Groot, a fighting talking tree who knows only one phrase (“I am Groot”), sacrificed himself in the first Guardians of the Galaxy to save his friends, but managed to survive and was reborn in the finale as a small dancing tree. The screenplay pleased the audience so much that Baby Groot suddenly became almost the main character: for his sake, the director even changed the plot of the sequel. Why is the piece of wood so honored?

It's very simple: little Groot brought the Marvel and Disney studios a lot of money, bypassing the movie screens. Although he was not intended to be the highlight of the program (Rocket Raccoon was being prepared for this role), the dancing Baby Groot melted the hearts of the audience, forcing director James Gunn to admit with some surprise: “Groot turned out to be the most popular character in the film.” Figures of the dancing Baby in a flower pot sold in huge quantities even before the film was released on DVD. The studio assures that it “did not expect such an effect,” but the phenomenon was evident, and something had to be done about it. Of course, Groot should have been brought back in the sequel. But return it in what form? After all, the adult Groot was not as popular as his “young” version...

Now we know from the trailers what the studio did: for a significant part of the screen time, Baby Groot acts instead of Groot (again voiced by Vin Diesel, although now, after passing through filters, his voice has become “cartoonish” and completely unrecognizable). He is already older than the tree from the first series, but overall he has become even cuter. And the time allotted to him in commercials has increased noticeably.

Of course, director Gunn assures that the sale of toys had nothing to do with it, but that it just happened that way. First he wrote about it on Twitter, then on Facebook. But along the way, he himself let it slip that he planned to start the sequel not with a little one, but with an already grown Groot. Why did you change your mind in the end? The idea of ​​an adult Groot, he says, "didn't work" (whatever that means).

“Then I came up with the idea of ​​having episode two pick up shortly after the end of episode one, with Groot still being a baby,” Gunn wrote. “And that decision became the key to the whole film, all the pieces suddenly came together.” Moreover, the director even reported that he was afraid that the studio would not allow him to leave Baby Groot in the plot.

You can believe these words or not, but there is a suspicion that if the studio wanted to rake in as much money as possible from little Groot, it would do exactly this: 1) throw the old plot developments into the trash; 2) tied the entire plot to the time zone where Groot remains a baby; 3) would increase his screen time; 4) would slightly change its design in order to release new figures; 5) would allow Groot to grow up in the end to boost sales of “adult” action figures.

In view of all these “coincidences,” it seems that this could not have happened without recommendations from the authorities. From a merchandise point of view, Baby Groot is a new character (he even behaves differently than in the first film, becoming naive and playful a la the immature Pinocchio), and Marvel always welcomes the introduction of additional characters, especially in cases where it is clear in advance that souvenirs with their image will be swept off the shelves.

Still from the movie "Guardians of the Galaxy"

Gunn doesn't deny that he understood Baby Groot's financial potential from the start: "I'm not an idiot and I knew that if Baby Groot worked, the whole world would want to buy Groot toys, action figures and plushies..." The director goes on to say, however: " But I wasn't at all sure about that when I was writing this story alone in my office, and it definitely wasn't driving force my decision [to keep Groot as a baby]. I just fell in love with this dude, although at that moment he only lived in my head.”

There is some inconsistency: on the one hand, the director was aware that Baby Groot had become “the most popular character,” but on the other hand, for some reason Gunn “wasn’t sure” that people would want new toys in the form of Groot, and even “ I was afraid” that the studio wouldn’t allow Groot to remain small! That is, he practically begged his bosses to let him make a lot of money for them.

To anyone who knows how much merchandise influences American cinema, such arguments will seem laughable. I, they say, didn’t give a damn about the toys, and if they sell in large quantities, then it’s just a pleasant coincidence. For comparison: it’s as if Michael Bay suddenly said that when filming the sequel to “Transformers”, he did not at all plan to increase sales of toys of the same name and inserted stupid twin robots there for a purely noble purpose - for the sake of powerful development of the plot. That is, he could have said it, but who would have believed it?

