People desperately seeking parental approval in Animated Films.
- The Interquel Bambi II converts the title character to one in something of a Surprisingly Realistic Outcome of his offscreen upbringing by the Great Prince in the first movie. Both characters are still traumatised by the death of Bambi's mother and the Great Prince's mate, while the Great Prince himself is not only The Ace but a fairly aloof guy who is wary to fathering Bambi (as he lampshades, stags do not naturally raise young). Just as the Great Prince submits to bonding with Bambi, he attempts to send him off with a surrogate parent, leading an upset Bambi to Call The Old Man Out. He ultimately changes his mind after a series of heroic events from Bambi.
- Barbie as Rapunzel: Hugo is hardly the nicest father, and has high expectations for Penelope to grow into a mighty dragon. He disapproves of her friendship with Rapunzel and her Cute Clumsy Girl tendencies. He gets better after she demonstrates her Undying Loyalty and overcomes her fears, admitting he was wrong.
- Gru from Despicable Me has struggled for a long time to earn his mother's approval. Even in his youth, he did things like build a model rocket (a functional one that he launched), but he was left with an "eh" from her. It's after he saves the girls from Vector and hosts a private recital for them that she tells him that she's proud of him.
- In Epic (2013) it first seems like this when it's revealed that Mandrake is Dadga's father, but it's averted in the next second.
- In Fantastic Mr. Fox, Ash may be a sullen brat in the beginning, but he also tries to live up to his father's fame, only to then be hopelessly overshadowed by his unbearably perfect cousin, Kristofferson, whom his own father can't stop praising. However, at the climax of the story, Ash has grown to like the goodhearted Kris after all and accepts his own limits; only then does he stun his father with an act that deeply impresses him.
- Frozen:
- Played for Drama for Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, as it serves as his Freudian Excuse behind his actions in Arendelle, as seen in the Tie-In Novel A Frozen Heart. He fears being a disappointment to his neglectful father and abusive 12 older brothers, who frequently ignore or bully him for being a weakling. This suggests his more villainous actions are actually a massive veneer of self-loathing and depression. Despite this, the primary motivator for all the great lengths that Hans goes to, and the terrible decisions he makes, is to get the approval of the family that frequently looks down on him, even if it meant attempting to usurp another kingdom's throne. To say that he has daddy issues is a big understatement.
- This is also the prime motivation behind Hans' brothers as well, as they want their father to be appreciative of them. Even their abuse of Hans seems to be out of a desire to make their father favor them for showing no tolerance for "weakness."
- This trope also applies to Queen Elsa of Arendelle as well: During "For the First Time In Forever", the way she looks up at the painting of her father while she is mentally preparing herself for her coronation suggests that she fears being a disappointment to her deceased parents. Not to mention her coping mantra involves the phrase "Be the good girl you've always had to be".
- Played for Drama for Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, as it serves as his Freudian Excuse behind his actions in Arendelle, as seen in the Tie-In Novel A Frozen Heart. He fears being a disappointment to his neglectful father and abusive 12 older brothers, who frequently ignore or bully him for being a weakling. This suggests his more villainous actions are actually a massive veneer of self-loathing and depression. Despite this, the primary motivator for all the great lengths that Hans goes to, and the terrible decisions he makes, is to get the approval of the family that frequently looks down on him, even if it meant attempting to usurp another kingdom's throne. To say that he has daddy issues is a big understatement.
- Both Fred and E.B. (the Easter Bunny's son) in Hop.
- The direct-to-DVD movie Kronk's New Groove is focused around Kronk desperately attempting to impress his father — who expects Kronk to have a big house on the hill and a beautiful wife. Kronk isn't even looking for verbal praise, but simply wants one of his father's elusive thumbs-up.
- Kung Fu Panda:
- Part of Tai Lung's motivation is feeling betrayed by his de facto father, Shifu, for not standing up to Master Oogway after he refused to dub him Dragon Warrior, this after having spent his entire life, night and day, pouring everything he had into training until his "bones cracked" to earn the title; he even says during his climactic fight with Shifu that all he ever did, he did to make him proud. Shifu actually comes right out and tells Tai Lung that he was always proud of him and that he'd had his respect all along — and you immediately can see a flicker of doubt cross Tai Lung's face.
- Conversely, Shifu feels profoundly guilty for having neglected to ever teach Tai Lung humility and only finds peace in training Po, who effectively becomes a new son for him. For his part, Po grows to see Shifu as a second father and strives to live up to his hopes, although Po loves his (obviously) official adoptive father no less.
- It is implied that Tigress has been training her entire life to earn Shifu's approval, but he has been too guilty over his failure with Tai Lung to give it to her. This is explained in the short film Secrets of the Furious Five — Shifu actually adopted Tigress from her orphanage. She is his daughter for all intents and purposes. Tigress clearly sees herself as an unloved, unpraised, second-rate Replacement Goldfish for Tai Lung and blames Tai Lung for breaking Shifu's heart and making him the jerkass he is in the beginning. Funny that Tai Lung accuses Shifu of exactly the same lack of love and approval (except that being the Evil Counterpart he actually snaps as a result). While they are wrong about Shifu, the latter's parenting techniques clearly suck.
- This is Master Thundering Rhino's old motivation for street-fighting, and later for taking Master Oogway's offer of a bandit-capturing job, in the Short Secrets of the Masters; all he wants is his father's — Master Flying Rhino's — words of pride.
