The Wild

A movie marketed by Disney starring Samson the lion and his son, Ryan, an anaconda named Larry, a koala named Nigel, a giraffe named Bridget, and a squirrel named Benny.

After an misunderstanding with his dad, Ryan ran away to the African wild to be like his father. Samson searches for him to bring him back home to the zoo with help from his friends. During their search, Bridget, Larry, Nigel, and Benny notice Samson's odd behavior, unusual for a lion of his caliber.

Tropes used in The Wild include:

• Abusive Parents: Samson’s father.
• Advertised Extra: Stan, Carmine, Cloak, and Camo, despite appearing as four of the characters on the official site, have minor roles in the film.
• Alternative Foreign Theme Song: The theme song for the Japanese version of the movie is called "Prisoner of Love" by the Gospellers.
• Anthropomorphic Zig-Zag: Not unlike in Madagascar.
• Ascended to Carnivorism: The wildebeests’ plan.
• Becoming the Mask: Samson.
• Big Bad: Nigel, “The Great Him", king of the wildebeests who will to lead them in their transformation from prey to predator and plots to eat his friends.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: Kazar is the Big Guy, Nigel is the Little Guy.
• Bittersweet Ending: Kazar has been defeated, the wildebeests are saved, Nigel is redeemed, and Bridget and Benny fall in love, but sadly, the Wild is destroyed.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Nigel is this by Kazar. But Samson defeats him by snapping him out of it, which saves him.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Larry.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: The antagonists are a herd of wildebeests... With near-flawless dance moves.
• Covers Always Lie: The posters for this movie seem to imply that the sewer crocodiles are the villains. In the movie, they're actually friendly characters who don't really play a big part of the movie other than lead Samson and his friends to the Statue of Liberty.
• Dance Party Ending: The film ends with the crew and the wildebeests dancing on the ship. This extends into the credits with the crew, the wildebeests, the minor zoo animals, and the residents of the Wild dancing to "Real Wild Child".
• Disappointed in You: As young Samson is being taken away, the last thing his father said to him is that if he'd been born in the wild he's be a "real lion".
• Deadpan Snarker: Bridget, being voiced by Janeane Garofalo and all.
• Dope Slap: Bridget has Nigel hit Benny in the head when he suggest they're "taking a break".
• The Dragon: Kazar to Nigel.
  • Dragon Ascendant: After Nigel is redeemed, Kazar still presses on with his plan to kill Samson and friends.
• Disney Death: Happens to Benny twice. He appears to fall off the truck and die, but he survives. And again with the German dung beetles.
  • Samson too, albeit once.
• Dueling Movies: With Madagascar. Though supposedly The Wild was in development for longer, DreamWorks had more resources to give their film a quicker turnaround, resulting in it coming out 11 months earlier. This made many people perceive The Wild as a shameless ripoff upon release, even though the actual timeline is less clear.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Benny, for Bridget.
• Dumbass Has a Point: Larry the anaconda is normally silly and aloof, but his stroke of brilliance comes when he suggests that they use their "secret plan" from curling to beat Kazar.
• Establishing Character Moment:
  • Samson is first seen telling stories to Ryan.
  • When Benny is introduced to us, in which he is stealing a necklace.
  • Nigel has one. He lands on a fence and asks, "Who put that bar there?".
  • Larry is first seen popping out of the trunk of an elephant statue.
  • Bridget is first seen with Benny lustfully staring at her. And then she tells him not to mention romance to her.
    • Becomes Hilarious in Hindsight when one realizes that she's voiced by an openly asexual woman.
• Everything’s Nuttier With Squirrels: Benny.
• Evil Brit: Nigel, being voiced by Eddie Izzard.
• Evil Laugh: Nigel has a rather terrifying one.
• Evil Sorcerer: Kazar, who captures Nigel, uses his magic to brainwash him to become his king, and teams up with him to kill Samson and his friends.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Kazar.
• Eyes of Gold: Samson and Ryan.
