STRANGE WORLD: An Adventure About Parenthood

A year after delighting the world with a musical about a gifted Colombian family, Disney Animation Studios are back with the story of a group of people who are ready to explore the unknown in order to save their town, Avalonia. Don Hall‘s Strange World stars the voice talent of Dennis Quaid as Jaeger Clade, a fearless explorer who is determined to find out what lies beyond the horizon. His son, Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal), doesn’t share his spirit of adventure, preferring a quiet lifestyle, crawling through the dangers of domestic life. Twenty-five years after losing his father during an expedition, it is up to Searcher to discover what has been debilitating the town’s power source.

The journey to save Avalonia’s power supply takes the characters to parts of the world that haven’t been explored by humans yet, and the introduction of this foreign, fantastical land is the highlight of the film. Trees made out of what appears to be bubblegum and monsters made out of vapor are some of the interesting design choices the animators brought to life for this feature. A playful color palette welcomes you to a new environment, where danger is lurking at every corner, but every corner looks as if it were made out of candy.

A world full of life

This is the first time the studio has focused so hard on the visual presentation of the film since before the pandemic, making sure every new location in Strange World feels vibrant and different from other landscapes in the film. Every new place discovered in this journey focuses on a new texture and, whether the characters are surrounded by gas or water, the colors and lighting utilized are stunning, with objects so detailed, it’s easy to imagine what they would feel like to the touch.

The creatures living in this mystical subterranean jungle have their personality integrated into their design, but the most interesting thing regarding them is the expectation of subversion applied to their appearance. The big, scary monsters tend to serve a friendly role, while the scavenging smaller creatures might not be as friendly as originally suggested.  Added to the fact, their design is beautifully blended with the place they live in, with the shapes of their bodies matching the fluorescent trees and caves found in their home. Flora and fauna are deeply connected in this adventure full of wonder.

The challenge of creating a whole set of original plants and animals must have been daunting compared to simply adapting regular animals to the animated world of the movie, but the result was something visually appealing and resonant with the characters, given how their interactions with the world around them were the cause of the film’s conflict in the first place. It’s not enough for the Clade family to explore their world, they must learn its value as well.

Parenthood as an adventure

The main emotional matter in this story is the relationship between Searcher, his father, and his son, Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White). It is evident how Jaeger’s intrepious wasn’t the right fit for Searcher as he was growing up. Years later, Searcher has his own chance of letting go of the past by him raising his own son, though, he will quickly learn that parenting isn’t as harmonious as he believed. It is rather complicated to let kids choose their own path, especially when it isn’t what their parents planned for them.

A character having complicated relationships with their parents is basically a requirement to star in an animated Disney movie, but the difference in Strange World can be found when you take into account how contemporary the dilemma is. Searcher is immediately established as a very loving father, who is open to what his family has to say and makes them his priority constantly. It is only when Ethan begins making his own choices that misunderstandings begin to appear.

But handling a conflict between a parent and a child without the classical trope of the parent is the complete opposite of their kid certainly felt refreshing. Making Searcher a kind parent opened up a different way of presenting the film’s emotional conflict, making it feel more realistic and nuanced than what it could’ve been if they had decided to introduce an aggressive parental figure. Updating their story structures is what Disney must do from now on in order to maintain fresh films, in an animation landscape that gets more competitive every year.

Representation as part of the journey

It is known how Disney constantly takes pride in introducing secondary characters who are established as queer because of a throwaway line they get to mention in their five minutes of screen time. But Ethan being the first openly gay main character in a Disney animated film was a sigh of relief. It is by no means the ideal representation to be desired out of these stories, but when it comes to a major studio animated feature, it was the most solid step in the right direction they have taken in a long time.

Ethan living his love life as any other animated Disney teenager would is charming. He stutters when he talks to the boy he likes (voiced by Jonathan Melo), he feels embarrassed when his father introduces himself to him and his friends try to bring them together. The ordinary love trials for a feature of this style experienced by a queer couple feels more inclusive than any token character to create headlines. Giving a protagonist the chance to grow and learn in a queer relationship should be the next step for the studio. Let’s hope it doesn’t take as long as it did this time.

Conclusion: Strange World

An impressively designed, luminous jungle and an emotional story about parenting and legacy allow Strange World to blossom as a strong entry for Disney Animation. The funny voice performances from a cast led by Gyllenhaal and Young-White tell a heartfelt tale wrapped in the adventures of a family of explorers, with an exciting step into the future of LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream animated media.

Strange World was released in theaters on November 23, 2022!