Good Wilt Hunting Movie Discussion 11/23/06

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Hold onto your socks.

Well it’s finally aired! Good Wilt Hunting has finally graced our tiny television screens with it’s presence, and the good folks at Cartoon Network under the watchful guidance of Craig McCracken and Lauren Faust have not disappointed. And here I get to ramble on about observations that I wrote not a few hours after I first watched the movie, then additions made after more viewings.

Wilt

Wilt has obviously felt bad ever since what happened between him, Foul Larry and Jordan. So bad that he actually ran away from the one place he felt at home, into the wide world only to end up in Foster’s. But what gets me is that whilst he’s spent all his years at Foster’s he’s never opened up to his friends. He never told them who his creator was, where he came from, not even the year he was created (evidence given in the scene of Mac looking at the Foster’s website information on him), yet when he leaves Foster’s to go face against Foul Larry again he tells parts of his history to complete and total strangers. Now why on earth would he do that? Is it because he knows he won’t stay with these people (or imaginaries, in one instance) for long so he can tell them, and then move on? Or maybe Wilt was finally ready, after all these years, to open up and talk about what happened. It’s a tough thing to talk about sure, not lonely loosing your arm and your eye in a basketball game but also to loose your best friend and feel like you let him down so hard, it forced you to run away from him in fears of hurting him even more? True he never gave away the whole story, only bits that mattered. Such as to Floofy Woogums, he only told her about how he too was lost from his child for so long, just like she was. Then because the elderly farmer mentioned that Wilt looked like a sportsman on the television did Wilt divulge him with the story of just why he was created in the first place; to help Jordan become a better basketball player (then his brother at least that was the core reason). And finally in front of some tough (I use the term loosely) men in the jail did he finally say that he crushed his little boy’s dreams. It’s funny that after all these years he finally opens up, but only to complete strangers who don’t know him; but those who will most definitely remember him.

Another thing that got to me was how Wilt lost his arm and eye. To have another friend created for the soul purpose of beating you has got to be one kind of a burn to bear, especially when you finally go up against this friend and his kid. It seems even if Foul Larry was breaking rules left and right, Wilt never once lowered himself to his level and go against the rules. He kept doing the right thing. But sadly the right thing cost Wilt the game, and ultimately, his arm, eye and Jordan. It’s the way Wilt lost it, it’s obvious he could have won the game but in the grand scheme of things Wilt knows what is far more important. The life of his child, his best friend in the whole world, was in jeopardy. How could he just allow Foul Larry to cause some serious damage to Jordan just so he could win the game? Simple, he couldn’t. So despite knowing that it’ll hurt, he pushed Jordan out of the way. I’m surprised he didn’t scream, or at least cry, when the initial pain stepped in. I mean having something that heavy land on your arm, obviously crushing it and breaking it in who knows how many places (I’ll check a screen grab later to see just how many twists and bends his arm takes) you would feel some pain obviously. A lot of pain. But despite the expression of his face he doesn’t. Perhaps the force of the pain was so strong it practically made him numb to it? Even when the basketball smashed his eye he didn’t scream either. He just looked so in pain, and to add to his injuries Jordan doesn’t even see what happened to him. Wilt just lost his arm and eye to save his child, and all he could think about was loosing the game, which at the time was the most important thing. To not only Jordan, but to Wilt as well. Feeling like he’s let his best friend down, despite having just saved his life, Wilt feels he is now inadequate to be his friend and all but runs away. Without even waiting for Jordan to see him. That I feel is very silly. Years of emotional pain could not have happened if Jordan had just looked at Wilt instead of being all bent out of shape on the outcome of the game. But still, he was a child at the time. And he later admits that having lost Wilt made him realise just what was most important to him in life. Not winning all the games, but knowing who his true friends are and caring about them most. So in a sad way, by both of them loosing the other both grew and changed in different ways. Plus, the favour was returned with Jordan saving Wilt from being crushed by Larry this time.