After the story that came to light that “Cars 2” was filmed by Pixar only for the sake of selling new figures (which is very noticeable while watching the film), one can only guess how often “souvenirs” become a true “plot engine” in Hollywood. Let's remember, for example, the Ewoks - creatures that appeared on the screen purely for the sake of toy sales... And they really sold with a bang.

IN English language There is even a special word for toyetic (used to refer to any entertainment content with high “souvenir” potential) - before the era of summer blockbusters, this term did not exist, and a toy release was never planned before the film or TV series became a hit. But today, when collecting figurines has become part of pop culture, a “souvenir” can go on sale even before the premiere, so as not to lose those buyers who will rush to stores immediately after the film screening.

And this “souvenir”, conscientiously calculated by marketers, almost always finds a sale. Sometimes it “saves” the entire project (for example, “Godzilla” by Roland Emmerich performed poorly at the box office, but vigorous sales of the “merch” associated with it averted a financial disaster). Moreover, with its huge circulation, it may even be in short supply: for example, Frozen souvenirs sold for more than $5 billion, squeezing out other toys from store shelves for a long time - and still at Christmas 2013 for Anna, Elsa , Olaf and Co. there were real battles between American parents, rushing to make their children happy...

Although the final owner of both “Frozen” and “Guardians of the Galaxy. Part 2 “one is Disney,” director Gunn is for some reason embarrassed to admit that his employers are interested in high revenue. He resolutely rejects accusations of “mercantile agendas.” Apparently, Gunn doesn’t want to look like a toy salesman, but wants to look like a man of art - although it is clear to anyone that all of Hollywood is built on commercialism, and the point of producing commercial films is precisely to make a profit.

The sale of things with the image of Mickey Mouse began to bring Walt Disney back in 1934 more money than his cartoons, and Walt welcomed this. Moreover, Disney not only became a pioneer in film merchandising, he is still the first in this regard today: the company he created owns the Pixar, Lucasfilm and Marvel studios, which are so successful in toy sales. Over the past quarter century, merch has permeated Hollywood from top to bottom. It is not customary to simply state this openly. After all, consumers really like to think of cinema as art...

Meanwhile, Marvel’s bosses mentioned a year ago that they intended to increase the amount of accompanying “merch” for the release of the sequel, relying specifically on Groot. Gunn may not want to advertise how important the “souvenir” is to Marvel, but the studio itself sees no reason to hide it. What is it?

Vin Diesel is the only actor whose voice was not redubbed in the Russian version of Guardians of the Galaxy, as he recorded Groot's lines in six languages. In the sequel, Diesel went even further and voiced his character in 16 languages ​​- further confirmation that the studio has high hopes for Baby Groot

Groot, we note, is far from the first case of this type. There are plenty of secondary characters who look brighter than the main characters in the history of cinema - take, for example, the saber-toothed Scrat from Ice Age, who became the hallmark of the entire franchise, or the penguins from Madagascar. Of course, the authors were aware that these guys were loved by the audience, so they tried to insert Scrat and the penguins into all subsequent episodes, and mountains of souvenirs were sold primarily thanks to them. The Penguins even earned their own TV series. But to tailor the main plot to them? This has never happened before. Therefore, apparently, Gann is embarrassed to call a spade a spade.

Obviously, when Baby Groot's unexpected potential emerged, iron had to be struck without leaving the cash register. Neither Scrat nor the penguins are a “perishable” product: their appearance does not change from series to series. And a grown-up Groot would quickly lose his childish charm and comedy. And it would have sold worse. Therefore, it was necessary to squeeze the maximum out of him while it was still possible. No matter what Gunn says, in our opinion, Baby Groot was inevitable.

Another question: is this bad? Certainly not. Both Marvel and Gunn know their stuff: they make money, but they also don’t forget to entertain the audience. The constant expansion of the cinematic universe by adding new characters has so far been possible for the studio without problems, so Baby Groot certainly won’t spoil the mess, and will certainly amuse everyone.

