Why DreamWorks Villains Are Superior

[Music] something I see a lot of shows and movies getting so wrong are their villains so often they feel like an afterthought just tacked on a plot device to keep the story going but not really part of the story you know just a bland obstacle for the heroes to overcome that is why it's so impressive that DreamWorks has managed to have such a good track record of solid antagonists that really add to the story instead of just being there I like almost all their movies almost I just don't like it you do like me I don't so let's have a look let's jump way back to 2008 when we first met an adorable big fat panda with even bigger dreams I'm not a big fat panda I'm the big fat Panda the thing that DreamWorks has been getting mostly right over the years is having a straightforward theme of common human experience without being too heavy-handed when they're at their best is when the villain for the movie accents that theme in their antagonistic way usually they show us the audience and the main character the negative side of not following the theme in the case of Kung Fu Panda that theme is accepting who you are and being content with your own inner validation most of Poe's first journey takes place apart from the villain he is the fat kid who fantasizes about being a great Kung Fu Warrior like the highly esteemed students at the martial arts school at the top of the mountain trouble is he's out of shape and clearly the adopted son of a duck who's trying to balance being a single dad and a cafe owner serving his famous secret ingredient soup foreshadow going through a funny series of happenstances he becomes the prophesied chosen one except everybody including himself knows that's impossible because he's an unskilled out-of-shaped Fanboy look at you those are sensitive in the flabby Parts his journey is all about self-acceptance breaking the mold getting rid of the need for external validation come here I need you to externally validate that like button got him we got him by contrast the villain Tai long has spent years in prison after attacking the school when he was told that he would not be the chosen one the Dragon Warrior he spent his entire life pursuing that goal and the praise of his master and he is suddenly dealing with the loss of this external identity the title that he hoped to achieve it drives him crazy and he attacks trying to take the mythical dragon scroll and read its secrets to become the fabled Warrior by force after he is defeated he is imprisoned and spends his time contemplating Revenge by the end of the movie we see that Poe has accepted his path to Kung Fu is going to be different from other more physically fit students but time has run out because Tai long is approaching to claim the scroll which Poe has already read but there's some confusion because it's just blank just shiny gold in the final showdown Poe comes to face Tai long Having learned that a real hero doesn't run away when people are depending on him he is given the Epiphany that the scroll is shiny because true power lies within the power is yours his father tells him the secret ingredient of the soup there isn't one people believe it's special so it is in the end Poe tries to tell Tai longness in an effort to defuse the situation but Tai long cannot accept that there isn't some external prize to validate his life and he is defeated when he forces a fight here we see Tai long is an excellent villain not just because he's strong and beating him makes Poe look strong that that is something amateur writers do they take pains to show you how powerful their villain is so that the hero looks even more powerful when they defeat them but in the case of Kung Fu Panda Tai long reinforces the theme that inner validation is better than external he spent his entire life trying to earn this shiny scroll and more power and praise and when he can't have that one thing he loses his mind disregarding all the other achievements in his life how can I be productive if I have this one little thing in my brain that I cannot get out and that one little thing is the scroll he also shows the secondary theme of the movie selflessness is better than selfishness the reason Poe is worthy of the scroll is because he cares about other people by the time he earns it he has put away his self-doubt which is an inherently selfish emotion and moves on to caring about protecting the people of the valley Tai long was unworthy because his ambition was selfish fish all he cared about was getting more power to fill a void inside himself this movie is a classic for multiple reasons but poor Tai long doesn't get enough credit for rounding out the theme Kung Fu Panda 2 managed to pull off the same theme and be a great sequel Poe faces off against the peacock Shen who orchestrated the murder of all the pandas leaving him an orphan we see a similar plot here with Poe trying to find inner peace and come to terms with the loss of his people and searching for his own identity as an adopted child he also has to deal with his desire for revenge against Shin it's like is the president of DreamWorks an adopted kid or something all their movies are about found family like I'm 100 here for it I'm just now realizing that it runs through all their movies anyway just like the first movie Shen has an unquenchable thirst for power and he is crushed when his parents shockingly are horrified that he murdered all the pandas he's exiled for his crimes and comes back at the beginning of the movie to get revenge against everybody really and then take over all of China will the subjugation of the whole whole world finally make you feel better it's a start again Shen craves this external validation and he will never be satisfied his soosayer even gives him a line about it the cup you choose to fill has no bottom he drove his parents away destroys his own home and none of it matters because his Pursuit for power is all-consuming poe sees that hurt people hurt people and he comes to grips with that reality that he will never know his parents but that's okay because he has a dad he's found a family in his Kung Fu friends again the central tenant of this movie inner peace inner validation and Shen provides us the extreme negative example of what happens when you never have those things I'll give you a negative example of T this I bought a variety pack of Tazo tea from my very own Amazon influencer store NBD I just don't like mint tea I tried hopefully the next one's better I do like this mug though I was at anthropology over the weekend and this one's got strawberries and butterflies love this thing the same theme and villain opposite continue in the third movie rounding out an excellent Trilogy for The Lovable Panda protagonist If This Were a different animation company led by a mouse I would be terrified at the upcoming fourth film but their track record has given me confidence they're going to be just fine Dad do you have any message for DreamWorks about the next Panda movie let me down agreed fingers crossed that's not the only fabulous