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I’m also very pleased to see Wilt has decided to stay on in Foster’s, even if Jordan offered to let him live in one of his mansions Wilt still doesn’t want to leave. But not just because of his love of all his friends in Foster’s, but he knows why he was created. He was brought into being to be a friend to a child, and an imaginary friend not having a child to look after and care for is the most difficult thing for them to do. Jordan was his past, a big piece of his past and he’s obviously grateful beyond belief to have something of his past to smile back upon now instead of feeling all that guilt, as well as having the friendship back. But Jordan was Wilt’s past, his future is still uncertain. Despite his many years living under Foster’s roof and not being adopted, he still holds firm in the belief that somewhere out there is a child who is waiting for him. They might not know it yet, but they will need him one day and the only way he could ever help them is if he stays in Foster’s. It’s touching to see him still so optimistic after all these years, still holding firm in the thought he’d be adopted. And who knows, maybe one day he will. He most certainly deserves to have a child again, to say the least.

Now it’s time for the other character’s roles.

Coco

Coco I feel was greatly left out of the movie. The only thing we learn about her is that she was discovered on an island all by herself. Even though the questions actually arose of what happened to her kid, and why she was there all alone, you never get the answer. Technically even if she answered we wouldn’t be able to understand her, but still. Coco holds even more mystery then Wilt. Whilst now we know where Wilt came from, and how he came about; Coco is still unknown. Well sure, through information leaked on the internet (“Thank Goodness the internet offers nobody any privacy!” ~ Adam) we know she was created on that island by the child who survived a plane crash. But what happened to her child? Why did Coco stay behind? Maybe her child was in fact rescued, but Coco felt she was better off staying on the island where she had grown up. It would have been painful for them to separate like that, but maybe her child also felt Coco was better at home alone on an island. But we won’t know until we finally see what happened to her.

Eduardo

Now my favourite character Eduardo got some lovely, tender moments. It was so lovely to see that he and his creator, Nina, still share such a beautiful bond after so many years. The two have such a lovely relationship, despite Nina now being a police officer and a grown woman she can still indulge in the novelties of being a little girl all over again with Eduardo. He does her nails, her hair, and they still play a Spanish game of clapping hands together when they feel bored enough. Plus given the fact he still cares to greatly for her he’d shake the Foster’s bus to pieces for her is great too. She is, after all, his creator. The first thing he did when he was created was scare off two thugs who were scaring her, and the next thing he did was embracing her in his arms and hugged her. That is Eduardo explained in just a few moments of animation. He, like Wilt, helped change their creators too. Whilst loosing Wilt helped teach Jordan what mattered most, with Eduardo around he helped Nina to become braver. Of course Eduardo would protect her at any cost, roaring and charging at any danger to scare it off from her, he is still a very sweet sensitive imaginary who has feelings who get hurt. If Eduardo is always there for her when she’s scared, why wouldn’t she be there for Eduardo when he’s scared? It’s a beautiful balance, and seeing the two together showed just how strongly a friendship can last. He feels no ills for her leaving him there either, sure he probably cried an ocean of tears when she did; but he understands that she loves him, always will, and she will always be back to visit for the reunions. I’d like to imagine she visits him between those reunions too.

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Douglas and Adam

Douglas and Adam were a nice little addition to the Foster’s cast. They are obviously intrigued with the possibility of making a new science solely dedicated to studying imaginaries and I say good on them! Imaginaries seem to be a lesser race in the world of Foster’s, being confiscated like chewing gum, and put in lost and found departments like a pair of socks. To understand fully what makes an imaginary friend tick both emotionally and physically would be an interesting thing to see. I’d most definitely buy THEIR books on the matter. They were such a pair of kids, also, with their crushes on Frankie. Both of them obviously liked the young woman very much, so much so they fought with flowers over who should give them to her. As well as holding open doors for her. Frankie is obviously not impressed with a pair of geeks being infatuated with her; she has better things to do with her time then feel humbled by these guys. But still she allowed them to join them on their journey, and that was very nice of her also. And whilst she was obviously annoyed she never punched them, or do anything mean to them. She just handled them with ‘yeah ignore them’ but still that didn’t hurt them. Sure it’s still mean to do that, but what else can she do? She has a missing Imaginary on her hand and having two lovesick teenager-like boys after you doesn’t help matters. But in a way, they did help matters. They helped them realise just where Jordan was, and if it weren’t for them the guys would probably not have been able to reunite Wilt with his long lost creator. So to that, I thank them. Plus I think Douglas is hot. Shut up. I like nerds.