Moreover, the “souvenirs” also have unconditional benefits for the audience. For example, if it weren’t for merchandise, the legendary Han Solo would have died 30 years ago. Harrison Ford said that at some point he really wanted to kill this Star Wars hero, but George Lucas flatly refused - for the reason that figurines of dead characters sell worse than living ones. The fact is that, thanks to a deal with 20th Century Fox, Lucas always received his main income from licensed “souvenirs” (the studio farmed it out to him because they didn’t really believe in the “toy-ness” of the first film), and now it’s clear that that it was an extremely successful deal, since Yoda and his friends have sold $20 billion worth of toys since 1977. It is not surprising that George did not want to hand over Han Solo, one of his central money makers, to the clutches of death.

Lucas, in general, never hid from his colleagues that it was the sales of toys that laid the financial foundation of his film empire (that is, if he had not succeeded in selling “merch” in the late 70s, there would not be a worldwide known universe « Star Wars"). Moreover, Lucas once even publicly stated that the entire franchise was created just for the sake of toys. That's right: for the sake of toys.

So Khan was not destined to die. How many other public favorites were saved from death thanks to caps, cups, badges and figurines?

...Returning to the title topic, we can’t help but mention this fact: a few months ago, Vin Diesel blurted out that James Gunn wants to make a Guardians of the Galaxy spin-off entirely dedicated to Groot and Rocket. The question arises: if the studio gives the go-ahead, will it be only because of the “toyetic” nature of this couple? I would like to believe that it is not and that the plot of the film itself will be worthy of the idea voiced. But if the money-making Baby Groot appears again in the spin-off, we wouldn't be surprised at all.

Cinemafia has selected 11 of the best scenes from the film for you. But, attention! SPOILERS!

While Guardians of the Galaxy has now crossed the $160 million box office mark, we've rounded up the best scenes. True, you can argue with us.

And, yes, the text contains complete spoilers, including detailed description post-credit scenes. So if you haven't seen the film yet, then blame yourself. We warned you!

Dancing Star-Lord

The second "opening scene" we see after the Marvel title sequence is Star-Lord (aka Peter Quill) dancing on the abandoned planet Morag to the song Come and Get Your Love. This moment is imbued with a non-trivial combination of wit and fun, which creates just the right mood. Right now. Later We get to see Chris Pratt dancing once again as he challenges Ronan the Accuser to a “dance battle.” Let's just say that such a bold technique does not work so harmoniously in every blockbuster.

The Legend of Kevin Bacon

One of the funniest jokes is about Kevin Bacon. When Gamora tells Peter Quill that she is a killer and a warrior, which means she doesn't dance, he... responds (we quote the phrase as it is in the dub):

On my planet there is a legend about people like you. It's called "Free". This story is about how a great hero, his name is Kevin Bacon, taught a whole city of inflated turkeys the great art of dancing. And it was incredible.

To which Gamora replies: “Who fooled these turkeys?” This shows how literally everything is taken on that side of the Galaxy.

Note: 1984 film Footloose, starring Kevin Bacon leading role - American classic. According to the plot, main character arrives in a small provincial town where dancing is prohibited. And only he manages to change these old-fashioned orders.

Rocket jokes on disabled people

The first time we encounter this is during the prison break, when Rocket asks Peter Quill to get him a prosthetic leg from one of the prisoners. A little later, when discussing the plan to attack Ronan's ship, he tries to convince everyone around that the false eye of one of Yondu's Ravagers is the most important element. Even in the most “hot” situations, Raccoon does not lose his signature sense of humor

Rocket's drunken speeches

Perhaps Raccoon's most powerful moment in the film is the scene in the bar where Rocket pours out all his feelings and emotions. In particular, resentment at being called a “pest.” He’s crying because it’s as if he didn’t ask for the laboratory experiments that turned him into a monster to be carried out on him. At this moment we understand that specific humor and insulting others are just a defensive reaction. This scene is truly dramatic because for a moment you completely forget that the Raccoon is just a computer character.

100% asshole

Let's immediately make it clear that in the original it sounds like 100% Dick. Thus, while working out a plan to destroy the Black Aster, Star Lord sends one of the NovaCorps representatives a “dick” message, which says that he, of course, is an “asshole,” but not one hundred percent. And asks for help.

