1. FernGully: The Last Rainforest
Industrialization & Pollution
by Amanda Hammer, Jules Moon, and Leema Rahim
UNST 254H, Popular Culture: Animation—Bridging Cultures East and West
Portland State University, Summer 2013

2. Storyline
After discovering rising smoke on the other side of the forest, a
fairy named Crysta decides to investigate the cause. Once at the
location, Crysta sees a team of loggers leveling the trees in the
area. One of the loggers, Zak, nearly gets hit with a falling tree
but Crysta shrinks him to fairy-size just in time. During his time
with the fairies, Zak comes to realize the destruction that he and
other humans are causing. The other loggers level a tree that had
been housing the spirit of destruction, Hexxus, who had
previously wreaked havoc on the land. Crysta, Zak and the
fairies work to defeat Hexxus and eventually imprison him
within another tree. Zak returns to his normal size and decides
he is going to work towards stopping the industrialization going
on in the forest.

3. FernGully Sample Clip

4. Source Text
 The 1992 film FernGully is based on a series of children‟s
books written by Diana Young. Interestingly, the books
were still unpublished when the film production began
in 1990; the first book in the FernGully series was actually
released only 9 days before the movie!
 Jim Cox, the screenwriter, is a Pacific Northwest
filmmaker, having attended Evergreen in Olympia.
 Both the book and film are set in the real forest at the foot
of Mount Warning, also known as Wollumbin, in New
South Wales, Australia.

5. Protagonists
 Zak starts out as an ignorant human
whose job is to help destroy the
rainforest. He is brought into Crysta's
home and learns to respect nature
during this time. Zak decides that he
must go back to the human world to
teach people what he learned. Zak
transforms as a person as he learns
that his actions do have
consequences.
 Crysta is a brave fairy and a free spirit. She loves the rainforest because
it is her home. She is very curious, especially when it come to humans.
Crysta is the heroine of the story. She protects her family and the
rainforest out of courage and learns how to control her magic along the
way.

6. Supporting Characters
 Batty Koda is Crysta’s friend. He was
experimented on by humans, and often says odd
things because of what the humans did do him.
He is an example of how humans treat animals.
Batty Koda is deeply afraid of people because
he knows the bad things they are capable of.
 Magi Lune is Crysta's mentor. She is a wise
elder fairy who has complete control over her
magic. She warns the other fairies of the outside
world because she knows how dangerous it can
be. Magi Lune sacrifices herself in order to save
the forest.

7. Villains
 Hexxus is the villain is this story. He wants
to bring destruction to the forest. Pollution,
which is caused by humans, is represented
by Hexxus. The Humans are the ones who
release Hexxus by cutting down the tree he
was trapped in. Hexxus wished to destroy
the beauty of the natural world, but was
stopped by the fairies.
 Humans are represented as ignorant in this
story. Two men control a machine that
destroys the forest, but they do not really
understand the harm they are causing to the
environment.

8. Animation Style
 FernGully was created using a combination of traditional
cel animation and computer animation.
 It is one of the first films to use digital ink and paint, in
which hand-drawn outlines are scanned into the
computer and filled in digitally.
 The animators also used computers to build 3D
characters and print a sequence on peg hole paper, to be
hand-inked without having to estimate proportions.
 The animation team made research trips to the
Australian rainforests to ensure their depictions were
accurate.

9. Australian Culture
Ferngully takes place in a forest near Mount Warning in
Australia. This mountain has cultural significance to the
Australian Aboriginals. The paintings that Magi Lune discusses
in the beginning of the movie are reminiscent of the paintings of
spirits drawn by Australian Aboriginals.
Australian Aboriginal Art FernGully Movie Art

10. Australian Environment
The cartoonists spent time in Australia for inspiration. Zak is also
Australian, though neither he nor any of the other characters have an accent.
It is clear that the message of this movie is to stop the destruction of the
environment. This related to the county of origin for the film. Australia, like
all countries, has faced many environmental issues. Environment is very
important to Australia's culture. Australia is known for its wide variety of
animal species and natural beauty. In recent decades they have been facing a
large amount of deforestation, pollution, and agriculture clearing. These
environmental issues were the inspiration for the film FernGully.
Mt. Warning in Australia Mt Warning in FernGully

11. Major Theme
In FernGully, the major theme is how industrialization and
pollution corrupt Earth‟s natural environments. When watching
the film, we are introduced to a world that exists only because we
as humans have not manipulated it. As the film progresses, we
see humans threaten this environment by leveling trees,
experimenting on animals and polluting the area where life once
thrived. FernGully employs ideas of teamwork and “using good
to destroy evil” in order to overcome the imminent threat of the
industrialization of a natural place. The main characters, Crysta,
Zak, and Batty as well as the fairy and animal communities, work
together to stop the tree levelers as well as the spirit of
destruction, Hexxus, restoring the gully to its natural state.
During this process we gain knowledge about the impact of our
populating natural environments and the different ways we can
lessen our effect on these places.

12. Fun Facts
 FernGully was directed by Bill Kroyer.
 Celebrity voicing includes Robin Williams, Tim Curry,
Christian Slater, and Samantha Mathis.
 The film was presented by Olivia Newton-John at the
United Nations General Assembly on Earth Day, April
22, 1992.
 Critical reception was overall positive and the film
grossed $32,710,894 worldwide.
 The franchise ultimately included the 1998 direct-to-
video sequel, FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue.

13. Works Cited
"Environmental Problems in Australia: Issues with no End in Sight." WWF. n.p., n.d. Web.
Accessed 08 Aug. 2013
“FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992).” IMDB. n.p., n.d. Web. Accessed Aug 2013.
“FernGully: The Last Rainforest.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Last modified 28 July 2013.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Web. Accessed Aug 2013.
Hartl, John. “Evergreen Tale -- Jim Cox And Jeff Dowd Bring Northwest Perspective To Making
Of `Ferngully.'” Seattle Times. 10 April 1992. Web. Accessed Aug 2013.
ivanmarginal. "Discovering the Aboriginal Arts in Australia.” bubblews.com. 08 Mar 2013. n.p.
Web. 01 Aug. 2013.
Kellerhals, Sandra. “Spring Break Blog Post: Where Have I Seen This Before?” History of
Animation. 11 March 2010. n.p. Web. Accessed Aug 2013.
"Mount Warning in the Tweed Coast Hinterland: Far North Coast of NSW, Australia."
MtWarning.com. n.p., n.d. Web. 08 Aug. 2013.
Starosielski, Nicole “„Movements that are drawn‟: A history of environmental animation from The
Lorax to FernGully to Avatar.” International Communication Gazette. 73.1-2 (2011): 145-163. Web. 28
July 2013.