The Croods (2013) is a movie about family, discovery, and interesting creatures. I love the different animals in this movie. They are a mix of two different animals and look super cool! One of the recurring animas I noticed was elephants.
When the Croods are trying to get the egg for breakfast, they ride a giraffe-elephant. It has spots like a giraffe but the body and build of an elephant.
After the first earthquake, the family finds themselves in a new, green place. They find a pack of elephant-rats in a bush.
When Grug (Nicolas Cage) has his breakdown of “ideas”, the family is moving across a swamp. There are ostrich-elephants in the background. Elephant heads with long ostrich necks.
I cannot help but wonder why the artists would choose to do elephants as one of their main animal inspirations for this movie.
Now that we have looked at all the elephants in the movie, let’s look at elephant imagery and how it is related to the people in this movie.
Asian elephants represent wisdom and strength. In the beginning of the movie, Grug thinks he is wise in teaching his family to be afraid. Later, Guy (Ryan Reynolds) calls Eep (Emma Stone) “really strong”. She becomes the wise one because she wants to leave and embrace the light.
Indian elephants are associated with earthquakes. This is entirely appropriate for this movie because this family faces and lives through multiple earthquakes. The elephant falling through the crack in the earth is a literal reference to this idea.
In Europe, elephants represent military and fighting enemies. After walking through the new world, the Croods face many new enemies: a new feline, walking whales, some kind of primate, and flying piranhas. It is a scary time for the family.
African elephants are considered strong and powerful. They are big, live a long time, and are loyal. I would say this wraps up the Croods as a family. They are big, strong, and care for each other always. “Croods stick together.”
Elephants represent everything about this family and their experiences.
Not much on analysis of this movie, surprise surprise. But here is an explanation of the different characters in the movie, including some of the weird animals.
Mostly reviews on the internet so here’s one with an analysis of the lessons in this movie.
Happy Thanksgiving!