Yondu Udonta and his arrow

Michael Rooker's Yondu is more than just a savage. He managed to turn this character into a very charming bad guy. When Yondu's ship crashes, he finds himself surrounded by Ronan's servants. But with the help of his trusty arrow, he calmly deals with twenty opponents. Yondu collects figurines on his dashboard, which, on the one hand, throws us straight back to Firefly, and on the other hand, shows his soulful nature. You know, like bikers who actually work in a flower shop.

Groot's smile

Groot's smile is literally the icing on this Guardians of the Galaxy cake. While making their way to Ronan, Drax, Star-Lord and Groot stumble upon an entire army. Which Groot destroys... hmm... brutally. And then he turns around with an innocent and sincere smile, as if asking: “Did I do something good?” Yes, Groot, you really did a good job.

We are Groot

Towards the end of the film, Groot saves the entire crew by forming a "protective nest" around them. At the same time, the hero, who throughout the entire film utters exactly one phrase - “I Am Groot,” this time says “We Are Groot,” which can be read as “We Are Friends.” Yes, it was possible to do something completely different and give Groot fundamentally different words at the end of the film, but the creators went exactly this way, thereby endowing familiar words with a completely different meaning.

Dancing Groot

The first scene after the short credits shows us dancing little Groot against the backdrop of Drax rubbing his knives after the battle. All this happens to the tune of “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5. This moment gives the audience its charge of positivity, and people leave the theater smiling (although we know that no one leaves a Marvel movie after the first scene).

Listen, baby. Ain't No Mountain High Enough

The final scene, when Peter Quill finally unpacks his mother's farewell gift - the Awesome mix 2 cassette, literally tears the heart, not without the help of the song Ain't no mountain high enough. We understand that the heroes have finally found not just friends, but new family. Yes, this is a wonderful moment.

Howard the Duck

Yes, here it is, the main spoiler. The post-credits scene shows the hapless Tivan Collector inspecting the damage to his collection. And then Howard the Duck appears with a snide comment. Fans are still arguing about who gave the voice to Howard - Seth Green, announced on imdb, or Nathan Fillion, whose cameo everyone was waiting for.

UPD. Still Seth Green!

The costume designer for this film was constantly collaborating with Marvel Alexandra Byrne. I already wrote about her in an article about the first “Thor”, and she also worked on “The Avengers”, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and upcoming "Doctor Strange".

Working closely with production designer Charles Wood, makeup and hair designer Elsabeth Iyanni-Giorgio and makeup specialist David White, Alexandra created an entire cosmic world.

It's a very collaborative film. I worked very closely with all departments. The closest thing is to makeup specialists, because if the silicone pads and makeup just end up in the neckline of a T-shirt, it will just look like a bad Halloween costume.

James Gunn, the director of the film, wanted the film to have a lot of bright colors.

For this film, color became one of my most important tools. We used a lot of strong, vibrant colors to match the different skin tones of the aliens.

And here it was very important to have good taste, so as not to overdo it, and at the same time achieve beautiful picture. In general, color combinations are one of the rather difficult topics for an artist, and, despite many recommendations, in many respects here you have to rely only on your intuition.

Peter's costume is one of the most interesting among superheroes.

His cape is a mixture of so many cool things. We took and mixed some of the cowboy, some of the biker, some of the rock star, some technology from a broken spacesuit and added a bit of retro.

For all Ravagers, clothing was created in the same style - the silhouette of a certain type of cloak and a single crimson color. But at the same time, this gang had to look diverse, so five variants of different types of costumes were created, all personalized.

And for the final battle, the Guardians also don Ravager costumes. Pay attention to the same flame symbol on everyone's costumes - on Yondu's chest, on Peter's arm and on Gamora's shoulder.

