EPIC the Movie, Energy Star and Movie Stars in the EPIC fight to protect the Climate

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Our first post about EPIC the movie came out prior to the successful launch of this new animated film, and before our Climate Mama’s “brush with Hollywood,” and her chance to talk about the movie with some of it’s stars!

Join Harriet (and some of our favorite eco-warrior moms pictured here, Lori from Groovy Green Livin, Diane from Big Green Purse, Tiffany from Nature Moms, Shane at Environmental Booty and Leigh at Green4U) for some some insights and “take aways” from a celebrity roundtable with: Chris Wedge, the film’s creator as well as 4 of the film’s stars, Amanda Seyfried (voice of M.K.), Collin Farrell (voice of Ronin), Aziz Ansari (voice of Mub), and Chris O’Dowd (voice of Grub) on the movie, heroes, climate change and more!

First things first. Our Eco-warrior mom advice: “EPIC is a movie you SHOULD take your kids to see.” They WILL enjoy the film and will come away with positive energy, hope and a renewed belief for magical places and why we must work hard to save these places. BTW, can you find me in the picture amongst the stars…there are 3 of them in this photo..do you know who they are??

Next: Is this film actually about saving the world? No it is not. But as Chris Wedge told me, “it’s a film about connections between people, about good vs. evil” and about “being in magical presences” (in this case the forest).

Mr. Wedge expanded by telling us that: “the idea behind the movie was that we would go to a place that seems familiar to us, but we would see the magic inside of it. When I wanted always to get in touch with that from an emotional perspective, I thought about the times that I just walk into the forest, whenever I’m by myself, and just stop and listen and just feel it, because you can feel the presence of some kind of nature power going on all the time.” Taking it one step further, he explained that one of his hopes was: “that a kid would go out and see like, wow, those birds making all that noise, that’s not just a sparrow chasing a crow away from its nest, it’s Leafman and Boggins that are fighting, that would be it for me. There’s magic out there that we just don’t pay attention to.”

Harriet: Energy Star is hoping to capitalize on the feelings and emotions we develop for the films heroes, and help us channel these feeling through tools on the Energy Star website, so each one of us, in our own way, can help make our world a better place.

As the film unfolds it’s heroes make deep connections to magical places like the forest which then inspire them to work extra hard to save these magical places. Energy Star shows us, and in particular our children, how each of us can channel our “inner hero” to save energy and money while at the same time helping to protect the planet. Energy Star gives us tools, games, tips and ideas on how we can make this fun. At ClimateMama, we see our job as parents to help “lead the way” and make sure our children find toolkits like those provided by Energy Star that can empower our children to become heroes in our homes, families and for our planet!

Collin Farrell had some encouraging and insightful comments on how the film could help kids connect to nature: “There’s no doubt that there’s a message that’s inherent in the script just by the representation of the beauty of nature and the minutia of nature and the simultaneous fragility and strength of nature. So, that’s all inherent in the script…..So, to respond to the script, I think you’re responding to those ideals. …And as Chris said, if anyone can come out of this with a moment’s more pause for thought than they would have had before it or if kids want to go out and pick up a rock and see what lies underneath it and put the iPad down for five minutes, happy days, you know.”

Harriet: Happy Days indeed! One more comment on my “Hollywood moment.” The stars that we met seemed for the most part, genuine, funny, honest and forthright. They are, after all, just people like you and me, with hopes, dreams, fragilities and fears of their own. In any given circumstance we all can be heroes and we each can make a difference.

Harriet: I asked the film’s stars how they thought we could get Hollywood to pay more attention to climate change and environmental themes in movies, generally. Chris Wedge reminded us that through social media, we are all very powerful. He suggested that if enough people remind the studios what we like and what we want to see, the studios will listen.

On the topic of social media, we had a few moments with Amanda Seyfried “between interviews;” she seemed to me to be so very wise beyond her years. We chatted briefly on the role of women as role models for girls, and on the incredible power of social media. Amanda expressed her concern about her “potential” power on Twitter and how that gave her pause before she commented or sent out random messages. A good lesson for our daughters and sons who are on social media.

Join in now and use your “power of social media;” send a tweet or a Facebook post to Epic the Movie and let them know you love the connection that their heroes have with Energy Star. At the same time, visit the Energy Star page and get your kids to “join the team” in the EPIC fight to protect the planet (if they do this soon, they can even win some prizes and tickets to the movie!)

Yours,

Climate Mama