Khumba is an animated film produced by Triggerfish Animation Studios, directed by Anthony Silverston, and starring Jake T. Austin, Laurence Fishburne, AnnaSophia Robb, Steve Buscemi, Loretta Devine, Liam Neeson, and Richard E. Grant.
After his herd rejects him for having only half his stripes, a young Burchell's zebra sets out on a mission across the Karoo Desert to find the legendary water hole where the first zebras got their distinctive markings, followed all the while by a half-blind leopard intent on killing him.
The film was released on October 25, 2013 to mediocre reception.
Tropes:
- Advertised Extra: Many of the posters feature Skalk the African wild dog, the dassies (hyraxes) and the riverine rabbit, despite them having secondary to minor roles in the film.
- All of the Other Reindeer: The titular Khumba is shunned and mocked by the other zebra because he's the only zebra with half his stripes.
- Bradley believes he is this because his feathers aren't as "fantastic" as all the other ostriches.
- And Phango was ostracized by his family as a cub because he was half-blind, even by his own mother.
- Bad Samaritan: Skalk sells Khumba on the idea that if he follows him, he will provide him a remedy that will give him his missing stripes. Unknown to Khumba at the time, Skalk was just leading the young zebra to his pack of wild dogs.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The elderly gemsbok saves Khumba from the saltpan, in turn for when he earlier allowed her and her herd to drink at the zebra's water hole.
- Big Bad: Phango the leopard.
- Book Ends: The story begins with the zebras playing a game together in their little isolated community. The story ends with the zebras and other animals playing together in the new spring.
- Cats Are Mean: Phango is infamous for eating his prey while they're still alive.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Strongly implied between Khumba and Tombi.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Deconstructed with Nora the sheep, who is dangerous (even in a comical way). After years of isolation, she wears a ram's skull, and will use it as a helmet to bash others who wander onto her turf. She gets (slightly) better after Skalk befriends her.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Mama V lost her calf to Phango, who made her watch as he devoured her child. Phango also has his fair share of troubled past: He was neglected, abused and then abandoned by his own family when he was a cub just because he was blind in one eye.
- Disney Death: Khumba seemingly dies from a great fall, much to everyone's grief. But shortly after the Mantis lands upon him, he regains consciousness.
- Disney Villain Death: Phango not only falls from a great height, but is crushed by a rock!
- The Dog Bites Back: A villainous one. Phango was left for dead by his mother as a cub for being blind in one eye. After he grew up, he made sure to return the favor.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: Throughout most of the adventure, Khumba believes he needs the other half of his stripes in order to complete himself, when he's actually already complete in spirit because of his courage and determination. Deconstructed earlier on when he believes his mother Lungisa's story about how the zebras got their stripes means he can get his when she really meant to tell the story to warn against conformity ("...but they all looked the same.")
She dies knowing that her son misunderstood the point of her story. - The Dreaded: With the sole exception of the Black Eagle, everyone in the movie is terrified of Phango. Even a pack of African Wild Dogs (which are perfectly capable of taking on a leopard in real-life) flee before him.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: Khumba’s mother dies early on, but she is never mentioned again after passing away.
- Freudian Excuse: Phango was neglected, abused and then left to drown by his own family as a cub just because he was blind in one eye. Thankfully for him, his blindness gave him an excellent sense of smell, and he used this and his own determination to become a great hunter. However, the experience also left him totally ruthless and consumed with anger, to the point that he killed his entire clan. Even his own mother.
- Heel–Face Turn: Near the climax, Skalk befriends Nora and gives up his carnivorous ways.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: This is what motivates Khumba to visit the magic springs of legend. All his life, he's been treated as a bad omen because it hasn't rained since his birth (on account of his only having half of his stripes). He figures that once the magic spring grants him his stripes, it will not only end the drought, but he will be accepted by the other zebras.
- Innocently Insensitive: Khumba calls out Tombi on not understanding what it's like to be treated like an outcast for being different. A hurt Tombi tearfully begs to differ, as she herself isn't exactly well-liked by the other zebras for being a tomboy.
- Ironic Echo: From the day he was born, everybody believed Khumba's missing stripes were a bad omen, and blamed him for the drought that followed soon after. All the zebras figured the rains would return if only Khumba were to die. After the climax, it finally does rain, but Khumba has already become such a hero that everyone mourns for him.
- It Always Rains at Funerals: When Khumba seemingly dies from the fall, it begins to rain for the first time since his birth. Except, it's treated as a funeral, since everyone there has had their lives touched by him, one way or another.
- Jerk Jock: Tombi's older brother Themba is this, along with his band of buddies. The play some kind of sport that involves kicking a tumbleweed around, flirt with the females of their herd, and bully Khumba for only being half-striped and Tombi for being a tomboy. After Khumba leaves, however, Themba seems to have a change of heart.
