Meaningful Echo / Animated Films

Meaningful Echoes in animated movies.

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• 101 Dalmatians: Halfway through the movie, Jasper, while on the phone with Cruella, gives a Big "SHUT UP!" to a complaining Horace, which Cruella thought was aimed at her. At the end of the movie, after the Dalmatians escape to freedom, Cruella gives Jasper and Horace an angry You Fool! rant, prompting an exasperated Jasper to actually tell her to shut up.
• The Adventures of Tintin (2011):
  Tintin: What was it you said, Captain? You hit a wall...
  Captain Haddock: You push through it.
• Aladdin:
  • When Genie confides in Aladdin his desire for freedom, he mentions that he has "phenomenal cosmic power", but is bound to the magic lamp, an "itty-bitty living space". Aladdin uses this against Jafar in the climax when he tricks the power-mad tyrant into wishing to become a genie, himself.
    Aladdin: You want to be a genie?! You got it [...] and everything that goes with it! Phenomenal cosmic power...itty-bitty living space.
  • In the sequel Aladdin: The Return of Jafar, when Jafar shows himself for the first time to Genie and Abu, Genie tries to reassure Abu by saying that he's still a genie, "and genies can't kill anyone." Jafar, in response, turns his arms into dragons and blasts Genie, whereupon he revises his earlier statement: "But you'd be surprised what you can live through."
  • Jafar tells Jasmine to do what he wants, "if she wants her father to remain healthy". When prompted with the "genies can't kill" line, he reminds her "you'd be surprised what you can live through."
  • The line is used again when Jafar attempts to convince Abis Mal to use his last wish to free him from the lamp, providing him with all the treasure he could ever wish for as persuasion. Abis Mal is about to make the wish, but then asks how he can be sure the treasure won't disappear when he does. Jafar threatens his life in response, and when Abis Mal reminds him that genies can't kill, Jafar replies "You'd be surprised what you can live through."
  • And the last instance, when the heroes mourn Iago's Heroic Sacrifice, Aladdin mentions that he thought genies couldn't kill anybody. Cue Iago coughing up the Genie's earlier line, "You'd be surprised what you can live through."
• Arlo the Alligator Boy: "Sing it," which in turn cues the respective song number. Shortly before the "Follow Me Home" sequence, Arlo says this to Bertie to tell more about her backstory as The Drifter; Bertie then says the same thing to Arlo just before "Something's Missing", allowing Arlo to gather the confidence to confront Ansel at the Met Gala and demand the truth.
• Beauty and the Beast: "Please, let me go! I'll do anything!" Belle says it the first time, pleading for her father's life. Gaston says it the second time, pleading for his own life.
• Big Hero 6:
  • Two characters at two different times exclaim that someone they loved is gone, to show how they've become corrupted by their own grief and rage.
    • When Hiro is raging at Baymax.
    Baymax: Is this what Tadashi would have wanted?
    Hiro: TADASHI IS GONE!
    • When Callaghan is confronting Krei.
    Hiro: Is this what Abigail would have wanted?
    Callaghan: ABIGAIL IS GONE!
  • Additionally, Baymax tells Hiro, three times, that he cannot deactiviate until Hiro says he is satisfied with his care. The first time, Hiro says "I am satisfied with my care" with no reservation and Baymax just returns to his charging station. The second time, Hiro doesn't finish saying it before he gets distracted by his microbot suddenly becoming active. The third time, Hiro reluctantly says it before Baymax sacrifices himself to save Hiro.
• A Bug's Life:
  • "You lied to us!" - Francis when the circus bugs discover that Flik's "job" is not a circus performance for the colony. The Queen says the same line when the ruse gets exposed.
  • Early in the movie, Dot thinks she's too little to do anything, so Flik tries to find a seed to motivate her with. He can't, so instead picks up a nearby rock and tells her to "pretend it's a seed". Dot does the exact same thing to motivate a downhearted Flik to come back home after she discovers Hopper's plan. It works.
• Cars
  • When Lightning discovers that the reclusive Doc Hudson is really a legendary racecar, the Hudson Hornet.
    Lightning: But you won the championship three times! Look at those trophies!
    Doc Hudson: You look. All I see is a bunch of empty cups.
  • And near the end of the climax, when Lightning forfeits the cup to help The King finish the race.
    The King: You just gave up the Piston Cup, you know that?
    Lightning: Ah, this grumpy old racecar I know once told me something: It's just an empty cup.
• Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget:
  • During their first meeting, Frizzle tells Molly that "it's you and me, kidda, all the way." Molly repeats the phrase when explaining why she came back for Frizzle after her friend was put under brainwashing.
  • When Rocky prepares to launch himself into Funland Farms to rescue Molly (without a plan), he tells Ginger that "sometimes you've just got to take a leap". Ginger repeats the sentence as she sees Rocky preparing to leap into the fray, saving her from having to choose between rescuing Molly from Mrs. Tweedy or keeping the brainwashed chickens from walking into the grinder.
• Coco:
  • When Miguel goes up to do his first performance ever, he's incredibly nervous. But a little encouragement from Héctor gets him going and quickly he's confidently working the crowd. Practically the same thing happens several hours later when his great-great-grandmother Imelda accidentally gets booted onto a stage; a little encouragement from Miguel and soon she's belting out the performance of a lifetime, despite having not sung in nearly a century. It's meaningful in showing exactly how Miguel's music inclination isn't inherited just from his great-great-grandfather, but also the great-great-grandmother who banned music from the family in the first place.
  • Over a short time span, there's Miguel's time with Ernesto in his mansion. He meets Ernesto there by being pulled out of the water of his swimming pool, and leaves by having Ernesto throw him into the water of a cenote after his true colors have been revealed.
• Encanto:
  • Mirabel telling Abuela Alma that things happened "because of [her]". First, she says it in a furious, confrontational tone when accusing her of tearing the family apart. A little later, she says it to her in a warmer, more encouraging tone to get to her see that she managed to raise a wonderful family in spite of everything she went through.
  • During Antonio's Gift Ceremony, the Madrigals minus Mirabel come together for a family picture while crying out "La Familia Madrigal!". They come together in the end for another picture only now Mirabel and Bruno are included after their family reconciles with them as the whole family ends the movie with "La Familia Madrigal!"
• Finding Nemo: "You think you can do these things, but you can't Nemo!" When Marlin says this the first time, it's him being a neurotic, overbearing father who misunderstood Nemo's intentions to be near The Drop Off. Trying to say that Nemo isn't as capable as he thinks he is. However, after a Wrong-Name Outburst of the same line towards Dory on their journey after Nemo, Marlin finally understands just how patronizing and harsh he'd actually been acting towards his son.
• Hercules:
  • After Pain and Panic botch their job to kill the hero when he's still a baby:
    Panic: Hades is gonna kill us when he finds out what happened.
    Pain: You mean, if he finds out.
    Panic: Of course he's gonna f— If. "If" is good.
  • Then when Hercules knocks Hades into the River Styx where the souls inside drag him to the depths:
    Panic: He's not gonna be happy when he gets out of there.
    Pain: You mean, if he gets out of there.
    Panic: If. "If" is good.
  • When Meg saved Hercules from being crushed by a pillar:
    Hercules: Meg, why did you? You didn't have to.
    Meg: People always do crazy things... when they're in love.
  • Then when Hercules, in godly form, brings Meg's soul back to her body:
    Meg: Wonder Boy, why did you?
    Hercules: People always do crazy things... when they're in love.
• In Home (2015), when Tip and Oh first meet, she locks him in a freezer and tells him "No, you cannot come into the out!" when he asks. In the climax, Oh locks Tip and Lucy in her car (to protect them from being crushed by the Gorg mothership) and tells her "Tip can't come into the out now."
• How to Train Your Dragon (2010):
  • "You just gestured/pointed to all of me." Said by Hiccup, first in response Gobber, then Stoick, each saying he needs to stop with "this". And finally at the end after Stoick says that the Vikings need a little more "this."
  • "I did this..." — said first by Hiccup, then said again by his father after the final battle, when he finds Toothless without Hiccup, and believes his son is dead.
  • "We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard." said first by Stoick, then again by Hiccup right before fighting the Big Bad. Even though he did not overhear his father say it, he quotes his exact words.
• How to Train Your Dragon 2: "A chief protects his own."
• Ice Age: The first movie has the line "That's what you do in a herd." It's first said by Manny when he saves Diego's life, and later by Diego when he saves Manny's life. Also, both instances happened in near-death situations, and in fact, Diego is apparently dying when he makes the same reply back to Manny, but somewhat differently, as their situations are reversed.
  Manny: You didn't have to do that.
  Diego: That's what you do in a herd.
• The Incredibles.
  Helen: Everyone's special, Dash.
  Dash: Which is another way of saying no one is.
