Arc Words / Animated Films

Arc Words in Animated Films.

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• Aladdin: The Return of Jafar: "You'd be surprised by what you can live through." Is often brought up as a warning that while Jafar cannot kill due to the rules all genies are bound to, it doesn't mean you're safe from him as he can injure you as much as he legally can.
• Big Hero 6:
  • "Will X improve your emotional state?" is used when Baymax takes Hiro's mental health into consideration. At first, it's used to help him with his feelings of Tadashi's death, but Baymax ends up repeating this as an Armor-Piercing Question regarding Hiro's recent attempted murder of Yokai/Callaghan.
  • "Are you satisfied with your care?" This is the phrase used whenever Baymax's patient is feeling better. It gets used dramatically at the climax when Hiro is forced to leave Baymax behind at his own request to save the boy's and Abigail's life.
  • "My programming prevents me from harming another human being." A code Baymax lives by that briefly gets broken when Hiro removes his healthcare chip to make sure he "destroys" Callghan. When Hiro repeats the line later on, it's a sign that he's not gonna take vengeance like last time
• The Boss Baby:
  • The Boss Baby tries to get under Tim's skin by telling him that they'll always be together, when Tim wakes up in the morning, every Christmas and eventually growing old together. Later, when Tim wants his baby brother, now the head of Baby Corp., back, he writes a letter to him using these words affectionately.
  • The "Blackbird" song is used several times, first as a bedtime song to Tim, then to the Boss Baby, then the Boss Baby trying to cheer Tim up, Tim after he has a fight with the Boss Baby in the airport and they seem to have split, until finally, by Tim to coax a Brought Down to Normal Boss Baby to get off the currently launching rocket.
• Finding Dory:
  • "Rescue, rehabilitation, and release." Initially it's just the slogan for t heaquarium, but eventually Dory uses it to motivate the fish being transported to Cleveland to not give up on being released to the ocean.
  • "There's always another way." This has always been Dory's philosophy, and she convinces Hank and the aforementioned fish to also believe in it by the end.
• Frozen:
  • "Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart." As Anna's suffering from a case of a literally freezing heart, she learns that the act required is done by her, rather than for her.
  • "Open up/Close the gates". The gates were ordered closed following the accident, and a closed door constantly divided Elsa and Anna. The doors opened so they could meet again, and Elsa ordered the gates to close again after the coronation party, which threatened to separate herself from Anna; when Anna met up with her, she begs Elsa not to slam the door and shut her out again. At the end of the movie, Elsa declares the gates to stay open for good, fully repairing the sisters' relationship.
• Hercules: "Go the distance." It's used to inspire people to push a little harder and give a little more effort to succeed. For starters, there's a whole song on it and then said multiple times by Hercules and Phil afterward.
• Kubo and the Two Strings:
  • "If you must blink, do it now." Sounds like just a fun tagline, but becomes less funny when the entire plot turns out to be about Kubo's grandfather trying to steal his remaining eye.
• Kung Fu Panda:
  • "There are no accidents." This phrase is first used multiple times by Master Oogway to justify Po being chosen as the Dragon Warrior. Then Shifu repeats the line once he sees Po doing actual kung fu just to find some snacks, knowing how he can train him.
• The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part
  • "You started it!" This one is notable, since while it's used by the Systarians to justify them bringing some of the Apocolypsburgians to their galaxy (with the tone you'd expect from two siblings bickering), it changes its meaning the last time it's used, after Queen Whatevra Wa'Nabi reveals herself to be the very heart made by Emmet when the Duplo aliens first invaded.
    General Mayhem: Those bricks inspired our world! You started it.
    Lucy: We started it?
    General Mayhem: You started everything!
• Lilo & Stitch: "Ohana" and "Family", and the full phrase "Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten". First said by Lilo when Nani tries to get rid of Stitch, then repeated by Stitch after Lilo is kidnapped by Gantu. The sentence is often mentioned in related media, as it ties in with the franchise's central theme of family unity.
• The Lion King:
  • The "Circle of Life" refers to the delicate balance of the Pridelands' ecosystem. It's the title of the film's opening song, and the center of the discussion between Mufasa and Simba early in the film, where the former teaches the latter about the king's duties. The film's third act revolves around the Circle of Life being disrupted by Scar's poor administration, turning the lush grass fields into a barren wasteland.
  • Hakuna Matata, meaning "no worries", defines Timon and Pumbaa's lazy, care-free lifestyle. This philosophy is instilled on Simba, who embraces his newfound freedom while forgetting his responsibilities as a king.
• In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride: "We are one" refers to the film's lesson that everyone is a living being deserving of respect, regardless of any physical or ideological differences. It's the chorus of Simba's song and repeated by Kovu and Kiara during the film's climax as they try to end the war between the lions.
• Meet the Robinsons: "Keep moving forward". It's the motto of Cornelius Robinson, summarizing his philosophy of focusing on the future and not getting caught up in the past. Notable for being part of a Real Life quote from Walt Disney himself.
• Moana:
  • "I am Moana of Motunui. You will board my boat, sail across the seas, and restore the heart of Te Fiti!" Moana is told to use this line to convince Maui to help her, but it takes time for Moana to embrace her authority enough to actually believe what she is saying.
• Mulan: "Honor" is the most important Chinese virtue, but by the end it has less value to Mulan's father. What's important is that she came home safe.
• My Little Pony: The Movie (2017): "I/you/we got this." It's the title of the first song of the movie, sung to assure Twilight that she doesn't need to worry as long as her friends are there. However, as the movie moves forward, she starts to get disillusioned by everypony else not taking their mission seriously, leading her to say "I got this.". It fully comes around at the climax when she says "We got this... together!", showing her renewed faith in her friends.
