FernGully is the story of the magical fairy inhabitants of a rainforest, who attempt to protect the forest from logging and polution. When the little fairy Chrysta mistakenly tries to save the human logger Zak from a sawing machine, she accidentily shrinks him down to her size. Forced to start seeing the forest through her eyes, Zak slowly learns about the destruction of the forest. In the end, he returns to the human world to spread a message of preservation. FernGully was originally published as a book by Diana Young, and later turned into an independent animation feature film.
The film was made in the intersection of transnational activism, corporate environmentalism, and technologies that accelerated and globalized the production process. It was the first animated feature film to attract attention from both the public and policy-makers on an environmental issue, playing a brief but important role in mediating political discussion (Starosielski, 2011). Although this film was praised for representing ecological issues in ways accessible to younger audiences, it was also criticised for suggesting a reductionist, sensationalist environmentalism that does not adequately address the complexities of environmental issues. This means that viewer is not truly invited to engage in their own activist efforts. (Thevenin, 2013).