While She-Hulk may be the next major Marvel Studios Disney+ series, fans may look forward to something else first: I Am Groot. This collection of five films follows Baby Groot as the naughty little plant gets up to mischief.
For those wondering where it fits into the timeline, it seems to take place between the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and its post-credits sequences. According to a major Marvel Studios executive, these mini-adventures seem to be perfectly canon to Earth-616.
But what precisely can viewers expect to see? The most recent San Diego Comic-Con teaser included a settlement of little aliens, wreckage on a spacecraft, new leafage for Groot, and more.
Those who want to know precisely what to anticipate before the concert may do so immediately, courtesy to an official press release.
Episodes of I Am Groot Have Been Revealed
Disney released an official press release for their forthcoming Marvel Studios animated shorts collection, I Am Groot, which featured a storyline summary for each segment as well as remarks from the show’s director, Kristen Lepore.
The first short, named ‘Groot’s First Steps,’ follows Groot as he “tries [to] take his first steps out of his pot:”
Baby Groot realizes that he isn’t the only plant getting spoiled on his spacecraft. A fortuitous coincidence leads Groot to take his first steps out of his pot, only to discover that you must walk before you can run.”
“It would be extremely wonderful to start the entire series having Groot sprout out of his pot,” Lepore mused.
“I thought it would be pretty great to start the series with Groot growing out of his container, kind of like a loose version of a plant-growing time-lapse… That was combined with a concept I had of ‘Groot vs. Tree,’ in which Groot, a sentient tree, battles a non-sentient tree. We emphasized the Buster Keaton-style physical humor in which the inanimate item always triumphs.”
The second episode is named ‘The Little Guy,’ and it follows Groot as he “accidently discovers a civilisation of small blue aliens” known as the Grunds:
“It’s difficult to be the tiny guy, but when Baby Groot discovers a society of microscopic blue aliens by mistake, the tables are changed.” The Grunds are first terrified by the very large tree child, but quickly realize he’s the savior they’ve been waiting for.”
The filmmaker said that she aimed to represent the “childlike feeling of finding an anthill,” when one becomes “interested and [begins] digging about and messing things up:”
“The Grunds, more than any other character in the shorts, are the super-duper simplistic sort of character I myself prefer to make… I appreciate the challenge of conveying as much emotion as possible with just black dots and a mouth… There’s also the infantile feeling of finding an anthill, when you want to be pleasant and kind but are also really interested, and you start poking about and messing things up.”
‘Groot’s Pursuit’ comes in third. “Baby Groot explores a frightening noise that’s been haunting the Quadrant,” a search that finishes in “a dance-off:” In doing so, he encounters Iwua, an intelligent, shapeshifting extraterrestrial who takes on his form. A dance-off is the greatest method to determine who is Groot.”
Lepore described in this clip how “the root of the concept… emerged from the childhood pastime of mimicking:”
“The root of this short comes from the childhood game of imitating, when someone begins duplicating you and you become extremely irritated… Groot becomes enraged to the point that, instead of fighting, they engage in a dance war. Essentially, we’ll see whether this person can stay up.”
She then disclosed that the franchise’s director, James Gunn, performed “the voice of the wrist watch/headlamp” in this third episode.
“[James Gunn] was the voice of the wrist watch/headlamp that Groot hits when it breaks… I recall him being in the midst of a shoot and on his lunch break when he was hustled into a trailer to record all of these lines for us. He’s simply a very kind man.”
The fourth video is ‘Groot Takes a Bath,’ which shows Groot’s fancy new bath mixture causing “epic leaf growth” throughout his body:
“Everyone needs some alone time to rest and wash up, but when you’re a Flora Colossi child, things are a little different.” When Groot’s bath concoction leads in epic leaf growth, he takes control of his haircut and gets creative with style.”
Lepore went on to explain how Groot “inadvertently makes this magic elixir that’s like Miracle-Gro for the whole body: “”From the start, I was fascinated by Groot’s physical abilities: the fact that he can sprout leaves and his limbs can grow very long… In this short, he inadvertently makes a magical medicine that works like Miracle-Gro for the whole body. It’s like Groot as a Chia Pet, which made for a pretty entertaining arena to play in.”
The last installment is ‘Magnum Opus,’ in which “Groot sets out to create a family picture of himself and the Guardians:”
“Groot sets out to create a painting of himself and the Guardians, going to considerable efforts to gather art tools and construct his masterpiece.” Rocket sees Groot’s attempts and immediately learns how messy—and disastrous—the creative process can be.”
Groot wants to paint this image but “doesn’t have an art shop to go to, so he’s just going around taking stuff from people,” according to the director.
“Groot is the ship’s lone child, attempting to find out what his art tools are… He doesn’t have access to an art shop, so he goes about stealing from others.”
Rocket Raccoon, played by Bradley Cooper, also makes a brief cameo in this last episode. When it comes to Groot, the character “can be a bit of a scolding dad but also a companion with a tender heart,” according to Lepore.
“Rocket is an odd dad,” according to Marvel Studios Producer Brad Winderbaum, who “feels tremendously responsible for [Baby Groot]:”
“Rocket is an unusual father. Rocket and Groot had a partnership—perhaps a big brother-little brother dynamic—in the first film, but Rocket’s connection with Baby Groot is much different. He feels a great deal of responsibility for him. That comes over in Bradley’s performance as well as his appearance in the last short in this batch.”
Having a Good Time With Groot
I hope people kept their expectations in check and didn’t anticipate anything significant to the MCU with I Am Groot. To be clear, all of the sections seem like delightful short tales featuring Groot and not much else—which isn’t a terrible thing in the least.
These first five parts are only the start. Another batch of shorts were revealed at SDCC and will be available on the service at a later date.
It’s uncertain if the following five episodes will be deemed a separate season or a continuation of the first. If Marvel Studios chose to, they could easily continue with these shorts till the end of the MCU. So, how long will they let the Groot tree to grow?
On August 10, all five segments of I Am Groot will be available on Disney+.
undefined
