Hyp, Nod, and Mutt Showcase - November 2020

[rhombus]

Now, now, Alternative Character interpretation Gang... it will be your turn next month.  This month belongs to the bullies.

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In this topic please feel free to discuss Hyp, Nod, and Mutt as characters, to share your own creations (fanfics or fanart), or to mention some of your favorite fanworks of others involving them.  For a full set of rules please see the 2020 Monthly Character Showcase topic but keep in mind that this is meant to be fun as opposed to any sort of contest.

I will go ahead and get the discussion started with the following questions:

1.  What do you think about the characterization of Hyp, Nod, and Mutt in the third film? 

2.  What is your opinion of their main antagonist song, "When You're Big"?

[Goldenwind]

THESE GUYS!!!  These were probably the first non-sharptooth antagonists I ever saw in the franchise as I saw the third movie after the second one. Maybe because I saw Pokemon with Team Rocket, but I liked the idea of rival gang or Trio that the protagonists have to overcome. I also liked that though they are bigger (like how they sang about it XD) they are still kids/teens at the end of the day with the movie acknowledging this when Littlefoot goes to help them. Hyp even get's a neat redemption arc when we find out why he is a bully with it tieing in with Mr. Threehorn's character arc. Nod and Mutt however don't get as much development as Hyp, being his lackies and all which is kind of disappointing. ^^' However these guys might be the first and only non-sharptooth "villains" to have an appearance in the TV show (quatations because they are more like redeemed bullies. XD)

Also I remember really liking their song, it gave off: "Oh yeah, we are bigger and you can't stop us!" kind of vibes when I first heard it. It made me want to see these guys lose... (Funny as the whole egg song in the second movie made me want to see Ozzy eat a egg. XD) It was the perfect song to represent the antagonists of the movie.

Personally though I see Hyp and his gang as redemeed, I feel like he and his friends could still be mischievous troublemakers in the valley. Them trying to interfere with whatever the gang has planned or mess with them, though being good hearted at the end of the day. Although I do see Mutt and Spike being good friends. XD This screenshot kind of supports that as it looks like Mutt and Spike are smiling at each other as if they want to say "Hello". XD

[RainbowFaceProtege]

For a group of cartoon bullies, Hyp and his friends got better characterization than a lot of other examples I can think of. Most bullies in kids' stories tend to have this unbelievable 180-degree turnaround as soon as they learn their lesson, an annoyingly unrealistic trope that I always had a hard time swallowing. One moment, they're the main characters' worst enemy, but the next thing you know, they're all best friends forever! (Insert gagging here.) However, Hyp and his friends were spared this complete transformation, thank goodness--even after learning their lesson, they're still loud, they're still mischievous, they still call each other names. They're still very much recognizable, albeit with a bit of development. I have to give LBT a lot of credit for that.

That being said, I still have a complaint. Hyp and Mutt have their own defining characteristics, with Hyp being the bossy but insecure leader and Mutt being dimwitted but probably the most innocent of the group. But then there's Nod, who basically has no real personality whatsoever. I mean, it would've been nice if he occasionally got to do something besides saying "Yeah!" every time Hyp spoke.

I always enjoyed "Eggs" and "Very Important Creature" too much for "When You're Big" to be my favorite LBT villain song. That doesn't mean it wasn't catchy as heck, though. It's the kind of LBT song that sticks in my head for quite a while after I watch it. I gotta say, though, the most memorable part of it for me was always that weird little dance the bullies did towards the end of the song. Even as a kid, I always thought it was awfully silly looking for a group who was trying to be intimidating!

[Flathead770]

But then there's Nod, who basically has no real personality whatsoever. I mean, it would've been nice if he occasionally got to do something besides saying "Yeah!" every time Hyp spoke.

If I would guess, I'm pretty sure he's there to depict the sycophantic type attitude that someone might have to appeal to the "cool" crowd. Basically agreeing with whatever the person says as a way to get "in" with the group. It seems like he's intent on taking a bit of abuse and feeding Hyp's ego so he can be a part of the club.

I agree that it would have been nice to get a bit more development or interaction out of him. The only interaction I can recall with him and a character other then Hyp was when he was discussing with Mutt on how to free Hyp.

[LittleDas75]

 I think these characters could have been developed more. Their pretty one dimensional at first but later on in the film they get a bit of characterization.  But they needed more. Especially Mutt and Nod, also very subtle on the names.

[Sarah]

They had been my least favourite characters for years, but I've changed my opinion of certain characters a lot when I became older. First of all the third film turned out as a whole different movie, when I first understood the intentions of Hyp. Despite hating "when you're big" as a child, I started to like it, when I realized that this song represents their idea of adulthood of adults in general. They imagine adults as controlling and being angry and mean and shouting and being able to do anything they want, because this is what their or at least Hyp's parents did. Nod and Mutt are not really complex characters. I counted every time when they said something when I watched the film the last time. I was only able to watched until the "kids like us" song, but after a rough calculation I found out, that nearly 30% of what Nod and Mutt said was just agreeing with Hyp or repeating what Hyp had said. Is this good or bad? I don't know. It somehow shows us, that people sometimes loose a large part of their personality when their trying to be like the others to fit in the group.

[LittleDas75]

By the way did you know that Hyp is voiced by the same kid that played the "More like a six foot Turkey" kid from Jurassic Park? Well in TOTGG he was.

[Belmont2500]

By the way did you know that Hyp is voiced by the same kid that played the "More like a six foot Turkey" kid from Jurassic Park? Well in TOTGG he was.

I had no idea, no wonder he was so frightened by the raptor trio at the end.

[StardustSoldier]

1.  What do you think about the characterization of Hyp, Nod, and Mutt in the third film?

I've seen complaints about these guys being relatively harmless antagonists, but that never bothered me. I still found them entertaining. They filled their role as bully characters, I feel. Even if their portrayal as bullies was somewhat cartoonish (no pun intended), in this case it added to their appeal. In fact, I liked that they were portrayed as not being too mean, as it made them still strangely likeable in a way.

I also liked that the main antagonists in this movie (the bullies, Topps, Hyp's father) were all redeemable instead of being completely heartless monsters. Especially Hyp's father, who only appears briefly and could very well have been little more than just a one-dimensional abusive father, but we see that even he reforms by the end.

More generally, though, bully characters are hard to write, so I do understand the criticisms.

2.  What is your opinion of their main antagonist song, "When You're Big"?

I was pretty meh about it the first time around, back in mid-2019, although LBT songs in general hadn't grown on me yet. Nowadays I think it's pretty catchy.

[StardustSoldier]

1.  What do you think about the characterization of Hyp, Nod, and Mutt in the third film?

Taking this a step further today to talk about their characterization in the TV episode as well, "The Great Egg Adventure". It's interesting that this, of all episodes, is what ended up being the series finale. Even though it clearly wasn't intended as such, it still makes for a fun final episode.

As I expressed before, I enjoy the "movie character" episodes, so I was pleased to have this terrible trio back. The potential for more returning guest characters is probably the biggest reason I wish we'd gotten a second season, even more than my desire to see the Red Claw arc continued and expanded on.

Despite reforming at the end of the third movie, we see here that the bullies are still, well, bullies. I guess the writers wanted to retain some of their original characterization so that they still seemed familiar. On one hand, it does seem like a bit of a regression of their character development from the third film. But on the other hand, we see that they're not as mean as before. Hyp in particular comes off rather aggressive at first, but quickly becomes more cooperative once they hatch (har, har) their plan to move the egg.