Strange World, Disney’s latest animated feature, was released at the end of November with a poor box office performance. Some have compared it to the infamous Treasure Planet release. There are many reasons to interpret why the movie flopped, but most of them are related to aspects outside the movie’s concept.
All in all, the film is one of many typical heartwarming stories about a family conflict that goes beyond their household, having to embark on an adventure that not only will put their skills to the test but will transform relationships forever. This description is synonymous with a major portion of Disney movies, yet Strange World brings its own touch to the mix: an ecological message on how man minds the world he lives in.
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Though not a novelty per se, Strange World’s green premise does a nice job of tying in with a Disney fixation: the father-son relationship. The plot follows the Clade family in the land of Avalonia, a distant land trapped in a hostile environment, as they struggle to find out what’s beyond the city’s boundaries. In parallel, Avalonia faces the issue of living without a reliable energy resource to power up its daily life.
The conflict is quickly raised when Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid), the adventurous patriarch of the clan, is more fixated on exploring Avalonia’s outer rim whereas Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal), Jaeger’s son, wants to solve the city’s energy crisis. What starts as a family quarrel evolves into a more complex message on natural resource use without losing sight of the personal aspect.
A New Generation Will Balance The Former Two
Walt Disney Studios
After Jaeger and Searcher are estranged, the movie takes a different direction. After many years, Avalonia discovers a new source of power, Pando, an abundant resource that is harvested on Searcher’s farm. This turns him into the town’s hero, similar to his father Jaeger. Searcher raises a family with Meridian (Gabrielle Union) and their teenage boy Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White), one of Disney’s first openly gay characters with a romantic interest as part of the storyline. Searcher wants his son to follow in his steps (a traditional father stance in real life and fiction) on the farm in opposition to grandpa Jaeger’s more Indiana Jones-like profile.
This works as an interesting inversion of generational expectations, as older ones are usually tied to more traditional agricultural jobs that provide security whereas the following generations would traditionally opt for a more audacious life. Disney inverts these positions as a way of setting the stage for Ethan’s role in the family conflict.
Gyllenhaal’s character falls into a more common modern father figure that is obsessed with not making the same mistakes as his dad. Ungifted for adventure, Searcher believes his father doesn’t understand how dangerous his lifestyle was, and he misses the woods for the trees when he ignores the importance of fueling Avalonia with Pando. Searcher’s efforts are an effort to give Ethan a comfortable future by farming this energy source. He tries to hide the boy’s grandpa’s adventurous persona, something Ethan obviously perceives and takes interest in as a consequence. The plot’s direction is evident from the moment the audience learns that Ethan can find the right balance between adventure and minding his community.
While Ethan is bound to achieve this equilibrium, Ethan’s arc is about forgiveness and acceptance. He needs to forgive Searcher for expecting his son to follow his steps as a way of not making the same mistake as Jaeger. Searcher also needs to accept that Ethan will make his own path, just like he did with his own father. Searcher’s story is one of denial, of not embracing his past as an adventurer. Repressing this personality trait guides him unconsciously to marry Meridian, a strong female character that resembles Jaeger, with a knack for adventure but with a more balanced sensibility to see how Ethan is different from his father.
The Balance Is Eco-Friendly and Family Friendly
Disney
As the title suggests, most of the movie takes place in a strange world. This is also the scenario for Searcher and Jaeger to make amends for their broken relationship. For Ethan, this foreign land is the place where he develops his full personality and coming-of-age. The young Clade helps both his father and grandpa understand the error in their ways. For Jaeger, his explorer lifestyle results in a hostile relationship with the environment surrounding them, treating nature as the enemy. For Searcher, the indiscriminate use of a natural resource for Avalonia’s benefit is a ticking time bomb that will result in society’s collapse. When the older Clade generations learn that they were taking their own stances too seriously, the three come together to put to the test Ethan’s solution: a healthy cohabitation with nature and responsible use of resources.
At this point, and without spoiling too much of the plot for anyone interested in watching it, Strange World ends happily, giving a positive message and family relationships. The message is optimistic about the future of civilization in terms of natural resource exploitation. The mouse’s company sugarcoats a real-life issue to bring attention to it with the typical Disney style: a family feud that goes beyond them.
Not everything is confirmed about the future of this franchise. Disney might be implying a sequel, and the box office was far from promising for a new entry, yet Strange World’s message is a valuable one. Disney+ users might agree once the movie is available to stream and gains more views. Time will tell if it’s the Clades’ responsibility to keep Disney’s eco-friendly message evergreen.
