Warning: This post contains spoilers for Strange World
Strange World ending explained. Directed by Don Hall and Qui Nguyen, who also wrote the screenplay, Strange World joins Disney’s animated slate. The third major animation to be released by the studio in 2022, after Pixar’s Turning Red and Lightyear, Strange World comes to theaters just in time for the holiday season, telling a new story of family and adventure.
Strange World takes audiences on a journey to the heart of Avalonia. After initially attempting to save pando from being destroyed, Searcher Clade (voice of Jake Gyllenhaal) and his son Ethan (voice of Jaboukie Young-White) realized that their world was a living thing that functioned much like their own bodies. Pando wasn’t being destroyed, but the living creatures living underground were trying to save it from dying precisely because Searcher’s idea to farm the resource was actually harming it. Between saving pando and reconciling with his son and father, Searcher was finding that changes to the long-standing family dynamic, and to Avalonia, were alright if he approached them with an open mind.
What Is Pando (& How Does It Really Work)?
Pando is a plant-based power source that is native to Avalonia and is found closer to the heart of the world. Rather than having its own roots, pando is connected through an underground series of roots that stem from the heart of Avalonia. After discovering the plant had electrical currents running through it and could provide energy, Searcher Clade began farming it to provide power to all of Avalonia. However, the reason pando had such power is because it acted like an artery for the heart of Avalonia, traveling through its underground ecosystem to provide energy to the rest of the world. When removed from its source, the heart takes the hit and begins to die over time.
What Were The Reapers Trying To Do To Pando?
The reapers initially seemed like the true villains of Strange World. They would attack the Clades and their crew, eat up anything that got in their way, and go after anything that seemed like it didn’t belong. The reapers even go after Avalonia’s heart. However, the reapers were simply doing their job to protect the heart and the system powering the world. They weren’t trying to destroy it at all — rather, the reapers in the Disney animation were trying to save the heart by acting like antibodies to stop the heart from giving in to the effects of Searcher's pando farming and Avalonia’s inadvertently catastrophic use of the resource.
Why Callisto Tries To Stop Searcher From Saving Pando
Briefly, Callisto, the president of Avalonia, turns against Searcher, Ethan, and Meridian. She didn’t want to lose pando because the resource powered all of Avalonia. Without it, Callisto felt their society would collapse. Rather than have Avalonia die, Callisto was willing to kill the reapers trying to help the heart. Change can be scary and taking away a primary resource can lead to confusion at first. However, Callisto realized that continuing to farm pando would have even more catastrophic repercussions on Avalonia, and decided to help Searcher and his family in their attempts to save the heart before it died completely.
Why Jaeger Clade Never Returned To Avalonia
Jaeger Clade was excited about exploration, and he wanted nothing more than to share that with Searcher. After disappearing in the underground of Avalonia, Jaeger seemingly could have found his way back to his family. But he was stuck — not literally, but mentally. His life as an explorer was all he’d known, and it was hard to go back to a life having not accomplished what he’d set out to do. It’s possible Jaeger felt like a disappointment to himself, and he’d already been away from Avalonia so long that it would be strange to go back and start a new life, especially since Strange World established Jaeger wasn’t big on change.
Why Strange World Tells Parts Of Its Story Through Comics
Strange World is influenced by pulp magazines, which included popular fiction stories circulated throughout the early to the middle of the 20th century. In the animated film, the pulp fiction style is used to tell a chunk of story in a short amount of time, and bookends Strange World’s narrative as it comes full circle. The use of this style also lends itself to the adventurous nature of the film, which is also inspired by sci-fi movies like Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Avalonia Can Still Make Electricity, But How?
A year after the events of Strange World, Searcher Clade and his family began farming fruits and vegetables in lieu of pando, which was the center of their thriving economy for so long. While it’s unclear exactly how Searcher and the rest of Avalonia could still use electricity, it’s possible they discovered a different way to channel electrical energy without the use of pando, resulting in an electric system that closely resembles the real world. This new form of electricity suggests the Avalonians don’t have to rely on any one resource to keep their world growing and thriving.
Why Searcher Decides To Stop Farming Pando
Searcher was very proud of his son Ethan and his legacy as a pando farmer. It was something that separated him from what his father did as an explorer, but could be passed down to Ethan. Ultimately, Searcher had to set his pride and ego aside to stop farming pando because to continue doing so would have killed the heart completely, and he didn’t want that. Searcher also wanted to show Ethan that he wasn’t so stubborn as to keep doing something that had a negative effect. He was willing to change, to be open to trying new things and adjusting accordingly, including the expectations he had of Ethan being a pando farmer as well.
The True Meaning Of Strange World’s Ending
Strange World is, at its core, about respecting the land and resources provided by the earth. Exploiting it for resources to the point of near-death is not good, no matter what these resources provide to people. Strange World’s story suggests there are always other ways to provide energy and power without causing destruction to the land and environment itself. The characters in the Disney animation are open to changing their ways, utilizing new avenues for farming and providing Avalonia with what it needs without pushing the limits of the land itself out of greed. It’s a positive message that suggests capitalism and greed shouldn’t come at the expense of the land and its resources.
Strange World also has a recurring theme about the generational expectations placed on children. While Searcher Clade promised he would give his son everything he needed, he fell into the trap of expecting Ethan to follow in his footsteps. It was something Searcher hated about how Jaeger Clade raised him, and the storyline purports that parents must let go of the ideas they have about their children and their futures and allow them to find their own path, no matter what that might be, or risk repeating the same mistakes over again. This theme pairs nicely with Disney Pixar’s Turning Red, which had a similar message.
