History WesternAnimation / Gallavants

* AnAesop:
** Anything ''is'' possible, if you want it enough. But wanting it enough means actually trying to get it instead of expecting it to happen on its own.
** If you screw up, don't give up and walk away. Fix it or try to do better next time.

* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: Possibly. The website mentions that the latest batch of Gallavants are born from one of the thousands of eggs the (recent) queen lays, like real ants. This would make each generation related to each other, like brothers and sisters. However, in this film, the classmates only refer to each other as friends, and no one ever seems to talk about siblinghood or anything like that. In fact it's not mentioned that the queen has anything to do with eggs at ''all'' in the film, and she certainly doesn't treat Shando and so forth in a particularly motherly fashion. Of course, the website ''also'' doesn't talk about the Gallavants all being related somehow, nor does any of the viewpoint characters on the website talk about the queen as anything but their queen, so who knows.

* BrilliantButLazy: Shando is established early on as being clever and a naturally-talented musician who want to train ''this'' skill, but he's shown not to be motivated to do anything that doesn't come to him naturally. Part of his CharacterDevelopment is learning that doing things you don't ''want'' to do matters just as much as doing things you love.

* CatchPhrase: "Anything is possible!" is apparently one of Teetor's, and Shando quotes it constantly to explain why he's attempting something or as an excuse. Notably, within the movie when Shando quotes it to Teetor himself, Teetor chides him by saying that anything is just going to happen for him easily.

* MeaningfulName: The vanterviper's heads, Edil & Fice. ''Edelweiss'', get it? Inverted: They're far from sweet. There’s also Antonim, "the complete opposite to Teetor", and Antik, "the Queen’s court jester".

* BrilliantButLazy: Shando is established early on as being clever and a naturally-talented and musician, but he's shown not to be motivated to do anything that doesn't come to him naturally. Part of his CharacterDevelopment is learning that doing things you don't ''want'' to do matters just as much as doing things you love.

* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: Possibly. The website mentions that the latest batch of Gallavants are born from one of the thousands of eggs the (recent) queen lays, like real ants. This would make each generation related to each other, like brothers and sisters. However, the classmates only refer to each other as friends, and no one ever seems to talk about siblinghood or anything like that. In fact it's not mentioned that the queen has anything to do with eggs at ''all'' in the film, and she certainly doesn't treat Shando and so forth in a particularly motherly fashion. Of course, the website ''also'' doesn't talk about the Gallavants all being related somehow, nor does any of the viewpoint characters on the website talk about the queen as anything but the queen, so who knows.

A staple of mom-and-pop [=VHS=] rental stores and of {{Creator/Nickelodeon}}'s "Special Delivery", the Gallavants are still much-loved in their native Scandinavia but are known in America only for this movie. Which is, in case the plot description didn't clue you in, really weird. A review can be read [[http://madnessmonster.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/gallavants-review/ here]].

* BeneathTheMask: Shando's seeming confidence and easygoing attitude quickly crumble when faced with adversity, revealing a less-confident person who gives up easily.

* BeneathTheMask: Shando's seeming confidence and easygoing attitude quickly crumble when faced with adversity, revealing a less-confident person

* AmicableAnts: The Gallavants are a peaceful, benevolent colony of ants and very hard-working. Each one has a specific job, and they place great importance on knowing one's place in the colony. The protagonist, Shando, is lazy, and wants to become a musician without having to do any lessons. He ends up going on an adventure and [[EarnYourHappyEnding earning his dream job]].

* AmbiguousSituation: ....Okay, here's the deal, and this isn't going to make any sense if you're reading this up here at the top of the page before anything else, so you may want to come back. Shando stumbles upon an orange bouncy thing while searching for the egg and (perhaps half-joking) says it must be his ka-bump that developed and fell off. He eventually attaches the thing to his butt, and it shows a few interesting properties like being able to allow him to bounce on it, which he uses to save the day by bouncing high enough to grab a root and pull the ceiling down on the Vanterviper. He's a hero to the town, etc., but Teetor knows the "ka-bump"'s not real and tells Shando the tale of an apparently sapient egg which got lost ages ago and rolled itself into the sunlight where it stayed for so ridiculously long that rather than hatch into a proper Gallavant it became magical, and Shando must have accidentally found it. After the celebration, Shando's bummed because technically the magic egg was responsible for saving the town and he feels dishonest taking the credit. He also doesn't know what to do about the wayward egg (he's holding it in his arms right now) or not having a ka-bump. Teetor congratulates him on his integrity and suggests trying to grow a ka-bump again after all his experiences. Shando concentrates, and ''the egg shrinks down into nothing''. He checks and he has his ka-bump. So was the "egg" really his (strangely-powered) ka-bump after all and Teetor was wrong or was it the egg that pulled some manner of FusionDance or HeroicSacrifice to give him the ka-bump he wanted? Did it always know it would become a kabump someday and that's why it went to that spot?

