The Croods

The Croods are the last remaining of their kind, teetering on the brink of change. Grug is the overprotective father figure, who is a walking testimony to “Never not be afraid.” Grug believes life is to be lived in routine, darkness and terror. The Croods spend most of their existence in the dark “safety” of their cave, where the outlook on life is “do not do anything new or different.”

 

Eep is the teenage daughter of the family and she is seeking the Light. She is asking the questions none of her other family members are asking, such as “Why are we here?” She sees that their life is not “living” it is just “not dying” each day. Eep wanders from the “safety” of the cave one night, enchanted by a light creeping through the cracks in the cave door. She meets Guy, who represents the new way, and they have an instant spark recognizing in each other their call for another way and a desire for Truth.

 

Change is inevitable and against all of Grug’s attempts to “protect” his family, the world around him disintegrates: the cave is destroyed and the family has no option but to take an initial leap into a new world.

 

The final scenes are transformative for Grug, as he is faced with either laying down his defenses and collaborate with Guy in opening up to a new way for himself and his family, or die. You cannot go back the same way you came! Guy leads them to a point where they must make the leap into the sun to “tomorrow” (the Real World). Grug has had such a transformation by now that when the time comes to throw his daughter Eep into the Real World, he tells her never to be afraid. Grug is temporarily left behind in the darkened, crumbling world, but having answered the call of his heart he is not left behind for long. He has his first “idea” ever and is carried across the bridge to the Real World, where he is reunited with the family into the Happy Dream.