Strange World
Switching to sustainable energy practices is way easier than having a meaningful talk with your dad
Jaboukie Young-White discovers his knack for discovery in Disney’s Strange World.
Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid) is a legend, especially in his own mind. The most famous adventurer in Avalonia, Jaeger sets his sights on achieving the impossible: Finding a way to traverse the impassible mountain range that surrounds Avalonia. Many have tried, but all have failed. Jaeger refuses to even consider his defeat.
Less sure about the success of their mission is Jaeger’s son Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal). Long tired of his father’s grandstanding and need for constant death-defying antics, Searcher is more interested in a plant he discovers that emits energy.
The two quarrel, with Searcher insisting an energy-generating plant is far more important than the glory of getting past the mountains. Jaeger stomps off into the snow and Searcher returns to Avalonia with his discovery.
Twenty-five years later, Jaeger has never been seen again and Searcher is lauded as a hero that brought a plant-based form of electricity to Avalonia. Now a farmer, Searcher is determined to ignore his father’s legacy (which includes comic books and newsreels) and focus on not repeating his mistakes with his son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White).
He might not be as successful as he thinks. While Searcher is a dedicated father, Ethan doesn’t like life on the farm and longs for adventure. The family gets the chance when the plant that feeds Avalonia’s electrical system goes dark.
Ethan and Searcher join a mission to find out what’s happening with their miracle plant, what they discover is a whole world beneath their own. This world is, say it with me, strange. Filled with dangerous crazy creatures and odd natural formations, this subterranean world also happens to be where Jaeger has been living for the past 25 years.
Reuniting with his dad for the first time in decades is bittersweet for Searcher, who is terrified that his son might follow Jaeger’s path. Can three generations reach an understanding? And what’s going on with the plant?
Essentially, this is the most wholesome episode of The Venture Bros. ever made.
“What kind of story doesn’t have a villain?” asks one character in the midst of Strange World. The answer, it seems, is Disney Movies. The House of Mouse has long abandoned the villains in favor of generational trauma looming over their stories. In some ways, it’s a mature step in an interesting storytelling direction, but in other ways, they’re hamstringing themselves. It seems odd that Avalonia has invented flying cars, but not family therapists. Also, this reviewer does miss a good villain song.
Still, the story of three generations of men trying to connect and failing is rather compelling. The abject frustration of seeing your father in your child is also amusingly portrayed as Searcher panics every time Ethan expresses an interest in adventuring. Essentially these are three men who very much love one another but refuse to listen to other perspectives because they’re so certain of how right they are.
Evidently, stubbornness runs through the Clade genes.
Though generation trauma as a villain isn’t new territory for a Disney movie at this point, this isn’t typical Disney fare. Parents can relax that there’s no song called “We Don’t Talk About Jaeger” that kids will listen to incessantly. But those who love Disney movies as musicals will likely find themselves missing the songs.
Director Don Hall and writer/director Qui Nguyen stepped away from the musical genre to venture back into 1960s sci-fi. This film draws from classics like The Fantastic Voyage and Journey to the Center of the Earth for style and inspiration. The result is a fluid world of bright magentas and blues that looks wholly new and interesting. There’s even an amorphous blue blob named Splat who manages to be a rather endearing invertebrate. The entire movie is a feast of color and imagination that should wow adults and little ones.
It should also be noted that apparently Nguyen or Hall is a big fan of John Ford films since we have a movie starring a character named Ethan and one named Searcher. Ford’s film The Searchers starred John Wayne as Ethan Edwards, a vicious soldier hunting (the German word for hunter is Jaeger) for a lost loved one who must learn to change his ways and thrive in a new world.
And Strange World is very focused on how humans affect the worlds around them. This is a movie about sustainability. Searcher finds a plant that allows them to move forward technologically, but Avalonia finds that resource is wearing thin. Strange World looks at real environmental problems and poses them in ways that might be easier for kids to understand. It aims to start a discussion on climate change with young ones in the same way that Zootopia introduced concepts of bias to children.
That’s right, while you sit in the theater crying over your daddy issues, your kids can be beside you, learning about transitioning to an energy source that is healthier for the planet. Disney truly is unparalleled at multitasking.
Essentially, if you were ever a fan of kitschy sci-fi concepts, or really want to see how animators can stretch themselves when unleashed to invent a world, Strange World is a great pick. It offers a sweet look at connecting with people you love, even when you don’t have much in common, and how important it is to do right — by the people you love and by the planet that sustains you.
Verdict: Strange World is a gorgeous example of combining a timely message with inventive animation.
Strange World is rated PG and is available in theaters November 23.