  • These quotes get paraphrased by Syndrome later on:
    Syndrome: And when I'm old and I've had my fun, I'll sell my inventions so that everyone can be superheroes! Everyone can be super! And when everyone's super...no one will be. [evil laugh]
  • Helen says "I don't think so!" when rejecting the idea that she should leave the heroics to the men. She repeats the line when Bob insists on saving the day alone.
  • Syndrome reenacts his "I'm your biggest fan" confession to Mr. Incredible as a call back to the time when Syndrome was just an excited boy, who wanted nothing but to be Mr. Incredible's sidekick and who was spurned by his idol and thus turned to evil.
  • "We're superheroes. What could happen?"
• The Iron Giant:
  • The line "I go... you stay. No following!". Hogarth says it when he has to go home for dinner (and he obviously can't take a giant robot home with him). The Giant says it to Hogarth just before he saves the town via an explosive Heroic Sacrifice.
  • There's also Dean's advice to Hogarth, "You are who you choose to be." Hogarth then tells it to the Giant to stop his rampage. And then it literally echoes in the Giant's memory as he heads off to his Heroic Sacrifice.
  • One word: "Superman"
• In Kung Fu Panda 2, the "Your story may not have such a happy beginning..." line is said twice, with a different ending each time. The first time it's "...but look at how it turned out!" and the second, more poignant version, is "...but that doesn't make you who you are. It is the rest of your story, who you choose to be."
• The LEGO Movie:
  • "See ya later, alligator." First time, Wyldstyle says this to Emmet as she leaves to access the control room in Lord Business' tower. Second time, Emmet says this to Wyldstyle as he forces himself to jump out of the tower, because it'll be the only way to disconnect the battery - that he's tied to - from the self-destructing mechanism that Lord Business had planned to electrocute everyone in the Think Tank. Role reversal, plus a drastic change of situation.
  • There's also a visual variant of the trope. Emmet, in an attempt to be imaginative, tries to put two 1x3 pieces together to keep the police off their tail. It didn't work and the whole thing is played for laughs. However, at the climax, as Wyldstyle is inspiring the citizens of the LEGO world to rise up, a child puts two 1x3 pieces together. This time, it's genuinely inspiring as it's showing how anyone can have the imagination to be a groundbreaker.
• The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part: "You started it." Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi and later Sweet Mayhem say this towards Wyldstyle, seemingly as if to say "You started the fight, not us." since she was the first to attack them in the beginning of the movie. However, it's later revealed that Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi is actually Emmet's gift to the aliens, meaning he was responsible for creating their world, and thus, they "started it".
• Lilo & Stitch — "'Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten." Said first by Lilo, stopping Nani from taking Stitch back to the shelter and, without realizing it, saving his life. Later, Stitch says this to Nani as a way to comfort her when Gantu kidnaps Lilo, with the two finishing it this time. And then later, said by Stitch when he breaks Lilo out of Gantu's prison case.
  "You came back..."
  "Nobody gets left behind."
• In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Kiara quotes Simba's previous 'we are one' speech back to him to make him understand that the outlanders are no different from them.
• In The Little Prince (2015) there is the phrase "You're going to make a wonderful grownup." It's first said to the Girl by the Mother, who means that she will be a perfect adult, crafted from birth to be ready to become busy with matters of consequence. Later on, the Aviator repeats it to the Girl, now referring to her newly kindled resolve to grow up while holding onto her childhood memories, creativity, and the understanding that the superficial does not hold lasting happiness.
• Madagascar: "I'm thinkin' of a song."
• Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted: "Balloons for the children of the world."
• Mulan
  • There was a nice callback when the Emperor calmly told Shan Yu that "No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it" and after Mulan had stopped Shan Yu, the Emperor himself and everyone else bowed down towards her in gratitude.
  • Earlier in the film, Fa Zhu sends away Mulan saying that she "dishonors him". During their Big Damn Reunion where Mulan presents her gifts from the Emperor and how the Fa Family has been honored, he tosses them aside to hug her claiming that having her for a daughter is the greatest honor of all.
• The Nightmare Before Christmas: Early in the film, Zero plays fetch with one of Jack's ribs. Late in the film, Zero retrieves Jack's detached jaw after his sleigh was shot down and crashed.
• Pinocchio: "Prove yourself brave, truthful and unselfish, and someday, you will be a real boy."
• Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe: After a recent failed bust attempt by Candace, Vanessa questions if maybe the fact that she's obsessed with busting is because she constantly feels in the shadow of her brothers. During the climax, Candace uses this exact method on Super Super Big Doctor, questioning if her obsession with imposing control over others is because she constantly feels in the shadow of her brothers.
• Pocahontas:
  • The following exchange occurs between the title character and her love interest, John Smith, after the latter is arrested and sentenced to death by Pocahontas' father:
    Pocahontas: I can't leave you.
    John: You never will. No matter what happens to me, I'll always be with you. Forever.
  • Later, when John must return to England to recover from his gunshot wound and Pocahontas tearfully tells him that she has to remain with her village, she insists that he still return to England to recover.
    John: But I can't leave you.
    Pocahontas: You never will. No matter what happens, I'll always be with you. Forever.
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish:
  • After losing the first fight to the Wolf, Puss sees his life flashing before him to which the Wolf mockingly asks "Lives flashing before your eyes?". It happens again during their final confrontation only this time Puss sees his current life and how much happier he was with Kitty and Perrito by his side. So when the Wolf/Death asks "Lives flashing before your eyes?", Puss responds with "No. Just one."
  • During a sibling fight between Goldi and Baby Bear, Goldi reminds him that he's the "smash" and she's the "grab". She says this again when she abandons the Wishing Map to rescue her brother from being vaporized.
  • While trekking through Nostalgic Pines, Kitty comments to Puss how much he's changing from the selfish jerk he was before and how "he doesn't look like that guy anymore". After Puss valiantly fights Death while vowing to cherish his remaining life, Death complains that he was hunting an "arrogant little legend who thought he was immortal". But he steps down and accepts that "he doesn't see him anymore".
  • When Perrito sees Goldi and the Bears' dynamic, he tells Goldi she "won the orphan lottery" (even though she wishes for a real family). Later, after she sacrifices the wish to save Baby Bear, Goldi says she did get her wish, because the Bears ''are'' her real family and repeats the line back at Perrito with a wink.
• Quest for Camelot:
  • When Ruber suggest that he should be the new king of Camelot, only for Sir Lionel to tell him "I will not serve a false king!" just before the mad knight launches into attack.
  • Later, towards the climax, as Ruber is attempting to kill an injured Arthur with Excalibur that is attached to his arm, Kayley draws Ruber's attention to her by saying the same words before swinging down on a wooden beam and knocks the villain out of the castle.
• The Simpsons Movie:
  • Subverted When Homer is trying to convince Marge to move to Alaska, he says, in a rather poignant scene, that in a marriage everyone gets one chance to say "I need you to do this with me" and have their spouse trust them. Later Marge repeats the line when they need to save Springfield, only for Homer to scoff. "That's the stupidest thing I ever heard!"
  • Played Straight: "Worst day/Best kiss of your life so far!"
• Early on in Sing, Eddie tells Buster he should just accept that he's hit rock bottom and can't save his theatre, to which the eternally optimistic Buster responds "You know what's great about hitting rock bottom? There's only one way left to go, and that's up!" Later on, when Buster is in a Heroic BSoD after the theatre's literal collapse, Eddie repeats the line to him in order to lift his spirits.
• Song of the Sea: During Saoirse's birthday party in an early scene, her older brother Ben smashes her face into the cake, and is clearly mean-spirited about it. At the end of the film, Ben's own birthday is celebrated and Saoirse gets her revenge with the same action, but the tone is much more light-hearted with both siblings laughing and Ben taking it in good humor, showcasing how their sibling relationship has changed for the better after the events of the movie.
• In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse:
  • Peter B. tells Miles to make a "leap of faith" regarding his superpowers. After Miles does, he tells Peter B. that he needs to make a "leap of faith" about fixing his relationship with Mary Jane and putting his life back together.
  • Early in the movie, Miles' uncle Aaron gives him advice for picking up girls. He tells him to put his hand on her shoulder and go, "Hey." Miles brings an end to the final fight by putting his hand on the Kingpin's shoulder, going "Hey." and zapping him with his spider shocker powers, honoring Aaron after his death at Kingpin's hands.
• The Sponge Bob Movie Sponge Out Of Water:
  • When Plankton is fighting with SpongeBob over the formula bottle, we hear this:
    Plankton: Come on, SpongeBob! Join me! And we'll be rich and powerful! Until I eventually betray you... Uhh... JOIN ME!
    SpongeBob: No! Never! I'm on Team Krabs for life!