It turns out that Chris Pratt's weight loss for the role also caused the costume designer a lot of problems:

It was a real challenge. Chris was cast very early in the role and needed to lose weight. So we had to try to predict what his body would be like when he got into perfect shape. This is very important from the point of view of the silhouette, but I also know from experience that it is impossible for only one tailored suit to be ready by the first day of filming, because the rest cannot be done in one night. We couldn’t say: “Well, when we have a body in the right shape, then we’ll start sewing things.” So we had to make a lot of prototypes of Chris's supposed body. He has an amazing physique and is a big guy, and making it work on camera was a bit like juggling porcelain. I wanted Peter to look both modern and at the same time alien, almost alien. And, of course, there were a lot of fittings.

Plus, one of the practical challenges was that he had all these blasters and pistols. It took nine people and the coordinated work of several departments to integrate the pistol holsters into Quill's pants. We couldn't start designing the sides of the pants until the guns and holsters were designed in other departments so we could know how big those guns would be. And so it is with many things - it takes a long time and a lot of interaction to make a tiny element of the costume work.

Leather top is a common motif in Peter's clothes. The cloak, jacket, vest are all made of red leather and are very similar in style, echoing the idea of ​​the Ravager costumes.

Apparently this jacket is very dear to our Star-Lord - even after changing his clothes to Nova Corps suits after the battle, he remains in it:

Alexandra herself says that she always bases her work on comics:

I study the script first, then move on to the comics. When working for Marvel, they are always the main source of materials. But then I expand my search to different visual areas, compiling a series of images for inspiration and creating the necessary mood. I look for ideas that will inspire the viewer to discuss the costume. Sometimes it goes too far and I go back to the comics to see how it fits into the character.

Also, when thinking through a costume, the actor is very important, this was especially evident with Zoe Saldana:

You can draw as many sketches as you want, but until you have an actor, especially for a character with as much personality as Gamora, you don't see the physical embodiment of the character. Working with an actress in a fitting room and turning a sketch into the real thing is a completely different matter.

The image of Gamora is a collective image through all the comics in which she appeared. When I learned that Zoe Saldana would be playing the role, a lot of ideas immediately came to my mind; she brought a lot to this role. Plus, Gamora is a warrior, so it was important to maintain ease of movement in the costumes.

On the question of the actor’s influence on the character, here’s how Zoe herself describes the process of creating the character:

How “alien” is Gamora supposed to be? And I thought: She just has to be pretty." I don't usually think of my heroines that way, but since I was going to be green and the only main female character, I wanted teenagers to think I was attractive. I don’t know why I was so nervous during the screen tests, but it was incredibly stressful. True, these were my thoughts, others had completely different problems: should I use contact lenses or not? Should I dye my hair or not? Wig or not? How to color your hair? How long is the hair? And I’m like: just cute. For teenagers. They must like us. But after being green for four months, I began to think - what is beauty? And I realized that my character was very beautiful, and I was surprised how differently I began to treat her, having gotten used to her appearance.

I enjoyed creating the prison uniform. There's a lot of detail here because I think in a big film like this you need the little details to make the viewer believe in the believability of the world created. Therefore, we created a kind of barcode that denotes various crimes, and is applied to the uniform of criminals. In addition, we aged some of the costumes of the background characters, and added personalized drawings that indicate how long the wearer of the uniform has been in prison. We also developed a sort of trading system out of beads and jewelry that they made in Kiln.

Personally, I admire such elaboration. Although the viewer does not pay attention to all this and does not know the designations, out of the corner of his eye he notices the difference in the bar codes on the prisoners’ uniforms, sees various decorations on them, and this creates in him a feeling of plausibility of what is happening.

In the case of Drax, the designers had a slightly different problem than with Gamora - the less clothing the character wears, the more attention is paid to it and every detail becomes very important. For example, it was very difficult to determine the waistline of his trousers.

Dave Bautista has a great body and is a pleasure to work with. You just take it and start working with it, get inspired by it.

Pay attention to the beads at his belt - the same decoration that speaks of the length of his stay on Kiln.

Unfortunately, Groot, for obvious reasons, did not have clothes in the film, but real small suits were sewn for his partner, which were then used on the set and were very useful when “revitalizing” the character with computer technology, since the artists had something to rely on in life.