Trilogy DreamWorks is capable of though they pulled off another series with a strong theme and antagonist to accent it in How to Train Your Dragon this series follows main character hiccup who is the pacifist ugly duckling amongst a tribe of vicious Viking swans who are constantly battling invading dragons throughout the trilogy we see this constant theme that cooperation is superior to control in the first movie the antagonist is hiccup's Father stoic the clan chief he is on a mission to find the dragon Homeland and subdue them by force we discovered the dragons are already being controlled by an alpha no not the fresh and fit guys a real Alpha they're only raiding the Viking world to bring food back to their dragon master in the end we see them Break Free of that control when Hiccup and his dragon that he's befriended cooperate together to kill the alpha it really just takes the power of friendship and the picture of the old Ultra violence this theme takes a more more literal turn in the second and third movies with the world expanding to show that dragons are everywhere and also Dragon Hunters who seek to control them through force in both sequels were shown how controlled by force or coercion is ultimately inferior to cooperation because it isn't stable in the second movie The Villain is driven by hate and fear that he can't control everything in the end when his balance of power is upset the House of Cards Falls quickly a similar end awaits the villain of the third movie showing that control doesn't make friends when the hero and villain are in Mortal danger we see that our hero has a support system to rescue him and the villain has no one but himself that last movie also finalizes the theme of giving up control when hiccup finally realizes he has to let the dragons go on their own villains in x want counter to the hero and theme they at least do great subversion with movies like Megamind bad guys and abominable but their most recent entry has the best villains yet and obviously I'm talking about Puss and Boots the last wish this movie features not one not two but three excellent villains all working to drive home the theme of this movie in various ways the movie opens up with puss reveling in his Fame lapping up the Applause as everyone's favorite Fearless hero then he dies we find that he is now on the last of his nine lives and he starts to reflect on the meaning of his life and how empty it is really when he isn't being praised by the crowd here we meet our first villain death himself in the form of a wolf that puss thinks is a bounty hunter he is very nearly killed and we see his pure panic as he realizes all of his bravado is for nothing in the face of this Superior enemy he is about to die alone in a bar he escapes through a toilet his self-image is shattered and he falls into a depression as a house cat to a crazy cat lady that's when we meet our second antagonist Goldilocks and the Three Bears who are a crime family they want to hire puss to steal a magical map from our final villain Jack Horner now this is all still early in the movie so his brush with death and loss of self-image hasn't caused puss to grasp the real meaning of the tale yet that's good for us because then the movie would be short and that would be a loss because the movie is outstanding this is some of the most efficient and entertaining writing you've seen in some time the entire movie is about gratitude for what you already have and each character displays a different facet of this idea oh my God it's even worse cold oh God puss being the protagonist gets the growth Arc to see that he left behind the things that really matter in life like an actual partner in the form of Kitty softpaws by the end of the movie we see him realize this and he vows to fight for what's really important this realization is driven by the character death who is angry at him for his callous attitude toward his lives through the film we get a look at the life that he could have had with Kitty and we also see into his soul to see how empty his life really is death finally puts meaning into his life as he realizes there really is a finite limit to his time much like our real lives the remembrance that we must eventually die adds weight and perspective to our actions you thought this was children's animation Memento Mori kids it's almost too late for puss but finally impending death strips away his ego and gives him Clarity you know what all happened after he lost that fight and bled he had post-cut Clarity after he has the Breakthrough the wolf says I came here to kill this arrogant self-entitled person and he's not standing here anymore so he leaves his second antagonist is Goldilocks who goes through a similar Arcus puts himself just from the villain side she and the Bears are racing to the Finish Line right alongside the heroes and they provide some really great scenes to drive home the theme of gratitude she has this excellent scene with the lovable dog parito that gives her the key moment for her character change in the end she has the anti-villain arc that shows us the good aspects of being grateful for what you already have and ignoring the grass on the other side that you assume to be greener her Redemption works because we never saw her be extremely evil in the first place unlike our final villain Jack Horner Jack is great as the over-the-top villain That animated movies used to have no attempt was made to humanize him or give him a last second Redemption you're not gonna shoot a puppy a jack yeah in the face why he is plum crazy and they leaned right into it John Mulaney did an excellent job giving him a larger than life Persona Horner is fantastic as the negative example of a theme in a hilarious way he has a giant pie Empire he's a collector of magical items his parents loved him and yet none of it matters because he doesn't have magic you know I never had much as a kid just loving parents and stability in a mansion and a thriving baked goods Enterprise for me to inherit useless crap like that his ultimate goal is to have it all for himself while everybody else is on a journey of self-discovery Horner knows exactly who he is an evil greedy person who is singularly focused on taking everything for himself I love the irredeemed villain honestly it feels unique in an age where every antagonist is just misunderstood and nobody ever dies in the end his greed ends up killing him and even as he dies he knows he deserved it really what did I do to deserve this I mean what specifically what's impressive is that the point of his character is obvious without anyone having to say it every character in this movie exists on this gradient of gratitude and it works beautifully a lot of Studios can learn writing techniques from Dreamworks especially when it comes to villains but what's your example of an excellent villain I appreciate you watching and I'll see you next time

Channel: Greg Owen

Views: 569,224

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Id: BBfVERaSlmU

Length: 13min 59sec (839 seconds)

Published: Fri May 19 2023