Mac ‘n Bloo

Mac and Bloo, I felt, weren’t really up to scratch in the movie. I know it’s hard to fit everyone into his or her own glory scenes in a 60 minute movie, but what I got didn’t feel like it was to the full extent of what it could be. Bloo’s spontaneous screams of just what Wilt could be doing, where he came from and who created him was cute, the gag got way silly towards the end of the movie. Yes I admit I giggled at his Godzilla screams. Mac though, with his optimism in finding Wilt is what kept the group together. Even when Frankie began to doubt that they’d find Wilt, who kept on believing they’d pick up the trail? That they’d find clues? It was Mac, not Frankie. And that shows just how much Mac does care for not only imaginaries in general, but his best friends especially. Many felt they’d all loose heart eventually, but Frankie was the first to voice their negative feelings to her Grandmother on the phone, a surprise for me. But I’m not here to talk Frankie. I’m here to talk Mac, who was the one who realised the connection between Wilt and Jordan Michaels; something that could not have been easy. I mean, no one else in all those years made the connection; true no one else in the past really questioned Wilt about his past and think about just who his creator was, but good on Mac for being the optimistic one in the movie.

Frankie

Frankie too wasn’t really as great as I thought she would be. Surprisingly enough, as mentioned beforehand, she was the one to really voice their disappointment with the possibility of just turning around and going home. This is really not like Frankie at all. Yes she has a whole mess of chores to do back home, but Wilt has been a part of her life ever since she was a little girl who started hanging around her Grandma’s place because it was so cool and fun to be with all those Imaginary friends. Plus probably having a child around for the first time in years was a big mood lifter for those who had been without children a long time. She had a busload of people and imaginary friends hunting one imaginary who just didn’t seem to want to be found by anyone. Of course we know better, Wilt’s humanitarian personality is what kept him so busy and occupied during his trip. She had a lot to handle, that’s for sure, with that busload. Especially with Adam and Douglas’s relenting attempts to woo her and win her affection. She wasn’t interested, obviously. Maybe she’s just not in the mood for a relationship in general, or she’s being a bit superficial by not finding either of them approachable given their… nerdiness. I don’t know her reason. I’m just glad she didn’t hit either of em.

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Random observations

I love how Coco’s almost adopted Adam and Douglas as her boys even if they’re not really her creator. Her fawning over them at the end, combing hair and wiping cheeks was especially sweet. She probably even referred to them as “And my Douglas and Adam…” in the ‘wrap up’ scene. Aw, mother hennery Coco. How cute!

Eduardo is now the only main imaginary character we’ve seen being created. I am a happy Eduardo fan girl for that. Plus, I loved how he used to carry Nina around on his head, and even as an adult he still did that. And he hugs Bloo ‘n Mac just how he used to hug her too. Aw. More cute.

When did Wilt get those stitches on his face? In the scene where Jordan just runs past the street you see the back of Wilt’s head close up and he already has his middle lobe stitched. Did he do it himself? If so, ouch. Plus then, when did he have his arm removed? Did he walk around with a mangled arm until he came to Foster’s and Madame Foster had it removed because it was giving him so much pain? Hooray. Room for MORE speculation.

I liked the running gag of Frankie and Nina. That poor girl’s gonna owe a lot to the police by the time their whole incident’s over. Parking with a permit, parking in a red zone, speeding, road rage, going through a yellow light… even Jordan Michael wasn’t immune. Parking a leer jet in a city street earned him a ticket too.

Once again it proves what kind of friend Wilt is too. He’s a Helper Friend; it isn’t stated but you can tell right away that he was made to help Jordan become a better basketball. Then he went out of his way how many times to help strangers.

Plus now we’re given a time frame. Foul Larry ‘whooped Wilt’s butt’ 30 years ago. So in the year of 1976 was when Wilt became separated from Jordan, and he’s been at Fosters for at least twenty-two years; meaning he was there in 1984. That’s a good 8 years Wilt has unaccounted for. Just what he did in those years we might never know. He obviously made it all the way across the country, given the 'map' we saw shown where the guys were on one side of the country, and Wilt's destination was all the way on the other end of it. That wouldn't have been easy to do, especially without transport and money to pay for his way there unlike he did here. Hitchhiking with hippies? Walked the whole way? Bring on the fodder fan fic fillers. I know they’ll be coming.