But when creating Ronan’s costume, functionality took a back seat:

Everything about his suit worked for the character, but he also needed to fight in the suit, so it had to be practical. I had a very strong feeling that his costume should resonate with his ship, as if they were strongly connected. Therefore, we worked very closely with the art department, which developed appearance ship to create a kind of echo between them. And a little later we decided to add a semblance of ritual drawings from his skin and onto his costume, and this took Ronan's character to a new level.

Notice how the costume echoes the architecture of the ship:

Also worthy of respect is the almost invisible work here, which made it possible, thanks to shoulder pads, shoulder pads and other pads, to create a broad-shouldered alien out of Lee Pace.

Unfortunately, there is no information about the costumes of his main assistant Nebula, so I just suggest you admire the concept art:

The sources of inspiration for the image of the Collector turned out to be quite unexpected:

When you have someone like Benicio Del Toro, you know you have a great actor to work with, someone who can complement the costume with his mannerisms and habits. He used that look well and we tried to bring his mannerisms to life. It's like Liberace meets Billy Idol.

Unfortunately, Russian viewers are little familiar with Liberace, but he was a very famous singer in America in the 50s-70s, and American viewers probably had no problems with associations. Here are examples of his stage costumes:

Well, Billy Idol, who is more familiar in Russia:

In general, in fact, this is extremely interesting topic- what associations the costume designer is trying to convey and how it is perceived by viewers in other countries, and whether this is read or not when watching the film. And, indeed, any detail is brought into the costume for a reason, but to show something, some character trait of the character.

But let's return to the heroes of Guardians of the Galaxy. Here's what Alexandra Byrne says about the Nova Corps:

Again, this is where the comics are the starting point, we really start with them. And, again, working with color. I think with so many films that are dark, moody and realistic, James was very clear about his vision for color in his film. And of course, Nova Corps was exactly where we wanted to make a statement with color.

Comics body:

And in the film:

Notice how the folded folds on the shoulder of one Corps member's uniform are repeated in the command's clothing. A real military uniform was created, very unusual due to the beautiful diagonal placement of folds, uncharacteristic for Earth.

DIY Gru from the movie Guardians of the Galaxy

A popular character from a famous science-fiction action movie may turn out to be yours too. Making a Guardian of the Galaxy figurine with your own hands is not at all difficult. The manufacturing technique is simple, and the result is very realistic. You can use such a figurine at your own discretion: as a figurine for a mini-garden, as an interior decor item, etc.

Materials

Before starting work, prepare:

• wire;
• brown paint;
• clay pots;
• sand;
• stones;
• brushes to add texture;
• salty dough.

Step 1. The very first stage of work will be making the skeleton of the figurine from strong wire. Having outlined the basic proportions and parameters on paper, twist a kind of skeleton of a Guardian of the Galaxy figurine out of wire.

Step 2. Now the figure needs to be shaped. To do this, you need to apply salt dough in pieces onto the wire skeleton. Instead of this material, you can use other plastic and hardening materials, such as polymer clay and much more. Give the shape of a tree with a head to the guardian figurine, form the outline of the face.

Step 3. Roll small sausages of different thicknesses from the dough and, pressing down, place them on top of the mold, starting from the bottom. Give the guard's hands the shape of curved tree branches.

Step 4. Also give the head a characteristic shape. To begin, use the sharp end of the brush to form the eyes and mouth, and use a toothpick and fingers to correct any imperfections. Make “hair” out of sausages. They should resemble broken tree bark.

Step 5. The resulting figurine needs to be painted. First, cover it all with brown. Let the paint dry. Then, using a thin brush, give the wood a deeper texture, closer to natural. Darken all the recesses with a darker shade of brown, and, on the contrary, lighten the convex places.

Use green paint to paint several veins, imitating weaving leaves, and also paint the tips of the finger-branches.

Step 6. After the paint has dried, completely cover the figure with acrylic varnish. Wait for it to dry completely.

Step 7. Take a pot and use dough sausages to put the name of the guard “Groot” on it. Cover the pot and letters with varnish.

Step 8. Pour sand into the bottom of the pot and add glue. Insert a guard figurine into this solution. Let the glue set and harden. Sprinkle the top of the pot with stones and pieces of moss.