From the same studio that brought you “Secret of the Kells” and “Wolfwalkers”
comes a brand-new animated film premiering on Netflix:
“My Father’s Dragon”. In the really charming story of a boy and his dragon, we wanted
to do a quick breakdown of its characters and where they may fall on the morality spectrum.
I’m Kyle with WickedBinge, and this is My Father’s Dragon: Good to Most Heroic.
Now, fair warning ahead: This video will likely contain massive spoilers
for this film. So if you want to see the story of “My Father’s Dragon” for
yourself, you may wanna go hop on Netflix first. Just be sure to come back when you’re done.
Since there aren’t any real ‘evil’ characters in this film,
we’re instead going to be starting out with the characters who are most
flawed or who could be considered on the edge of Grey before working our way up to the most pure.
For our least good character, we had to give that honor to Kwan the Macaque. Kwan
is Saiwa’s right hand ape, although the two don’t exactly share the same ideals
when it comes to the island and its inhabitants. Although he’s loyal to Saiwa for the most part,
he’s easily agitated by other animals whenever they start to freak out, often yelling at them
and telling them to shut up. He cares less about their wellbeing and more about simple obedience.
Kwan also often comes off as stubborn, aggressive, reckless and single-minded - especially when
it comes to saving the island. Because he’s so focused on re-capturing Boris, Saiwa pretty much
has to force him to help or rescue other animals. Now, we can’t blame Kwan too much for this,
as we understand that he’s acting out of his own fear of drowning, but sometimes he can take
his actions too far. It’s even implied that he threatened Iris’ baby so that she would tell him
where Elmer and Boris were. Eventually, Kwan gets fed up with Saiwa, completely
losing faith in him. Instead of staying to help evacuate the island, Kwan focuses on rescuing
and taking care of himself. Again, not that we can blame him, but it’s still pretty selfish.
Next up, we have Sasha and George, the tiger siblings. These two come off as very typical
siblings. Throughout their only scene, we see them almost constantly squabbling over various
rewards - whether it be the credit for capturing Boris or the meal that they can make out of Elmer.
As such, they come off as pretty greedy, but also pretty curious, given how easily they get
distracted. While them threatening to eat Elmer is pretty dark, we will acknowledge that they are,
well, tigers. Circle of life, and all that. They weren’t being cruel necessarily, just overly eager
and hungry. Still, for the trouble that they did cause, we had to give them a low ranking.
Following them is Cornelius the Crocodile. This guy’s certainly a bit intimidating.
Like the tiger siblings, he tries to attack and eat Elmer. However,
we will give Cornelius credit that, at the very least, food and rewards aren’t
the only things on his mind. In fact, the most important thing to Cornelius are his babies,
who he tries to keep safe. He’s a very protective and caring father, even if he
still isn’t the most friendly to strangers. In the end, though, we do see him showing gratitude
to Elmer and Boris for their heroics, so at least we got a bit of growth from him.
Taking a break from the residents of Wild Island, we’re ranking Callie,
Gertie and Eugene next. They’re three kids who live in the city of Nevergreen, and who act as
sidewalk storytellers as a way to earn some extra coins. While they may look out for each other,
they can be pretty protective of their turf - as Elmer quickly learns when he tries to earn
some sidewalk money himself. Callie, the tough leader of the group, is someone who believes
in ‘fair is fair’. As such, she’s unafraid to fight for what she feels she deserves,
leading to her and the other storytellers stealing the coin that Elmer earned for selling rubber
bands. It’s really not a good look, but given that the film takes place during a recession,
we can’t totally blame these kids for doing what they need to in order to survive. What saves them
from a lower ranking is that at the end of the film, we see the Storytellers welcome Elmer into
their group, and the four of them are able to work together to tell stories and earn money.
