The Wild

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

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 argument 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, Larry, Nigel, and Bridget notice Samson's odd behavior, unusual for a lion of his caliber.

Tropes used in The Wild include:
  • 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
  • Ascended to Carnivorism: The wildebeest.
  • Becoming the Mask: Samson.
  • Big Bad: Nigel, who is "The Great Him", the king of the wildebeests who will to lead them in their transformation from prey to predator and plots to eat his friends up.
  • Big Guy, Little Guy: Kazar is the Big Guy, Nigel is the Little Guy.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Nigel was at first a member of Samson's crew. But at the film's climax, he is revealed to be the film's Big Bad and the king of the wildebeests.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Kazar has been defeated, the wildebeests are saved, Nigel is redeemed, and Bridget and Benny fall in love, but the Wild is destroyed. Ryan in the zoo will stay with his father, with the wildebeests joining the crew.
  • 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".
  • The Dragon: Kazar becomes this to Nigel.
  • Disney Death: Happens to Benny. He appears to fall off the truck and die, but he survives that times.
  • Dueling Movies: With Madagascar.
  • 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 the wildebeests.
  • Establishing Character Moment:
    • Samson is first seen telling stories to Ryan.
    • 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 a trunk of the elephant statue.
    • Bridget is first seen staring at Benny. Then she tells him not to mention romance to her.
  • Everythings Nuttier With Squirrels: Benny.
  • Evil All Along: Nigel, who is plotting to cook his friends.
  • Evil Laugh: Nigel, when Kazar makes him the king of the wildebeests.
  • Evil Sorcerer: Kazar, who is the villain to captured Nigel, used his magic to brainwash him to become his king, and teamed up with him to kill Samson and his friends.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: Kazar.
  • Eyes of Gold: Samson and Ryan.
  • Face Heel Turn: Nigel is separated from the crew, kidnapped by the Wildebeests, crowned their king, and is plotting to kill all of his best friends.
  • Five-Bad Band:
  • Five-Man Band:
  • Heel Face Turn: Nigel, Blag, and the wildebeests at the end of the movie.
  • Hollywood Chameleons
  • I Have No Son: Samson's father forsake him for not being a real lion.
  • Interspecies Romance: Bridget and Benny. It's a one-sided romance.
  • Jerkass: Colin the hyrax. He feels insulted that Samson won't eat him. He bumps into a tree as he walks away insulting Samson and his friends, and curses at the tree for ruining his moment.
  • 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 causes 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.
  • Say My Name: "RYAN! RYAN! RRYYYAAAAANNN!"
  • 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. Strangely, the other animals didn't call Benny out on this.
  • Seldom-Seen Species: The hyraxes.
  • Sixth Ranger Traitor: Nigel, until his Heel Realization.
  • Was It All a Lie?: Samson tells his son and friends stories about his adventures in the wild. However, as they search for Ryan, Samson's friends find it odd that he tells them to runaway from rapid dogs rather than fighting them off. Then, when they're in Africa, he was unwilling to eat a rude hyrax. They feel as though he's not really from the wild. Samson says its true, he's a phony. And he's sorry for lying to them and unable to protect them.
  • 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 the squirrel and Bridget the 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 meets Finding Nemo.