I Am Groot is a Disney+ animated series of shorts set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, created by Ryan Little, directed by Kirsten Lepore, animated by Luma Pictures, and based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name.
The series of shorts focuses on Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) during his various misadventures throughout the galaxy while growing up.
In addition to Diesel, Bradley Cooper reprises his role as Rocket Raccoon.
I Am Groot premiered with five shorts on August 10, 2022. A second season of five shorts premiered September 6, 2023.
Previews: Season One Official Trailer
, Season Two Official Trailer
I Am Groot provides examples of:
- Alien Blood: A variation in that it's a plant instead of an animal. The bonsai tree who takes Groot's place as the pampered plant in "Groot's First Steps" looks like a bonsai tree from Earth, but when Groot breaks it, bright green elastic sap pours out.
- Ambiguously Human: Or in this case, Ambiguously Plant. The tree in the first episode resembles a bonsai tree but has green colour elastic sap, bringing the question as to what it really is.
- Black Comedy: Groot, upon seeing the tiny alien civilization treating one of his leaves as a bountiful harvest, collects a whole bunch of trees and runs back towards the civilization... and then accidentally steps on them. He then awkwardly puts the rock back over and runs away. Subverted after the closing title card, as it's revealed that they survived.
- Call-Forward: "Groot Noses Around" features Groot playing video games in his messy, filthy quarters, a habit he would retain in his adolescence, as seen in one of The Stingers of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
- Company Cross References: In "Magnum Opus", Groot uses one of Marvel's ALF comics for his art project.
- Cower Power: Baby Groot cowers on the ground after encountering a race of tiny aliens that assume he is hostile, arming weapons and ships at him.
- The Comically Serious: Uatu displays this in full force during "Groot and the Great Prophecy", where he narrates about how Groot will fulfill a prophecy that will usher in a new era of peace in the universe. However, this is when he runs into Groot, who is more focused on playing with his ball and messing around with the temple holding the seed mentioned in the prophecy.
- Creator Cameo: James Gunn makes a voice cameo as the automated voice on the smartwatch in "Groot's Pursuit.
- Continuity Cameo: Uatu the Watcher watches Groot throughout "Groot and the Great Prophecy".
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: In "Groot's Pursuit", Groot sits down on the toilet and reads an alien version of Everyone Poops, with the upper-left image on the cover replaced by a drawing of Thanos.
- Interquel: The first episode takes place at some point between the first and second movies; the others are apparently between the end of the second movie and the stingers.
- Lighter and Softer: No Avengers level threats here! These shorts are more concerned with Baby Groot’s antics as he grows up, rather than the fate of the world/galaxy/universe/multiverse.
- Lilliputians: Baby Groot encounters a surprisingly advanced groups of tiny aliens under a rock.
- Logo Joke: The Marvel Studios logo sequence has the same style from What If...?, except Baby Groot is fast-forwarding the video to the exact opening logo.
- No Animals Were Harmed: Each episode ends with a disclaimer that none of the alien species featured were harmed during the making of the episode, although the disclaimer at the end of "Magnum Opus" says that the same cannot be said for their handlers, which is a Call-Back to the credits in Vol.2.
- Pokémon Speak: As the title indicates, there is little spoken dialogue from anyone but Groot, and as always, Groot speaks a Starfish Language which sounds to outside observers as if he is just saying the phrase "I am Groot". In his confrontation with the shapeshifter Iwua in "Groot's Pursuit", we can surmise that on one or two occasions "I am Groot" is actually what he is saying, as Iwua is impersonating him.
- Recycled Title: I Am Groot was also used as the title of Groot's 2017 comic book series.
- The Stinger:
- Episode 2 - the tiny aliens survived the devastation of their tiny city after Groot stepped on it.
- Episode 5 - the picture Groot had been working on is still intact, it's just floating in space.
- Episode 3, Season 2 - Groot finally gets to drink his hot chocolate, but he knocks it off the table because it's too hot... and spills it all over Rocket offscreen.Rocket: AGH! DUDE!
- Took a Level in Badass: Groot in this series of shorts is very creative and resourceful in solving his problems, in sharp contrast to Vol. 2, which depicted him as largely unable to understand anything going on around him. Justified from the second short onward, which take place after Vol. 2.