Next up, we have Tamir the Tarsier. While acting on fear seems to be a theme within this film,
Tamir definitely embodies it the most out of anyone else in the cast. He’s very easily
panicked, and spends most of the film being worried or giving other characters warnings,
fully believing that they’re all doomed. But, ironically enough, for as fearful as Tamir is,
he actually stays by Saiwa’s side throughout the film, being more loyal to him than Kwan turned
out to be. We also have to give him credit for caring more about the other animals than Kwan,
hence why he kept giving warnings instead of trying to push his fears aside like Saiwa
encouraged him to do. While Tamir doesn’t do a ton in the story, we feel that he still manages
to rise above some of the other characters based on the small actions he does end up taking.
Speaking of Saiwa, (Say Wah) we’re going to rank him next. Saiwa is the leader of the island,
as well as the one who originally captured Boris, forcing him to lift up the island over and over.
Maybe in another sort of film, Saiwa would’ve been considered as just your standard villain. However,
there’s actually more to Saiwa than one might first think, even if he’s still pretty flawed.
If we had to sum it up, we’d say he’s more of a ‘focuses on the big picture’,
‘the ends justify the means’ sort of guy. We see this not only in how he uses Boris,
but also in how he tries to keep the animals of his island calm. Because he doesn’t want
their fear to eat them alive, he’d rather just try and sweep away all concerns,
insisting that he knows the answer and that he’ll be the one taking care of the massive problem that
they face. Although his main goal throughout the film is to re-capture Boris and save his island,
he doesn’t go to as many extremes as Kwan does. Whenever another animal needs help or is in
danger, Saiwa is willing to put his mission aside to help them. It’s made very clear that he cares
deeply about the island’s animals, and reminds Kwan several times that they can’t abandon them.
While he may not care as much about Boris’ well being, he actually does save Elmer from drowning,
despite being angry at him. In the end, Saiwa realizes that he was wrong to keep the truth from
his people despite his best intentions. He then acknowledges his wrongs and apologizes for them,
promising to help the next dragon that comes to their island instead of simply
using it for his own means. It’s a really great ending for a character like him, and
while he may not have always been in the right, we still felt like he deserved a decent spot.
In a similar vein to Saiwa, we also have another ‘leader’ of sorts - that being the landlord,
Mrs. McClaren. When we first meet Mrs. McClaren, she comes off as very grumpy and strict when it
comes to the rent and the apartments that she’s renting out. She even tries to charge extra when
she learns that Dela has a kid with her. We can’t say that she’s being super greedy, however. She
even explains herself, telling Dela that she can’t be too careful, given how desperate people can be
in a recession. Although she isn’t too trusting and for the most part tries to look out for
herself, Mrs. McClaren is occasionally willing to compromise. We also see that she secretly
sympathizes with Dela and Elmer and is happy when they’re reunited, even offering them her
umbrella as well as fixing their pipes afterwards. Like Saiwa, she’s not a bad person per say,
she just comes off as someone who could be a bad guy but who also is willing to make a change.
Entering the top half of our list, next is Iris the Rhinoceros. Iris is actually one of
the friendlier animals that Elmer meets on Wild Island, only starting out as somewhat aggressive
because she’s afraid of not only herself but her baby. When Elmer shows kindness to her baby,
Iris immediately returns the favor and lies to Saiwa about where he and Boris are,
protecting them and allowing them to continue their search for Aratuha. Technically she does
betray the two later on, but it’s made obvious that this was done
reluctantly. She remains friends with the two of them after this as well,
forgiving Elmer for lying to her and even returning his backpack. While rhinos may not
always be the friendliest animals in nature, Iris certainly manages to break past that stereotype.
Following her, we have the cat simply known as… the Cat. While she may not have a name,
she manages to stand out as another one of Elmer’s allies. Though she can be a bit mischievous,
she’s also incredibly friendly, becoming loyal to Elmer after he brings her milk.