- In an interesting variation, happens twice to Simba of The Lion King (1994). Although anything but an emotionally distant father, Mufasa is often preoccupied with the duties of the throne, and little Simba certainly sees him as a hero, worshiping the ground his paws tread upon. But there is no indication Simba ever doubts he has his father's love or respect... until Scar convinces him he is to blame for his father's death. Then, overcome with remorse and believing no one could ever forgive him, he voluntarily goes into exile. It is Mufasa's ghost, reminding him of his place in the Circle of Life and telling him, "You are my son and the one true king," that sets him back on the right path again. And with a simple, single word, "Remember..." he lets his son know he is very proud of him, indeed. However...
- The Lion King II: Simba's Pride:
- This movie has Simba forgetting this moving testimonial and unable to get over his past, refusing to trust Kovu or see him as anything but a reincarnation of Scar, all in the mistaken belief that this is what his father would do (and therefore, would make Mufasa proud of him). Luckily, Nala, as usual, is the voice of reason while Kiara, with typical bluntness, makes it quite clear to her father that he is not and never will be Mufasa. And just to hammer the point home that Simba does not have to emulate his father's reign (or his perception of it) in order to receive his love and pride, Mufasa's ghost actually says the words, "Well done, my son," after the prides are united and peace is declared.
- Nuka constantly seeks his mother's approval and receives it only when he dies trying to impress her by killing Simba. Zira's pained expression is probably the most "human" moment she has. The trope is more explicit here
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- Implied with Melody in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea towards Ariel in a few scenes. This exchange at the end also helps:Melody: I just wanted to be a better mermaid than a girl.
Ariel: Oh, no, sweetie, it doesn't matter if you have fins or feet. We love you for who you are on the inside, our very brave little girl. - The Once-ler from The Lorax (2012). His family, especially his mother, enjoys making fun of how much of a failure he is. Oncie proves them wrong... at least until the last Truffula Tree is cut down.
- Most of Sulley's arrogance in Monsters University is revealed to be insecurity on his part due to the Sullivan family placing a huge amount of pressure on him to have a scare major like his father.
- Mulan: Although they don't actively dislike her, it's obvious that Mulan's parents don't exactly...understand her. The last words she speaks to her father before running off to join the army are... strained. At the end of the movie, though, he changes his tune. Beautifully.Fa Zhou: The greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter.
- The Prince of Egypt: Even after the death of his father, Rameses is still struggling with the man's immense shadow and wants to be the kind of Pharaoh his father was. This leads to tragedy for the Egyptians. Truth in Television for this one, at least for the first half of that statement. The Pharaoh in question in The Bible is unnamed, but Rameses II was by all accounts one of Egypt's greatest Pharaohs, and many speculate that his achievements were motivated by a desire to live up to his distant father's legacy.Moses: All he cares about is your approval. I know he will live up to your expectations. He only needs the opportunity.
- Ratatouille: Remy tries his best to show his father that he can be a chef and get along with humans, despite both these things seeming impossible due to them being rats.
- The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue: Timmy's late father is revered by the town, with everybody expecting Timmy to follow in his footsteps due to a prophecy. Timmy is initially reluctant, but trains for his entire childhood to honor the prophecy and his father's legacy.
- In Sing, Johnny is torn between his desire to gain the approval of his crime boss father by reluctantly following in his footsteps as a thief, and his desire to be a singer, especially after his secret ambition inadvertently leads to his father and his entire gang being sent to prison. Eventually, Johnny decides to stay true to himself and continue finding his own path, which causes his father to gain more respect for him after he has an epiphany and realizes singing really is his son's true calling. In Sing 2, it's revealed that Johnny has inspired his father and the entire gang to try turning over a new leaf as well, and has now become the pride of his clan, which means that Johnny has gotten what he's always wanted.
- In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mario is seeking to get the approval of his dad, who doesn't take kindly to him starting a plumbing business. He later learns that Donkey Kong is also wanting the approval of his father, who doesn't like his showboating attitude.
- Tarzan: Tarzan is constantly seeking the approval of Kerchak, who refuses to accept Tarzan as a member of the gorilla pack, much less as his adopted son. That all changes when Tarzan comes back to save them. Sadly, it doesn't last that long, as Kerchak receives a fatal bullet wound from Clayton. After Clayton's death, Tarzan kneels over Kerchak, who passes on leadership of the pack to Tarzan and acknowledges Tarzan as his son with his last words.
- In Turning Red, this is Deconstructed. We get to see a young Ming cry about how she doesn't believe that she will ever be good enough for Wu's approval.
- In Pixar's Up, this trope is revealed to be a central motivation for Russell and his obsession with earning all his Explorer patches: his estranged father has been ignoring him and Russell is clinging to a thin hope that if he earns all his patches and makes Senior Explorer, maybe his father will come for the promotion ceremony. As it is, when the boy finally makes it home and gets that promotion, his father fails to show and the boy is heartbroken. However, Carl, who now sees Russell as the son he never had with his wife Ellie, comes to play the father's role in the ceremony and gives Russell his most prized possession, the bottle cap badge Ellie gave him when they first met as children.
Some of Russell's interactions with Carl also follow this trope. Carl, himself, is trying to make his dead wife proud, feeling that he failed her in her dreams to have an adventure until he discovers that nothing meant more to her than having a life with him.
