Short Film Analysis (The Bear and The Hare)

For me, this Christmas advert, which in my eyes also works as a standalone short film, is one of the most beautifully crafted stories ever told, and yet for something so simple, it works so well. Every single year, I find myself benchmarking each John Lewis advert against this one, as this not only opitimises Christmas but emphasises character first and succeeds at dragging us into this winter wonderland world for two minutes.

Instantly from the preluding text in the sky, there are a few things we can establish. We see the extreme long shot of the sunset/sunrise, looking over the mountains and light reflecting off the forest below. It symbolises serenity and peace and I personally see this as the dawn, a new day has begun and a new story is about to be told. This is also inferred by the birds flying from left to right, like reading a book, adding further to that opening chapter feeling which I quite like, setting off on a journey.

We then begin another journey by meeting our protagonist for the film who in my eyes the Hare; accompanied by the deuteragonist, the Bear. I think this because, whilst the film sets up the bear being the focal point, which he is, in actuality, it is the Hare that gives the Bear the Christmas he has always wanted. Whilst the Bear is always there, he is just going about his normal life; the Hare on the other hand is creating a catalyst, allowing the story to progress forward and giving the three-act structure that any fictional media product needs. These are:

 

Act 1: The character and world establishment, with a visual backstory carrying the narrative.

Inciting Incident: A single snowflake falls from the sky, confusing the Bear and saddening the Hare. This is the turning point for the pair as the narrative is brought amongst the audience from this moment onwards.

Act 2: The Hare tries to cheer up The Bear, he's entered hibernation and now won't experience Christmas yet again. So he buys the Bear a present and leaves it outside of his cave, this gives the plot a direction and leaves the audience questioning what was in the Hare's present.

Act 3: The Bear is awoken from his hibernation and the Hare couldn't be happier about it, it is the first time that he has experienced Christmas and is welcomed by all the other animals. It then cuts back to the cave where we find out the Hare bought him an alarm clock so he could wake up for Christmas, giving the audience that satisfying conclusion to the story.

Something else I also noticed was the fact that the lyrics can sometimes correlate with the narrative, almost as a subtle reinforcement of storytelling. This happens a few times, such as when the snowy land is first introduced, the rabbit starts bouncing around as the lyrics sing "I felt the Earth, beneath my feet" and later we see the Bear yawning, as the lyrics sing "I'm getting tired...". This links back to Andrew Goodwin's music video theory, as he believed that visual imagery and audio should have a correlation to help carry a narrative.

I believe it is quite easy to interpret this advert and short film as a music video as well, as it does have conventions that do carry over from narrative music videos. There is a sense of reverie that happens within this product, using the power of magic around Christmas, with a more mellow cover of Keane's Somewhere Only We Know from Lily Allen, along with the Disney-style animation. It proves that Goodwin was correct with the correspondence between the two elements and that dynasty creates development with its audience. No wonder this song was Christmas number one of 2013 and has become not only the more popular version of this song but the most recognisable John Lewis advert ever made.

Bibliography:

John Lewis: The Bear & the Hare (2013) At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6630642/ (Accessed 15/10/2022).

Keane-Topic (2018) Somewhere Only We Know. At:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LuignGmX_0 (Accessed 16/10/2022).

Kenji (2018) «The Bear And The Hare» - John Lewis Christmas Advert (2013) (HD). At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGF2O9Mz4yg (Accessed 15/10/2022).

Macaulay, K. (2017) Goodwin’s Theory. At: https://prezi.com/yf7lmwxvzeyz/goodwins-theory-media/ (Accessed 16/10/2022).

The Official Charts Company (2013) Official Singles Chart Top 100. At: https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/20131215/7501/ (Accessed 16/10/2022).