Villain-Turned-Heroes in Animated Movies

My sister commented that there have been several animated movies that came out in the last year that have a prominent character who starts out as a villain but eventually changes and becomes a hero in the end. I know of two of these characters: Gru from “Despicable Me” and Flynn Rider from “Tangled.” I want to compare these two characters to examine their “turn-around” from being a villain to being a hero. The purpose is to examine the “turn-around” and see how believable it is. Are these conversions a genuine change of character? Are these villains-turned-heroes laudable or subtly misleading?

(Warning: There will be many spoilers in this discussion, so if you haven’t seen either movie and don’t want to know what happens, you should not read on.)

Gru is the main character in “Despicable Me” while Flynn Rider is only the lead male in “Tangled.” Gru is a master criminal who has his own secret lab, a mad scientist at his disposal, and a legion of minions to do his will, while Flynn works with a couple of thug brothers. Despite these differences, they actually have a lot in common. They are both thieves. They both stumble upon a woman/girls that they have to work through. Gru find a trio of orphan girls who he finds can help him in his plot to steal the moon. Flynn Rider has the crown he just stole taken from him and hidden by Rapunzel, who will not give it back until he takes her to see the floating lanterns. Neither Gru nor Flynn like the arrangement: they seem to accept the prospect of working with these women grudgingly. But, eventually, they begin to have a fondness for the women.

Now the stories of Gru and Flynn Rider deviate from one another. I’ll focus on Gru first. Gru begins to be attached to the girls, and the movie demonstrates that the girls also have an attachment to him. This is shown in a scene where Gru has just been turned down by the Bank of Evil for a loan to build a rocket in order to steal the moon. This is a huge blow to Gru, as it has been his dream since a child to go to the moon, and now that dream has morphed into stealing the moon. He eventually has to tell his minions that the plan to steal the moon is off, but the girls decide to give him what little money they have to help Gru build the rocket. This action inspires the minions to do the same, and working together, they build the rocket.

The scene described above is the first thing I dislike about the plot of “Despicable Me.” The girls show their support for Gru by helping him steal the moon. Sure, stealing the moon is a fantastic idea, but why did the movie show them become supportive of his criminal actions? It’s like the viewers are not supposed to care that Gru is planning a theft, it’s just touching that the girls want to help him.

Anyway, while building the rocket, Gru faces a fork in the road: his mad scientist calls the orphanage so that they can come and take the girls back. The scientist, Dr. Nefario, says that the girls are slowing down the plan: Gru has to choose between them or stealing the moon. Gru chooses the moon. Later on in the movie, Gru calls this choice the worst mistake he ever made, demonstrating that he felt a remorse for giving up the girls. But how remorseful was he? When did he decide that the girls were worth keeping at the expense of the moon?

Never, actually. Gru does eventually rush to the girl’s rescue, right after he steals the moon. He has to rescue the girls from his enemy, Vector, who kidnapped them in order to get the moon from Gru. Gru does hand over the moon in an attempt to free the girls. It doesn’t work, however, and a chase scene ensues and the moon inadvertently is put back into orbit. Now, it may appear that Gru was willing to give up the moon to save the girls, implying that he considered the girls more important than his criminal activity. However, I don’t see that as the case. Remember what his original dream was: to go to the moon. He had accomplished that. Even though he gave the moon up, he could still say, “I went to the moon and stole it.” Quite simply, he accomplished his goal. It was only after accomplishing his goal that the girls took such a priority that he had to go rescue them. So he never really gave up anything valuable to save the girls, his priorities changed simply because the first priority was accomplished. This does not seem like true repentance to me.

So was Gru a true example of a hero-turned-villain? I don’t think so. Not only did caring for the girls become important only after he stole the moon, he never returned the moon to orbit himself: that was simply a lucky accident. So the movie “Despicable Me” made an attempt to show repentance, but failed to show Gru actually have change of heart.

Now what about Flynn? If anything, this guy starts out even worse than Gru does. After stealing a crown right out of the castle with the help of the Stabbington brothers, he eventually double crosses his associates in order to save his own skin. So not only is he a thief, he is a liar and a traitor, which puts him in stark contrast to Rapunzel, as she makes it very clear that when she makes a promise, she will always keep it (this becomes critically important later on).

In the course of taking Rapunzel to see the floating lanterns, Flynn begins to fall for her. Nothing unique there: why wouldn’t a guy begin to become attached to a pretty girl after spending several days with her? Then the test comes. Mother Gothel, Rapunzel’s fake, and extremely devious and manipulative, mother, tells Rapunzel that Flynn has no interest in her, he only has an interest in getting the crown back. So, she challenges Rapunzel to return the crown and see what Flynn does. So after Flynn takes her to see the lanterns, Rapunzel returns the crown to him. And Flynn does not abandon her.

Now, to be honest, events happen rather quickly after Rapunzel returns the crown to Flynn: the Stabbington brothers show up again and this time, they take advantage of Flynn and turn him over to the authorities. Mother Gothel double crosses the Stabbington brothers all for a show to convince Rapunzel that the world is just far too dangerous for her in order to convince Rapunzel that she must return to her tower and stay there. With all of this happening, we really don’t get to see whether Flynn was willing to give up the crown, and more importantly, give up his old way of life, for Rapunzel. As things go, there is actually reason to believe that he will continue a life a crime, for as he is on his way to be hanged, he is rescued by a gang of ruffians. But to be honest, that was not Flynn’s doing, that was the work of the horse, Maximus.

After being rescued from the gallows, Flynn Rider immediately rushes off to the tower to find Rapunzel, fearing that she is in danger. I might point out that at this point, he does not have the crown and he does not appear to have any intention of reacquiring it. Also, his fear that Rapunzel is in danger was true, for after arriving in the tower, he finds Rapunzel tied up, and then Mother Gothel mortally stabs Flynn. Rapunzel desperately wants to save Flynn by using her magical hair. Pleading with mother Gothel, she promises her that if she lets her save Flynn, she would stay with Mother Gothel forever.

Now here comes Flynn Rider’s true test. He has two choices: be healed by Rapunzel and let her become a permanent slave to Mother Gothel (not by force, but because Rapunzel promised it) or somehow try to save her. Guess what Flynn Rider does? He cuts Rapunzel’s hair. This renders her hair powerless, making Rapunzel useless to Mother Gothel, therefore permanently freeing Rapunzel from Gothel. But without her hair, Rapunzel cannot save Flynn. So unlike Gru, who accomplished his dream before rescuing the girls, Flynn gave up all his dreams (because, quite simply, he died) in order to rescue Rapunzel.

Now, a Disney princess movie could not end with the lead male character lying dead on the floor, so unbeknownst to anyone, enough magic remains in Rapunzel’s tears to revive and restore Flynn. But that doesn’t matter, as far as the test goes. Flynn had no idea that would happen, therefore when he cut her hair, he gave up all hope of rescue for himself in order that Rapunzel would be free. That is genuine repentance: Flynn Rider gave up everything, including his old way of life, to save someone he genuinely loved.

So while “Despicable Me” attempts to show a villain-turned-hero change, it failed, but instead showed a man who never gave up his way of life, only refocused it. “Tangled,” however, showed genuine devotion and repentance, and that makes it a much better movie than “Despicable Me” could ever be.