Comments on: The Adorable Sidekick: Pros & Cons

By: AnimatedMadness

AnimatedMadness — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 14:10:00 +0000

In reply to George Comerci. It exists, look at the How To Train Your Dragon series. The main focus of the movies is on Hiccup and Toothless.

By: brandon

brandon — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 21:59:00 +0000

In reply to Jessica. I did mention a Puss in Boots sequel early in the article, but indeed he was the first among the characters to get his own film.

By: Matthew Latham

Matthew Latham — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 15:51:00 +0000

It depends on which movie you watch. I love sidekicks that add humor to the story. But sometimes they end up taking it over. Frozen (as much as I like this movie, and Olaf) is one example, where Olaf takes alot of the spotlight. But in The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, and Mulan, the sidekicks are used to help and advance the story. Those become some of my favorites. Olaf helps the story along a little, as well, but he still takes it over.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 11:30:00 +0000

Surprised you didn’t mention Puss in Boots, who had his spinoff film in 2011 before any of the characters mentioned in this article will get theirs.

By: JK Riki

JK Riki — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 04:04:00 +0000

I think, as you said, the issue becomes when they are a crutch. And it’s SO easy as a storyteller to have such a thing happen. People tend to love the adorable sidekick, but rarely would they sit through a whole movie starring them. So you get to go all out as a writer making these characters the best versions of themselves they can be, without having to balance them as much. And as a result you can get lost in them and want to include them more.

It would be interesting, as George says in the comments, to have the main character be as interesting and “I want to write more of this character!” as the sidekicks. It would also be very difficult, but if done I think it could be a huge success.

By: Haley TheRadiant

Haley TheRadiant — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 00:38:00 +0000

Well yeah they can be a terrible thing, but also a great thing like I love the sidekicks from Beauty and the Beast but I despise the sidekicks in Hunchbacks and I still end up loving both movies the same

By: George Comerci

George Comerci — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 22:58:00 +0000

I’d love to see a mainstream animated film actually spend time crafting the main character and supporting characters, instead of giving 90% of the screen time to the annoying, “adorable” sidekick. That would be nice.