When animated feature films debuted in 1937 with Walt Disney’s "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," a window of new and innovative ways to touch the human heart emerged. Children and adults alike soon found comfort in a yellow bear named Winnie the Pooh, inspiration through the dreams of a poor girl named Cinderella and humor in a little fish named Nemo.
Animation on film has since exploded, amazing audiences with each new digital advance and unexpected storyline. Here are the top four speeches made in animated films.
1. Ralph in "Wreck-It Ralph"
This 2012 animated film reiterates the valuable lesson that hero’s become such by facing their fears and believing in themselves. Wreck-It Ralph is a video game character designed to be a villain. Yet Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) would prefer to be good instead of bad and a hero instead of a villain.
He explains his confliction in this opening speech, provided by IMDb.
“My name's Ralph, and I'm a bad guy. Uh, let's see... I'm nine feet tall, I weigh six hundred and forty-three pounds. Got a bit of a temper on me. My passion bubbles very near the surface, I guess, not gonna lie. Anyhoo, what else? Uh... I'm a wrecker. I wreck things, professionally. I mean, I'm very good at what I do. Probably the best I know. Thing is, fixing's the name of the game. Literally. 'Fix-It Felix, Jr.' So yeah, naturally, the guy with the name Fix-It Felix is the good guy."
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2. Dory in "Finding Nemo"
In this humor-filled animated film, a disheartened clownfish is on a mission to find his son when he meets a lost and confused fish named Dory (voice of Ellen DeGeneres.) Dory, who suffers from loneliness and short-term memory loss, feels instantly bonded to the clownfish, Marlin (voice of Albert Brooks), and shows her vulnerability when he displays the desire to give up, abandon the mission and leave Dory all alone.
According to IMDb, Dory gives this touching speech to keep Marlin from leaving her.
“No. No, you can't ... stop. Please don't go away. Please? No one's ever stuck with me for so long before. And if you leave ... if you leave ... I just, I remember things better with you. I do, look. P. Sherman, 42 ... 42 ... I remember it, I do. It's there, I know it is, because when I look at you, I can feel it. And-and I look at you, and I ... and I'm home. Please ... I don't want that to go away. I don't want to forget.”
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3. The Emperor of China in "Mulan"
In this 1998 box office hit, a young Chinese maiden named Mulan (voice of Ming-Na Wen) disguises herself as a male soldier in the Chinese army to spare her elderly father from having to fight. Mulan risks her life and her family’s reputation to eventually save not only her father, but her country as well. After facing condemnation and rejection from the Chinese army after soldiers discover the truth about Mulan,
movie goers are overjoyed when the Chinese emperor praises her bravery in this speech, given by IMDb.
“I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan. You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated a soldier, deceived your commanding officer, dishonored the Chinese Army, destroyed my palace, and... you have saved us all.”
4. Captain Haddock in "The Adventures of Tintin"
In this 2011 animated adventure film, reporter Tintin (voice of Jamie Bell) and Captain Haddock (voice of Andy Serkis) embark on a mission to find treasure at the bottom of the ocean in a sunken ship. When the mission is disrupted by some bumps in the road, Tintin and Captain Haddock remind viewers that
failure isn’t fatal but rather a stepping stone to success as displayed by Captain Haddock in this speech provided by IMDb.
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“Failed. There are plenty of others willing to call you a failure. A fool. A loser. A hopeless souse. Don't you ever say it of yourself. You send out the wrong signal, that is what people pick up. Don't you understand? You care about something, you fight for it. You hit a wall, you push through it. There's something you need to know about failure, Tintin. You can never let it defeat you.”
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