- Knight of Cerebus: Phango.
- Mama Bear: Or Mama Wildebeest in Mama V's case. She considers Bradley and Khumba her surrogate sons and will muscle her way through to make sure they're protected.
- Meaningful Echo: "...But then they all looked the same." The first time it's said, Khumba's mother is telling it in her story about how zebras got their stripes. The second time, Khumba says it when he's hesitating to go in the allegedly magic spring. The significance is, he's realizing what his mother was trying to tell him before she died.
- Meaningful Name: Khumba's name means "skin", a very fitting name for somebody whose limitations are only skin-deep.
- Mirror Character: Despite being mortal enemies, Khumba and Phango have certain likenesses; they've both been shunned by their own kind for being different (Khumba for being half-striped and Phango for being half-blind), and believe they need to "complete themselves" in order to be happy.
- Mirroring Factions:
- During his journey, Khumba meets animals who reflect the zebra herd he came from. For one instance, the springbok herd, who look so alike that they can't tell each other apart, reflect the zebras' conformity.
- For another instance, the animals living in Yang's Animal Sanctuary live in safety like the zebra herd in their enclosure. But each party's safety comes at the cost of something. (The zebra herds can only rely on their own supply of water, while the sanctuary animals have to pose for tourists as part of routine.)
- Misplaced Accent: The Riverine rabbit speaks with an Australian accent, which stands out from most of the American and British accents featured with the cast.
- Missing Mom: The mother of Tombi and Themba is never seen or even mentioned.
- Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: The Black Eagle may be foreboding and fearsome, but as Khumba learns, he's just a lonely bird who's never had company until the half-striped zebra showed up.
- Only Friend: Tombi is this for Khumba before the latter embarks on his journey. She's the only zebra in their herd - other than Seko and Lungisa, Khumba's parents - who doesn't mock or taunt him for his lack of stripes or think he's responsible for the drought.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Mama V's baby was eaten by Phango before the start of the movie.
- Papa Wolf: Khumba's father, Seko, is established to be protective of his son when the zebras first mocked Khumba as "half a zebra".
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Khumba has this with Mama V and Bradley when they discover the cave they're journeying to is in fact Phango's cave.
- The Prophecy: The old mantis gives two of them.
- The mantis tells Khumba to find the watering hole in the cave that will supposedly bestow him his stripes.
- According to Phango, his clan was told that a half-striped zebra would be born and make one of their own become the strongest.
- Prophecy Twist: Phango said that a half-striped zebra was foretold to be born and make one of the leopards in his clan the strongest of them all. Phango is convinced that if he eats Khumba, he'll be made whole. But the prophecy never said anything about getting stronger by eating the half-striped zebra. Phango got strong by himself, motivated by the prophecy.
- Red Right Hand: Phango's right eye is blind.
- Sacrificial Lion: Lungisa dies right before Khumba begins his quest to find the watering hole. Before, she was his only emotional tie to the herd's enclosure. With her passing, he leaves to find his stripes.
- Sadist: Phango is outright gleeful when it comes to killing. He also enjoys taunting his victims.
- Shadow Archetype: Phango is what Khumba would be, had his mother not been as kind and loving as she was in life.
- To a lesser extent, the Black Eagle also reflects what Khumba might've become: an angry, isolated misanthropic loner who uses fear in order to keep others from mocking his appearance.
- Shown Their Work: All the zebra characters have varying unique stripe patterns. This is an accurate detail because just like a human’s fingerprints, every zebra’s stripe pattern in unique.
- Snake Oil Salesman: Skalk's personality and mannerism can be summed up in this trope, often trying to sell something as though it were a cure-all.
- Sweet and Sour Grapes: Khumba doesn't get stripes on his back half like he previously wanted. But not only has Khumba come to terms with only having half his stripes, he also bears three scars from when Phango scratched him, as a badge of his bravery.
- Team Mom: Mama V is this to both Bradley and Khumba
- Tragic Villain: Phango is the way he is because he was neglected, abused and abandoned by his own kind.
- Trampled Underfoot: Phango steps on a single flower growing in the middle of the desert, cementing him as a merciless leopard.
- Trauma Button: Mama V is reduced to tears when she learns Khumba's destination (unintentionally) leads to Phango's cave, since it reminds her all too well of how he ate her daughter.
- When Khumba and Phango fall into the water hole in the latter's cave, it causes Phango to have a flashback of when his mother left him to drown as a cub in the same pool.
- Wham Line: When the Black Eagle directs Khumba to his destination, the former thinks it's the magic spring that will grant him his stripes. The Black Eagle, however, reveals it's also something else: Phango's cave.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: So what will become of the Black Eagle now that his steady supply of food (the rock hyraxes) have moved somewhere else?
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: The elder gemsbok tells Khumba that he doesn't need his stripes to be the brave, heroic zebra he's come to be.
