Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 is here, and once again, Groot has stolen the show
— this time as a pint-sized sapling of his former self.
After the first film, it's easy to assume you might know everything there is to know
about this talking tree.
But Groot's roots run deep, and there are more than a few buried secrets fans might
not know about Groot and his many forms.
I speak for the trees
Vin Diesel, the voice of Groot, is getting a nice payday just to say the same three words
over and over…
"I am Groot."
...but part of the skill involved is saying those three words with emotion.
"I…
AM…
GROOOOT!"
One of the film's running themes is that Groot is actually having a complex conversation
with those who can to understand him, like Rocket.
So, where does that leave Diesel?
"I AM GROOOOOT!"
He's confirmed that he actually works from a secret script with real dialogue, which
means everything that Groot utters actually has a very literal meaning behind it.
You just need to be Diesel, writer-director James Gunn, or a space raccoon in order to
figure it out.
And while Vin Diesel has built a career out of playing badasses, it caught some by surprise
when he played the voice of a CGI tree — and later, the even higher voice of a tinier version
of that tree.
Even more surprising?
Baby Groot's voice is almost completely Diesel, with very little voice modulation.
"I am groot."
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Diesel revealed that he'd been practicing
copying the voices of cartoon characters from a very young age.
Diesel just happens to be right at home doing silly voices on command, so he had no trouble
voicing Baby Groot naturally.
Say what?
Groot is mostly known for his three magic words: "I am Groot."
But during his early comic appearances, Groot was much more talkative.
So what happened?
According to one possible theory presented by Marvel, Groot's race all have a weirdly
specific condition: their larynx hardens as they get older, leaving them only capable
of emitting a handful of words.
While Baby Groot retains his tiny vocal vocabulary in the sequel, comics lore says that he might
have been able to say a lot more.
He's a real-life hero
While it wasn't the original intent behind Groot, he's a pretty logical mascot for ecological
causes.
The guy's a freakin' tree, after all.
As it turns out, Disney agrees.
Under Disney's guidance, YouTuber D-trix created a dance move inspired by a dancing Baby Groot
toy.
"YEAH!"
For each Marvel fan who used the hashtag #GrootDanceBomb between April 18th and May 5th, or simply
liked or shared the original video, Disney donated one dollar to the Nature Conservancy,
up to $250,000.
Baby Groot didn't just help save the galaxy — his dance moves are helping save planet
Earth, too.
New twist on old roots
As a twig-sized tot, Baby Groot's personality has changed from his first film appearance.
He's now a "baby" in more than just name.
The movie implies that his intelligence and personality revolve around his relative age,
something which is made explicit with Groot's appearance as a surly teenager during a mid-credits
scene.
However, this idea of Groot's changing personality isn't from the comics, where he's had to regrow
a number of times.
As far as comics are concerned, Groot can grow back from even a tiny sliver.
And when he does, he still has all of adult Groot's memories, so he doesn't go through
any prolonged re-learning phase.
And even if he did, it would probably be moot: the Groot of the comics usually grows much
faster than movie Groot, who's taken a bit of time to go from potted plant to toddler
tree.
Roots of aggression
One of the interesting side effects of Groot being re-grown is that the younger version
seems more aggressive than his former, elder self.
Sure, Groot could fight when he had to, but Baby Groot takes to battle with zeal.
But is it really that much of a surprise?
In his earliest comics appearances, Groot was a different kind of monster — tall,
broad, articulate, and evil.
He tried to take over Earth, and he posed just as much of a threat as any Marvel villain,
but as he got older, he mellowed out and became a hero.
Baby Groot's unexpectedly violent mood swings may be just because he's in his tree-equivalent
of the terrible twos, but they also could be from James Gunn channeling Groot's pulpy
origins.
Whatever the reason, the tiny tree practically stole the show.
And in a movie with this many weirdos, that's saying something.
"Oh, wow."
"Yeah, I know.
That almost hit me."
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