She then follows him when he runs away and, as a way to return his kindness,
tells him about Boris and where to find it. Although the Cat is sometimes a bit forgetful,
like when she doesn’t warn Elmer about all the wild animals on the island, this never comes
off as truly malicious. While her role in the film is relatively small, it’s still her advice
that kicks off Elmer’s adventure, so we had to give her a bit of extra credit for that.
Just outside the Podium of Goodness, we’re ranking Soda the Whale. True to her name,
Soda is friendly, excitable and incredibly bubbly. She immediately agrees to give Elmer
a ride to Wild Island, and while she can be a bit socially awkward and overly friendly,
as well as a bit careless when it comes to her swimming and water spouting, Soda has a genuine
good heart. She gets Elmer some tangerines when he’s hungry and, at the end of the film,
is shown being kind to Kwan even if he isn’t the friendliest to her. Overall,
this whale is just incredibly pure-hearted, and if it weren’t for her small role in the story,
she could have very easily made it even higher in our ranking.
For our Bronze Medal of Good, we’re giving it to Dela, Elmer’s mother. Like the best animated
mothers out there, Dela is kind, caring and encouraging towards her son. While losing her
business and having to move to Nevergreen is very stressful on her, Dela does her best to
keep her son from worrying. Unfortunately, these good intentions do backfire somewhat. For as much
as she tries to be patient and keep her hope for their future store, she does end up losing her
temper when things start to get truly frustrating. We aren’t going to blame Dela too much though,
as she was worried about losing the only home that she and Elmer have left. We also have to
give Dela for finally being honest with Elmer when he returns from his adventure,
acknowledging her own fear and showing that she understands how her son feels.
Earning the Silver Medal of Good is the film’s protagonist, Elmer. There are a lot of things to
like about Elmer, as the start of the film shows. He’s friendly, helpful and very good at finding
things, doing all he can to assist his mother in their store. Throughout most of the film, we see
him extend kindness to several other characters through his generosity - like when he gave Iris’
baby tangerines or when he comforts Boris after they discover that Aratuha is dead, even going so
far as to share the stuff in his backpack with him, despite Elmer’s previous reservations. As
for flaws, his determination can sometimes come off as stubbornness or being self-centered. Like
any other kid, he can get easily frustrated or impatient and sometimes acts on fear, which leads
to him making poor choices or being dishonest. We also see Elmer struggle with trusting Boris,
once again letting his own fears blind him. In the end, however, he does go back for Boris after
Saiwa helps him realize how wrong he was, finally telling the truth about how scared he gets and
encouraging Boris to get his ‘fire’. Afterwards, he lets Boris go home despite their deal,
wanting Boris to see his family again. While he’s far from perfect, we see Elmer grow throughout the
film, becoming an even better person and showing how truly kind he is at his core.
Finally, our Gold Medal of Good is going to Boris the Dragon. Although he was forced to lift up Wild
Island so it didn’t completely sink, with this being a painful and scary process for him, Boris
never held any resentment towards the residents of Wild Island. While yes, he partially wants to help
them as a way to get his fire and his after-dragon status, he also genuinely wants to save the
animals that live there. Although he can be a bit clumsy, awkward and even clueless at times, the
moments where he makes a mistake or inadvertently pushes Elmer’s boundaries, it’s never done so
maliciously and he always means well. We also see Boris become more brave over time, which
leads to him jumping into the mysterious core of the island in order to save it. He forgives Saiwa
for capturing him without hesitation, and Boris is even willing to postpone his own homecoming
with his family in order to fulfill his end of the deal he made with Elmer. If dragons truly
do make for good friends, then we’d have to say that this film certainly proves that point well.
Boris has a pure heart through and through, and we’re more than happy to give him our top spot.
But let us know in the comment section if you agree with our ranking, and tell us what we should
cover next. Remember to hit that notification bell and binge our Good to Evil playlist,
where we break down the morality of the characters in your favorite cartoons,
shows and movies. But most importantly, stay wicked!