* GetOut: Shando, has washed out of [[RiteOfPassage getting his ka-bump]] (making him ineligible for the Musicant job he wants since GITS aren't allowed in the tavern) and left several jobs which might have earned him a ka-bump after screwing up on the first day. He eventually ends up spending a night sleeping in Teetor's garden (unbeknownst to Teetor) and gets awakened by being accidentally watered. He asks Teetor if he might be able to stay in the garden until he figures out how to get a ka-bump. Teetor tells him, politely but firmly, to get a damn job, hippie.

* {{Action Girl}}: Eegee, a female Gallavant. Eventually joins the Enforce-ants, the group that protects the colony from Vantervipers.

* {{Big Eater}}: Bok, who at one point downs four drinks at one time.

* {{Cool Teacher}} / CoolOldGuy: Major Mentor Teetor

* {{Foreshadowing}}

* {{The High Queen}}: Queen Mallikam.

* {{Insect Gender Bender}}: Unlike real ants, both male and female Gallavants contribute to society.

* {{List Song}}: "Every Grant Serves Us All" lists the different roles of Gallavant society and gives a brief synopsis of what they do.

* {{Multiple Head Case}}: The Vanterviper. They even have their own VillainSong contemplating their miserable existence.

* {{Pink Girl Blue Boy}}: Played straight for most Gallavants

* {{Theme Naming}}: Nearly every occupation in Ganterville conveniently ends with the suffix '-ant'
* {{Villain Song}}: "Two Heads Ain't Better Than One"

* AmbiguousSituation: ....Okay, here's the deal, and this isn't going to make any sense if you're reading this up here at the top of the page before anything else, so you may want to come back. Shando stumbles upon an orange bouncy thing while searching for the egg and (perhaps half-joking) says it must be his ka-bump that developed and fell off. He eventually attaches the thing to his butt, and it shows a few interesting properties like being able to allow him to bounce on it, which he uses to save the day by bouncing high enough to grab a root and pull the ceiling down on the Vanterviper. He's a hero to the town, etc., but Teetor knows the "ka-bump"'s not real and tells Shando the tale of an apparently sapient egg which got lost ages ago and rolled into the sunlight where it stayed for so ridiculously long that rather than hatch into a proper Gallavant it became magical, and Shando must have accidently found it. After the celebration, Shando's bummed because technically the magic egg was responsible for saving the town and he feels dishonest taking the credit. He also doesn't know what to do about the egg (he's holding it in his arms right now) or not having a kabump. Teetor congratulates him on his integrity and suggests trying to grow a ka-bump again after all his experiences. Shando concentrates, and ''the egg shrinks down into nothing''. He checks and he has his ka-bump. So was the "egg" really his (strangely-powered) ka-bump after all and Teetor was wrong or was it the egg that pulled some manner of FusionDance or HeroicSacrifice to give him the ka-bump he wanted?

* OutsideContextProblem: Teetor has no idea what the hell the bouncing orange thing Shandor brought back from the caves is, but he speculates it ''might'' have been an egg said to have been lost ages ago and exposed to sunlight for eons until Shando fell onto it and hatched whatever it became. Or it's Shando's lost ka-bump. All he can say is he's never seen anything like it.

* FeatherFingers: The Vanterviper's pointed noses are suprisingly expressive, and at one point Fice even uses his nose to accusingly point at Edil, like an index finger!

* AntiVillain: Antonim dislikes Teetor and thinks he's a poor teacher whose soft-hearted methods make the colony weak, but he wants only what he thinks is best for the colony and and the queen as well as having a sense of honor at the end of the day.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Antonim's right that Shando shouldn't deceive the town, especially given the significance developing a ka-bump has to the culture and the fact that the sapient egg is, well, sapient.

* DarkestHour: After trying numerous Grants, messing up his first day and giving up on all of them and ending up taking care of eggs, Shadno's idea to quickly sort them ends up accidentally causing on egg to roll away into the deepest parts of the colony. Shando's about to give up, but a pep song from Eegee motivates him to keep searching for the egg, and finds a ball which emits an incredibly bright light that blinds him.

** A "Grant" is a guild which performs a service for the colony (Radi-ants collect solar energy, Hydra-nts work with manipulating water.

* PassingTheTorch: By the end of the movie, Teetor plans to have Shando take his place as Major Mentor when he finally retires, with Shando being a Musicant and learning from him.