• Explain, Explain, Oh Crap: Samson tells his son and friends stories about his adventures in the wild. But after arriving in Africa, the rest of the animals (except Benny) couldn't help but notice that Samson didn't want to eat the rude hyrax. They also pointed out how he chose to run away from the stray dogs in the alley rather than fight them off. When they tell him he's not acting like a wild lion like in his stories, Samson tells them they're right because he's not from the wild, he's a phony, and is unable to protect them from any danger. Cue Bridget, Nigel and Larry panicking before deciding to head back to the boat.
• Face Heel Turn: Nigel is separated from the rest of the crew, kidnapped by the Wildebeests, crowned their king, and plots to kill all of his best friends.
• Five-Bad Band:
  • Big Bad: Nigel
  • The Dragon: Kazar, who is the Big Bad Wannabe. Inintally...
  • The Evil Genius: Blag
  • The Brute: Scraw
  • The Dark Chick: Scab
• Five-Man Band:
  • The Hero: Samson
  • The Lancer: Nigel
  • The Smart Guy: Benny
  • The Chick: Bridget. Doubles as The Big Girl.
  • The Big Guy: Larry
  • Tagalong Kid: Ryan
  • Sixth Ranger: Blag
• Heel Face Turn: Nigel, Blag, and other the wildebeests at the end of the movie.
• Hollywood Chameleons
• I Have No Son: Samson's father forsook him for not being a real lion.
• I Lied: After running from the wildebeests, Samson tells Ryan that he was actually born from a circus, and made up stories about himself as a wild lion. He apologizes for making Ryan feel like he's living his father' shadow.
• Interspecies Romance: Bridget and Benny. It's a one-sided romance. Until the end.
• Jerkass: Colin the hyrax. He was rude towards Samson and his friends for interrupting his bathroom time. When Samson refuses to eat him, Colin took offense to it as if he's not good enough to be eaten, and starts insulting Samson and his friends more as he walks away. When he accidentally bumps into a tree, he curses at it for ruining his dramatic exit.
  • Kazar even moreso.
• Meaningful Name: The name of the lion protagonist is "Samson"; in The Bible, Samson was the leader of Israelites whose strength was in his hair, and lions have manes.
• Missing Mom: Galena, Samson's wife and Ryan's mother. She was never even mentioned onscreen and it is thought she died. But she appeared in a deleted scene, where she's worried that her husband and son are in danger and relies on Benny to find them.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Let's see... Before Samson and his friends could win in turtle hockey, Ryan accidentally starts a stampede, which costs his dad the game. Then Samson berates his son for causing them the game, calls him out for always moping around, and asks if he did this because he couldn't roar. The look on his son's face tells us that Samson immediately regretted saying that and instantly tried to apologize. We later learn why he felt bad saying that.
• Oh Crap: Ryan's look after accidently causing a stampede. Also when Bridget, Larry, and Nigel find out Samson can’t protect them.
• Say My Name: "RYAN! RYAN! RRYYYAAAAANNN!"
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Samson revealed that he lied about his past and went off to find Ryan, his friends become angry for the lies and decide to head back to the boat, ignoring Benny's protest. Until he pleads them to help Samson find his son.
• Secret Keeper: Early in the film, Benny is the only one who knows Samson's deep dark secret. The secret turns out to be he's not from the wild, but was born in a circus.
• Seldom-Seen Species: The hyraxes.
• Sixth Ranger Traitor: Nigel. Well, until his Heel Realization.
• The Smurfette Principle: Bridget is the only female character with a substantial role.
• Those Two Bad Guys: Scraw and Scab, the vultures.
• Those Two Guys:
  • Cloak and Camo, the chameleons.
  • Stan and Carmine, the alligators.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Benny, who is a squirrel, and Bridget, who is a giraffe.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: It is unknown what happened to Scraw and Scab after they successfully capture Ryan.
• X Meets Y: Madagascar meets The Lion King and Finding Nemo.
• Ice Age Timeline Universe Earth 761 Sequel The Wild 2

{{work}} The Wild 2006 and Ice Age Franchise

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[[Category:Pages Original to All The Tropes]]