• Noel: "My name is Noel, and I have a happiness", which becomes "I AM a happiness" when he Ascends to a Higher Plane of Existence at the end.
• Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension: "Trust". This comes up at multiple points in the film regarding Perry's relationship with Phineas and Ferb. It's first used angrily by Phineas after learning about Perry's double life, and again when the platypus was gonna sneak away again (not knowing Doof-2 threatened to hurt them should Perry-1 not turn himself in). Then it's used desperately to convince Perry to let them fall into the lava (so he can open a portal to another dimension), and finally it's used with pride after seeing that he has all their inventions til that point on standby should things get too dangerous.
• Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe:
  • "The Universe", given that Candace wants a moment to not be a Cosmic Plaything. It also extends to Super Super Big Doctor given everything she does is BECAUSE of her desire to escape from this trope.
  • "Brothers" is given similar emphasis for the same reasons as above.
• The Powerpuff Girls Movie: "Make [the town] a better place." It was first used by the narrator describing Townsville prior to the girls' birth. After the destruction of Townsville following the girls' game of tag, they first encounter Mojo where he secretly tricks him into making the city better when in reality, they're unknowingly helping him unleash a horde of monkey monsters; when they see he took over the city with his army and they've been tricked, they say the exact opposite before the townsfolk call them out for it.
• The Princess and the Frog: "Almost there." It's first used as Tiana's "I Want" Song, celebrating how close she is to finally opening her restaurant; gets a Dark Reprise when she discovers that she won't be getting it after all; and the Big Bad uses it near the end while offering a Deal with the Devil.
• Ratatouille: "Anyone can cook." Said 7 times throughout the movie, in such contexts as Gusteau using it as the title of his book and explaining why, Ego disagreeing with it to show his cynicism, Remy justifying his "intervention" in Linguini's soup, and Ego finally coming to accept it as true.
• Shrek 2: "Happily Ever After." Fiona says that living happily ever after is every princess' dream, while the Fairy Godmother vociferates that ogres are undeserving of such fate. The phrase comes up one last time after the Big Bad is defeated, when Fiona chooses to have Shrek and herself transformed back into ogre form, showing that happiness can be attained regardless of their unappealing physical appearance.
• Steven Universe: The Movie: "Happily Ever After", specifically Steven feeling that he's finally got his well earned Happily Ever After after resolving the main conflict of the series beforehand, losing it, spending the movie trying to get it back, and ultimately realizing there was no such thing and he'll always face struggles in his life.
• There are several in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
  • "Nothing can hurt us as long as we're together". This is what the brothers tell each other as reassurance that things will be okay.
  • "Save Brooklyn". Mario and Luigi's advertisement proclaims that they are going to "save Brooklyn", with the phrase repeated over how the two grow from blue-collar workers to true heroes.
  • "You just don't know when to quit". Mario has been told this multiple times by a lot of people. Even Peach says this herself and tells him that it's a good thing.
• In Tangled, the word "dream" crops up a lot, most notably when Rapunzel asks the thugs in the Snuggly Duckling if they've ever had a dream, as a plea to get them to release Flynn. Not only does this sway them to her side, but leads into a whole musical number about them sharing their dreams. Later, after Rapunzel has finally lived her own dream and is sitting with Flynn on the boat, she ask him what does she do with her life now. His response? "Well, that's the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream." Then finally, during Flynn's Disney Death, he tells Rapunzel "You were my new dream." "And you were mine."
• The Transformers: The Movie: "'Til all are one." Associated with the Matrix of Leadership and serving as a rallying cry for the Autobots, the phrase has since transcended its source to become part of the greater Myth Arc of the entire franchise. It can be interpreted in different ways, as either "until all Cybertronians shed their factions and unite as one race", such as Primus hoped would happen to counter the threat of Unicron in the original comics, or (as conceived in early scripts for the film) "until all the life sparks of the Transformers are united in the afterlife", concepts not fully fleshed out until Beast Wars.
• WALL•E: "Directive." For a robot, it basically means one's purpose, which can mean very different things depending on one's current level of Character Development.
• The Willoughbys: "What if..."
• Winnie the Pooh:
  • Pooh's Grand Adventure:
    • "Forever (and ever)", which is used to describe the bond between Pooh and Christopher Robin, as mentioned in its accompanying song. It is then used in a somber manner during "Wherever You Are" as Pooh is missing his friend. At the end of the movie when Pooh makes a promise to Cristopher to never forget him, they exchange these words a final time as they watch the sunset.
    • "You are braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." This is Christopher Robin's advice to Pooh that he's better than he thinks, but because he has very little brain, he keeps substituting the words with similar-sounding phrases such as "braver than a bee", "bolder if you're not green", and so forth. Those lessons turn out to be what Piglet, Tigger, and Rabbit end up discovering they had within them, and Pooh finally remembers the advice word per word as he tells Christopher Robin what his friends have discovered.
  • The Tigger Movie: "Family", which deals with what Tigger is trying to find for himself. He at first thinks there is a family of more Tiggers like him, but in the end, he realizes his true family is his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. The letter they wrote to him ends with the signage, "Your family."
• Wreck-It Ralph: "Going Turbo". It refers to Turbo, a character who tried to jump from one game to another, with disastrous results.

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