Rang-tan

Dame Emma Thompson, backed by a host of other famous names, has taken aim at big brands including Unilever, Nestlé and Mondelez for their role in deforestation for palm oil.

Orangutans at risk

In time for International Orangutan Day (on 19 August), Greenpeace has launched a powerful new 90-second animation that highlights how orangutans are being pushed to the brink of extinction by deforestation for palm oil.

The film, voiced by Emma Thompson, will also be shown across UK cinemas with thousands of screenings throughout August and September.

It was made by creative agency Mother (directed by award-winning Salon Alpin) and produced by Oscar-winning Passion Animation Studios.

Celebrities including Stephen Fry, Bryan Adams, Jodie Kidd, Alesha Dixon, Andy Serkis, Geri Horner (née Halliwell), Gregg Wallace and Sharon Osbourne have taken to social media to share the animation.

Way off target for 2020 deadline

The film tells the story of baby Rang-tan as she causes mischief in a little girl’s bedroom. Just as the girl is about to banish her, she asks Rang-tan what brought her there.

Rang-tan’s memories are harrowing. They show her forest home destroyed, trees burning, huge machines hacking others to the ground and her mother lying injured.

‘There’s a human in my forest and I don’t know what to do
He destroyed all of our trees for your food and your shampoo
There’s a human in my forest and I don’t know what to do
He took away my mother and I’m scared he’ll take me too.

‘There are humans in my forest and I don’t know what to do
They’re burning it for palm oil… so I thought I’d stay with you.’

Excerpt from the Rang-tan film script

Palm oil is used in almost half the products we buy in UK supermarkets and demand is increasing at an alarming rate. Ending their part in deforestation for palm oil was a promise that Unilever, Nestlé and Mondelez, along with many other brands, made a decade ago, with 2020 their deadline.

On International Orangutan Day they will have just 500 days to go – and they are way off target. The film marks the start of Greenpeace’s campaign to ramp up pressure on brands to keep their promise and end destruction of the rainforests.

Getting away with murder

Dame Emma Thompson, campaign ambassador, said she ‘didn’t hesitate’ when Greenpeace asked her to narrate Rang-tan. She says, ‘For too long big brands have been getting away with murder. And for too long our response to orangutans has been ‘ohhh, poor thing’ as we’re shown photographs of them orphaned and at death’s door. But change is possible – we can make it so.’