Week 26.22 - Socials Roundup ANIMALS EVERYWHERE
25 May - 31 May 2026: Animals Animated and Taxidermied and Everything In Between
Week 26.22 posts include shots from Babe (1995); True Blood (2008-2014); Gravity Falls (2012-2016); An Education (2009); and Legendary Place (2018).
True Blood
We did a breakdown of every shot in this title sequence, which also includes a fox carcase and a venus flytrap swallowing a frog.
Linking the motion of a woman in lingerie coiling herself onto a bed to a striking rattlesnake coming out of a coil, with the whammy over the first shot and the quick progression as the cut jumps to the snake: sheer genius.
An Education
An Education is about an older man David (Peter Sarsgaard) seducing schoolgirl Jenny (Carey Mulligan), while charming or strong-arming everyone around them into thinking his behaviour perfectly acceptable.
As this scene opens, the camera drifts L-R as Danny (Dominic Cooper) lifts a taxidermied armadillo into frame, drawing our attention to the animal.
As Danny speaks 'for' and responds to the armadillo — “He wants to kiss you. That’s revolting!” — the next shots are of David, or with David and the armadillo framed in close proximity.
The shots underscore what’s going on under the shiny socially-accepted surface, as Danny compares David to a lumbering, old, stuffed animal.
Gravity Falls
Though Gravity Falls doesn’t play with animal puns as often as BoJack Horseman, (which regularly works in storefronts such as Lululemming), they take this mall outing opportunity for “Build a Beaver”.
However, “Build a Bear” already involves an animal name, so the possible implication being that in this universe, bears are more like people, and beavers are more like what bears consider animals . . .
Legendary Place
There’s a reason animation is featured this week — just imagine trying to pull off THIS gag with a real (or even digitally assisted / created) bird!?
The camera sets up the first gag by pulling back (0:08-0:09), drawing our attention to the negative space, which is where the attack is about to come from. (Having Melvina, in the background, first look up, then point, also sets us up).
The camera does the opposite for this second gag.
The shot is framed ‘cutting off’ Arnold’s face, then stays still; when Arnold drops to his knees, he also drops into frame, making the image feel ‘complete.’
Babe
We looked at how the earlier part of this scene puts us inside Babe’s point of view, giving us empathy . . . then a few seconds later, this transition takes us from Babe the pig squealing to humans shrieking.
In many ways, Babe is a horror movie.