" and that they invariably regard the animal as the inferior.(Keith, P.31). The best for the beast that they should be under man"(Keith, P.21)

b. Reification and servitude

The Garden of Eden was a paradise prepared for man in which Adam had God-givendominion over all living things (Genesis, i.28)(Keith, P.17) Indeed, Western countrieshave often considered animals as things.The description of Buck is often consistent with the Descartess view of animals likemachines. Animals did not feel pain. The cry of a beaten dog was no more evidence of

the brute's suffering than was the sound of an organ proof that the instrument felt painwhen struck. (Keith, P.33)In the book, Buck was depicted as a good and as a slave. Youmight wrap up the goodsbefore you deliver 'm," the stranger said gruffly, and Manuel doubled a piece of stout ropearound Buck's neck under the collar() "All I get is fifty for it," he grumbled; "an' I wouldn'tdo it over for a thousand, cold cash. Indeed, like during the Roma Empire, Buck like aslave is used as a good and as entertainment. Indeed, similar to a spectacle in a circus,because of the torture of Buck there was an instantaneous scattering of the four men whohad carried it in, and from safe perches on top the wall they prepared to watch theperformance.

Next, towards good man like John Thornton, Buck's love was expressed in adoration.Jack London wrote that Thornton was the the ideal master". Therefore, Buck is always ina position of servitude. He was used as a tool by Thornton like a lifeguard and like achampion who earned sixteen hundred dollars in five minutes for John Thornton.The purpose of the existence of animals, vegetables and minerals was only to enhancehuman life. (Keith, P.20) As Karl Marx would note, it was not their religion, but thecoming of private property and money economy () exploit the natural world(Keith, P.23)

c. Racist ideology

The book has a clear representation of the superiority of civilized peopletowards savagecreatures. Indeed, the domestication of Buck was an explanation of its supremacy onother wild animals. Buck developed an ersatz of human intelligenceThe race of Buck is better than others dogs.

Moreover, the animation film changed the final protagonists. In the book, the bad guysare Indians who killed the adored Thornton. We can see an expression of the supremacyof white race. Using Darwinist theories, Buck was in quest of domination. Only thestrongest can survive, Buck stood and looked on, the successful champion, the dominantprimordial beast who had made his kill and found it good.


3/8

II. Added elements in the animation

a. Sympathie

First, the animals in the animation express sympathy towards other animals.When, a dog is killed because of exhaustion, the other dogs howl like a funeral ritual.

Moreover, when Bucks is tortured the other dogs stop to bark and watch in silence.

Concerning, spectatorsfeeling, the mise en scene aims to stir pity towards Buck.

b. Buck and nature

We can argue that for Japanese people, Buck is spontaneously connected to nature.One reason is the unclear distinction between dogs and wolves. Dogs were not regardedas entertainment before the modernization of Japan. Dogs are respected: oinu "honorabledog"(Walker, P.79), the dog is a zodiac sign in the Chinese calendar (Walker, P.80).The wolf was seen as symbolic loneliness and impermanence, of a windswept plain

inhabited by beasts, and of decaying stone memorials to ancestors past. (Walker, P.68)In the animation version of The call of the wild, the moon is omnipresent. This can beinterpreted as poetic expression of impermanence of things. (Walker, P.68)


4/8

Buck howls to the moon. Through metaphors we understand the abstract in terms of theconcrete (Lackoff and Johnson). We try to say something about emotions - like sadness,happiness, love, anger, frustration, frustration and so on - as well as about life - birth,ageing, and death - through metaphors taken from a more concrete world.

c. deification

We claim that Buck follows a ritual through purification (water, fire) and ordeals.


5/8

In the animation, several artistic technics underline the reflection and spirituality of Buck.When he experienced a critical moment the background moved or the frame turned as aspin.

The reflection of mirror or water is a typical way to express self-consciousness.

Buck is doing soul-searching, a deep reflection. He makes mystic experiences. Inparticular, in a dream, he communicated with something. Awaked by a howl, Buck runs toa spot to respond to the moon.


6/8

During his dream, Buck saw gods or wolves moving like gods. At the end of the film, Buck

will move like this and will dodge bullets like an immortal god.

This surprising representation for western people is kind of natural in the East because itis consistent with the local philosophy. Indeed, Confucius wrote that "Animals canachieve entlightment" (Bulliet, 214) and all sentient beings" vegetables and animals

coined the nature of Buddha. (Walker, P.63)


7/8

Bucks become a messager between the human world and the worl of gods. Indeed, whenhe goes to the wild and comes back to the camp he symolically use the monn as a bridge.According to the Shinto tradition, deified natural phenomenon (kami) inhabited the naturallandscape, cast the natural world as divine space teeming with spiritual life...Walker,(p.69). We can notice that the Japanese word to name wolves is Ookamiwhich can betranslated as great divinity. In Japanese culture, wolves often served as divine

messengers to other deities(Walker, P77)

"People who treated wolves kindly (...) were smiled upon by the gods through the

agency of divine wolves and often experienced good fortune as a resultHence, Thornton is not a master but a man who did good actions and therefore receivedhelp from Buck as an emanation of nature world. Indeed, according to traditionalJapanese believes, there are deities a deity who guarded but also sometimes menacedtravelers as unpredictable and elusive

Conclusion

We showed how the differences between the two artworks are the echo of differentmindsets and different sensibilities.The art form should explain some variations. Indeed, contrary to live films, animation filmscan depict animals with greater accuracy and control. Animals are not as good actors thanhuman beings. Moreover, the background (nature), the human beings and animals havethe same nature due to the drawing. Animation in an animist perspective gives a soul ofthese entities.


8/8

References

Bulliet, Richard, Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers: The Past and Future of Human-Animal Relationships, Columbia University Press (2007)

Kalland, Arne, Culture in Japanese nature, In O.Bruun and A. Kalland (eds), Asian

Perceptions of Nature: A critical approach, Curzon Press (1994)

Miyazaki Hayao, in Conversation with Roland Kelts, UCBerkeleyEvents (2009),http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZWmOYq3fX4

Keith, Thomas, Man and the Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England 1500-1800,Oxford University Press (2009)

Walker, Brett L., The lost wolves of Japan , university of Washington press (2005)

Documents

call of the wild.pdf