With every movie, there are at least a few tropes used to make it feel universal to the audience. The same idea applies when thinking about home movies. There are stories of sudden magical gifts, and stories of uprisings; of characters losing their element (a fish out of water); and of classic plots like body-swapping or the end of the world as we know it.
No matter what the story is, the prominent tropes that make up each film’s concept provide clear direction, making family movies like the ones on this list some of the best representations of what a family movie can be, especially in helping to familiarize younger audiences with what kind of family movie it is. .
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hardboiled mysteryZootopia (2016)
screenwriter: Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush
Every murder mystery and crime thriller with a whodunit and high-level corruption could do with Zootopia. In this movie, a city full of animals seems like paradise to a rookie police officer from the country, but when she tries to earn her own honor by using her skills to uncover a serious problem, it leaves her feeling… Shocked, she must team up with a criminal to solve the problem.
Like every hard-boiled detective story, Judy’s story doesn’t end with an obvious crime, but with a deeper question for Zootopia as a whole.
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fish out of water, WALL-E (2009)
screenwriter: Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon
The end of the Earth may be long gone, but the garbage-cleaning robot Wall-E is still working until he finds true love. WALL-E is fascinated by a probe called EVE, which returns to Earth to inform future humans whether the planet is habitable. WALL-E protects EVE on the garbage-filled planet until the two of them are whisked away to a ship. A ship carrying the remains of a human being forever changed by habit.
For WALL-E, his existence has been defined by his solitary mission for far too long, and the arrival of EVE marks a new environment for him to face, which in large part makes him “out of water.” fish”.
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Open Pandora’s box, freezing (2013)
screenwriter: Jennifer Lee
There are fairly obvious dangers to hiding magic, but sisters Elsa and Anna are less aware of the consequences.
When Elsa inadvertently uses her magical gifts, she becomes an “enemy of the state” and retreats into the wilderness to live out her days in a place where she can finally let go. Trouble is, the sudden release of magic doesn’t just create weather phenomena – Elsa’s magic is now slowly killing her sister as well.
If left unchecked, it will do this and change the landscape, which makes this a very clear demonstration of the risks that occur when you hide something dangerous or use something without knowing the consequences.
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Read more: All in Rhythm: A Musical Odyssey
Sudden super powers, Spider-Man Enters the Spider-Verse (2018)
screenwriter: Phil Lord and Rodney Roseman
Sometimes, it’s a barrel of toxic waste, sometimes it’s just magic. However, for Miles Morales, it’s a radioactive spider that gives him some superpowers.
Like every story of its kind, this new power comes with its own problems, and Miles must deal with them while becoming drawn to the fate of others in the Spider-Man universe – Spider-Man’s interdimensional web (please (pardon the pun) from other universes, all affected by supervillain technology, now bridging the gap between these different versions of Miles’ universe.
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Read more: The 10 most influential animated films of all time
coup, lion king (1994)
screenwriter: Eileen Mechie, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton
lion king It’s a great reminder of how wonderfully some of the stories have been told over the years. In fact, while it is timeless, the original story was inspired by Shakespeare’s play villagethe coup in the Disney story is less subtle.
In this tale of a stolen kingdom, this family film uses murder and intrigue to show how Simba, wronged by Scar, is the true king of the Pride Lands. However, it remains to be seen what steps he will take now that he is an exile.
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The evil man grows a heart, Despicable me (2010)
screenwriter: Cinco Paul, Ken Dalio and Sergio Pablos
Not every villain has lofty ambitions, but Gru and other supervillains certainly do. In order to outsmart his unknown opponent, Gru began planning to steal the moon itself, and he later adopted some children in an attempt to sabotage his rival villains.
Unfortunately for him, however, the three orphans are adorable enough that they might be a bit of a distraction if Gru plans to carry out his plan – that is, if someone else doesn’t steal the moon before he does .
The story features a villain who grows a heart like the Grinch. This is a universal type of story that is compelling for both children and adults, making Despicable me and similar movies are loved by audiences everywhere.
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Entering the unknown, cocoa (2017)
screenwriter: Adrian Molina and Matthew Aldridge
Miguel, a young boy who aspires to be a musician, finds himself trapped in the Land of the Dead after inadvertently destroying and stealing clues to the existence of another musician in his family. He takes this opportunity to search for the soul of his great-great-grandfather, hoping to gain his blessing to pursue music and prove himself to his family.
On his journey into this world, Miguel discovers that he must adhere to some rules and rituals, but with this blessing, he aims to break the most recent tradition held by his family: their ban on music.
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The sky is falling, charm (2021)
screenwriter: Charice Castro Smith and Jared Busch
In some stories, only one person begins to see signs of the end. It could just be the end of something good, or sometimes the end of the world as they know it. In this case, Mirabell sees this earlier than the rest of her family, as she sees their magical house begin to fall apart.
While the rest of the family received a magical gift, Mirabell did not, which begs the question: “Is she the only one to see the family’s magic run out?” If so, she’ll have to contend with The race is against time to help this family find a solution to their problem before it affects everyone in their encanto, the home they built for themselves through this magical gift.
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Everyone learning to tell stories or trying to find the stories that best suit their enjoyment can benefit from figuring out which tropes they like best.
From these family-friendly examples, you can start to realize whether you’d enjoy the genre of seeing a journey into a whole new world or watching a villain undergo a change of heart. No matter what makes you think and feel, there’s a version of this story for all audiences, children and adults alike. Check out any of these home movies for examples of this!
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