Madama Butterfly was a very “interesting” animated variant
of an opera. Although there are no words, it was very easy to follow. A sailor
visits an island, and has a relationship with a native, which leaves her
pregnant. The native waits day and night for her sailor to return. This constant
waiting leads to deterioration of the native and her outlook on life. She plays
with her daughter, but each game is a way to look for her long lost lover. Eventually
her lover returns, takes his daughter, and leaves with his wife and daughter,
along with many other ethnic children. This story is very similar to the colonialism
of the undeveloped world in the 18th-20th centaury, especially
by the British. They entered a land, did what they wanted with the natives and
land, and then left with the resources they had collected. This might not be
the initial implication of the opera, but it’s the impression that it left on
me.