  • And later at the climax:
    Burger-Beard: Come on, team up with me! We'll be rich and powerful! Huh?
    Plankton: No, thanks. I'm already part of a teamwork.
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie:
  • When Mario and Luigi are first sent through the Warp Zone, Mario grabs onto Luigi and tries to reassure him, saying that "Nothing can hurt us as long as we’re together!", unfortunately a moment before the currents separate them. The line is repeated again by Mario after rescuing him from being sacrificed by Bowser; then, finally, during the final battle, Luigi echoes the line while saving his brother from Bowser's fury. The line even becomes literal when this moment allows them both to grab the Super Star and defeat Bowser.
  • The words "Save Brooklyn" are first shown in the Mario Bros. Plumbing commercial at the beginning of the movie. Before the final battle, Mario is battered, bruised and is about to give up, when a TV nearby begins to glitch and starts to play the commercial, only for the audio to start glitching as well and begins to repeat "Save Brooklyn" over and over again. This gives Mario motivation to come out and fight Bowser, so he can really save Brooklyn.
• Tarzan:
  • The first time it's said, Tarzan is mistaking Clayton's name as a term for gunshot, with Clayton being confused by it. The second time Tarzan is calling out to Clayton for help, whereupon Clayton shows his true treacherous colors.
    Tarzan: Clayton!
    Clayton: ...Have we met?
  • Jane says "Jane stay with Tarzan" in Ape twice in the movie. The first time because Tarzan taught her to say it without telling her what it meant. The second, she knows full well what it means.
• Toy Story:
  • In the first movie: "This isn't flying — it's falling with style!" It is first used by Woody out of denial after witnessing Buzz, who thinks he's a real Space Ranger, seemingly fly in Andy's room (which to be fair, Woody is Right for the Wrong Reasons since Buzz was actually hooked by a toy airplane on the ceiling when he "flew"). At the film's climax, Buzz activates his wings to break out of the toy rocket strapped on his back and somehow miraculously glides to Andy's car. Woody expresses his delight surprise that Buzz can actually fly, only for Buzz to reassure Woody he's not flying but falling with style, signifying how he has finally come to accept himself as a toy.
  • In Toy Story 2, Buzz tells Woody "You are a toy!", referring back to the first film where Woody says this to Buzz multiple times. Specifically, he says Woody's exact line, with one minor change. "You're not a collector's item, you're a child's plaything!"
  • Toy Story 3: As a Call-Back to the second film, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head exclaim, "You have saved our lives! We are eternally grateful." after the aliens save them and the other main characters from a fiery death.
  • "The Claaaw..." in the first movie, the LGMs in the crane game have a religious reverence for said crane. In the third movie, the LGMs that have joined the group say it after using the giant crane at the dump to save everyone from falling into the incinerator.
  • Toy Story 4: Early in the movie, Bonnie takes off Woody's badge and gives it to Jessie since Woody's not one of her favourites. As Woody's leaving to join Bo Peep, he makes sure to give Jessie the badge before he goes.
• Turning Red:
  • Just before the ritual, Grandma Wu tells Mei "May Sun Yee guide you, and keep you safe," seeing it as Mei becoming her true self by banishing the panda. In the spirit world after everyone saves Ming, Wu repeats this blessing, but now it's an affirmation of Mei's independence and decision to keep the panda.
  • Early in the movie, as Mei and her mother are preparing to clean and open the temple, Ming asks "Are you ready?" and Mei answers, "Let's do this!" In the epilogue, just before they open the temple to the public they have the same lines, but swapped: Mei asks "Are you ready?" and Ming answers, "Let's do this!" The DVD commentary confirms that this was intentional, part of showing how the relationship between Mei and her mother has changed.
• Up:
  • "Cross your heart," which is what Ellie told Carl in the opening sequence.
    • Related: Russell's line "I gotta help you cross something" near the beginning of the movie. He does indeed.
  • Russell's comment about the boring times being the ones he remembers the most. When Carl finally turns the page of Ellie's adventure book, he notices that there are pictures of their everyday life. While some of the things might not be considered boring under normal circumstances, recall that Ellie and Carl wanted to live by Paradise Falls and have really exciting adventures.
• Wreck-It Ralph has the motto of Bad Anon. When this is first said, Ralph doesn't join in and the villains there are trying to tell him to accept who he is. At the end of the movie, Ralph recites it as he's attempting to perform a Heroic Sacrifice.
  "I'm bad and that's good. I'll never be good, but that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me."

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