Conclusion

So all in all, did I enjoy the movie? Yes, I absolutely did. Having a look back into just what made our imaginary friends who they are today was a treat to behold. Seeing Wilt animated in his whole form was beautiful, and Eduardo’s flashback moments with Nina were the sweetest things you could see. How things were resolved were very true to the Foster’s fashion, Bloo’s whole recap on their events was a treat, and especially Wilt and Jordan’s make up was a wonderful thing too. What this movie proves is that friendship lasts. Those who matter most will always be there, be it in spirit or in body they will always stay with you, helping you become a better person. I tip my hat to Lauren Faust especially for penning (typing?) this entire movie, she really had her work cut out for her and she did a simply fantastic job. They all did.

And that, my friends, is my two freakin' CENTS.

Oh, and two pieces of art.

Eduardo with Nina
They’re too cute together NOT to be drawn. I gotta draw her as an adult with him now.

Wilt with Jordan
And the man himself with his own creator, back in the good ole' days of 1979. Afro!

NOW I’m done.

[Mac]

I've just seen the movie and I adored it. It was so sweet and charming, yet sad and made you feel for Wilt. I was never a fan of Wilt, he actually kind of annoyed me. But after seeing this I've changed my mind.

Edwardo was adorable with his creator. Especially on the bus XD Best moment ever.

[Vanikoro]

I just finished watching it *looks at watch* 22 minutes ago!

Overal, I give it an "A" Any main points of this review will be put in spoiler tags for those who haven't seen it yet.

First off, the idea behind the renunion was perfect. I liked how the creator could be what we expected,
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Like the green hairy guy's creator.

or what we didn't expect:
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Fluffer-nutter's creator

I also think the Foster's gang creators were awesome.

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It was cool how Ed's creator was a cop and kept giving Frankie tickets, And these two nerds found Coco.

The backstories were also cool.

Bloo in the begining made be laugh But then again, he made me laugh all the time.

And now the star:
WILT!!!
Call me catious, but I'll keep all his info in a spoiler box.
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I thought it was interesting how Wilt felt so guilty he just up and left Fosters. When he was alone in his room during the reunion, it made me want to cry When he ended up being nice and kept missing his rides back home,he always found other ways there. I really liked when he found that friend her owner. In the end, I thought it was interesting how he got hurt and ended up the way he is.( I guess now we can prove millions of fanfics wrong! ) Just kidding.

All in all, I loved wish I could record it.

[Sims Katie]

It was strange seeing Wilt with two good eyes. Made his head look too big

One thing that I noticed was that they didn't explain how Wilt actually lost the arm. I mean, we saw it get crushed and then Jordan finds the wrist band. So what, did they do triage on the court or something?

["C" the Dragon]

Oh man, do I like it!!! We finally got to know part of Wilt!!

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I'm surprised that he would look like that with his eye a-okay and two arms before he lost the game saving his creator!!! And I'm also surprised that's how Wilt lost his arm and eye!! At least it wasn't violent, that's for sure.

I finally get to saw some other expressions on his face! (What? A Wilt-fan like me has to see some expressions on his face! There's still alot I needed to see!)

I'm also surprised that his creator is just like Wilt!!! Well, Actally, a little. It can't be dramatic like say, Wilt was really sorry that he lost but his creator ain't forgiving him until Wilt left and Wilt be stuck like this for life.

I *Love* the ending credits! Wilt's like a coach at the basket ball game! *So* LOL!!

And it's *so* cute that Wilt accedentally said "Chwisthmath" instead of "Christmas" to the small friend! KAWAII!!!!

The rest was good, and I gave it an "A", so, YAY!!!^^

[Voxxyn]

I'm glad the "Frankie and the nerds" thing didn't go anywhere farther than being a background anecdote. I was relieved that Frankie didn't punch them... but at the same time, I nearly cheered when she just nonchalantly shoved them off-screen at the very end. She deserves better, that's for sure. Not because they're "nerds", but because they seemed to be very rude and jerk-like.

And it was very sweet of Frankie to comfort the basketball headed IF as he arrived as a new resident.

[Cassini90125]

Originally Posted by Voxxyn

I'm glad the "Frankie and the nerds" thing didn't go anywhere farther than being a background anecdote. I was relieved that Frankie didn't punch them... but at the same time, I nearly cheered when she just nonchalantly shoved them off-screen at the very end. She deserves better, that's for sure. Not because they're "nerds", but because they seemed to be very rude and jerk-like.

And it was very sweet of Frankie to comfort the basketball headed IF as he arrived as a new resident.

They were more than a little annoying, that's for sure. And the scene at the end between her and Foul Larry was touching.