we're living in a black and white world

The kid pointed out recently that almost every movie we see has something bad that happens, or a bad guy in it. I thought about it and I think she's right. Even The Parent Trap and Alvin and the Chipmunks have ersatz villains in them. Most Disney movies have evil witches or other creatures (Snow White — The Evil Queen, Sleeping Beauty — Maleficent, 101 Dalmatians — Cruella DeVille, The Little Mermaid — Ursula, The Lion King — Scar) in them. Even the Muppets have to put up with being kidnapped (The Muppet Movie), accused of theft (The Great Muppet Caper), fight pirates (Muppet Treasure Island), or someone trying to shut down their theater (The Muppets). I guess most children's stories need to have conflict or someone for a child to root for — or against. And of course there are so many more. Here are just a few of the best:

Margaret Hamilton as The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz

The Wicked Witch of the West (and Miss Gulch) in The Wizard of Oz
Voldemort and many others in the Harry Potter series
The Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Principal Ed Rooney in Ferris Buellers Day Off
Biff Tannen in Back To The Future
Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Darth Vader (and his minions) in Star Wars
The mean kids who gave The Karate Kid such a hard time (in both the Ralph Macchio and Jaden Smith versions)
The White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Captain Hook in Peter Pan
The Grand High Witch in The Witches



There are a few children's movies that come to mind with no bad guy:

Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro has some suspense, as little sister Mei goes missing temporarily when she goes to visit her mother in the hospital, but the entire spirit of the movie is loving and gentle.

Totoro and the gang hang out

Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo features a bratty kid in the doctor's office and some scary sea creatures, but no bad guy or girl — again, just suspense — will Nemo's dad and Dory be able to track him down?

Disney's Mary Poppins has an out-of touch father, but even he comes around at the end, as Mary Poppins' charm and magic is irresistible.

Kiki's Delivery Service, another wonderful Miyazaki film, features apprentice witch Kiki getting into lots of scrapes, but there are no villains to speak of.

Suzanne Pleshette with her canine friends

Disney's The Ugly Dachshund features some pretty naughty little dachshunds, but they're so adorable you don't mind.

That's all that I can think of at the moment. Not too many. Any other movies without a bad guy out there worth checking out?


Related: kiddie catharsis

Related articles

• Hayao Miyazaki Will Chronicle the Designer of Japan's Zero WWII Fighter Plane

the muppets — a little bit of felt goes a long way

The movie The Muppets may be the goofiest movie of the year, as well as one of the most heartfelt and entertaining. The Muppets' gags are as silly as ever. The film's plot is very similar to 2002's It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, in which Kermit and friends also had to save their beloved theater from a cruel villain (substitute Chris Cooper here for Joan Cusack). But that's O.K., because what star and writer Jason Segel (with Nicholas Stoller) has done is save the Muppets from obscurity and remind folks young and old how wonderful they are and always have been.

The movie runs from beginning to end as a Valentine to the Muppets, both as a group and as individuals. It's fun to be reminded how these bits of felt have such unique and specific personalities. For the grown-ups in the audience who grew up watching The Muppet Show, seeing Kermit and Miss Piggy act out their on-again, off-again romance is a blast from the past, as are Fozzie's stale jokes and Gonzo's death-defying stunts. It's impossible not to smile through most of the movie, watching Segel and his costar Amy Adams in fun and elaborate musical numbers. Kermit even sings The Rainbow Connection, paying homage to his song from The (first) Muppet Movie.


Segel must be a closet puppeteer. His Dracula puppet musical (puppets created by Henson puppeteers) in Forgetting Sarah Marshall was one of the film's highlights, and provided the spur to try to write a movie for the legendary Muppets. The Muppets also introduces a new Muppet, Walter, who plays Jason Segel's brother. It's crazy, but it works, and the two share the best and most hysterical musical number in the movie, "Man or Muppet":

Am I a man or am I a Muppet
If I'm a Muppet then I'm a very manly Muppet
Am I a Muppet or am I a man
If I'm a man that makes me a Muppet of a man

We seem to live in a world that has forgotten the Muppets, what with all the Kardashians, Snookis and the rest eating up so much of the television and pop culture scene and filling it with empty space. The Muppets reminds us that there is still room for sweet and silly comedy. The script even has a character that echoes this cynicism in television executive Veronica Martin (Rashida Jones), “In this market, you guys are no longer relevant.” How wrong she is and how happy Segel & Co. are to remind her. The Muppets is a feature-length reminder of how fun these felt puppets can be.

It's as much of a blast seeing and naming old Muppet friends like Janice, Rizzo, Beaker, and Animal as it is seeing human stars Whoopi Goldberg, Alan Arkin and Mickey Rooney. Segel and director James Bobin (Da Ali G Show, Flight Of The Conchords) wisely fill the film with cameos by contemporary comic actors like Zach Galifianakis, Jim Parsons, Emily Blunt, Neil Patrick Harris, and Sarah Silverman, just to name a few. And Jack Black, in an uncredited part, has a role that may have started as just a cameo, but soon becomes much more. The film is full of fun nostalgia, not just Muppet-centered, but with Kermit having an '80s robot that acts as chauffeur, butler, and comic relief.

As the film ends and The Muppets Show theme song begins to play, it may even be impossible for viewers not to get choked up. I know I got a little misty, sitting next to my young daughter and watching characters I grew up with putting on one more show. I'm hoping now that Kermit and friends have saved their theater we will be seeing much more of them in the future. Hey Segel, how about reviving The Muppet Show next?