The Child loved the main characters, pretty colors, the leafmen, the dog, etc. etc.
I, however, sat in the movie theater enraptured by THESE PEOPLE.
Queen Tara and Ronin.
Whoever did the character development is touched with greatness. Holy Hell.
If you are unfamiliar with the film, these two are NOT the lead characters. They are NOT the romantic interests. So what was the big draw that had me obsessing over these supporting characters and not the lead characters?
Ronin has all the makings of a hero - a tragic one though. He undertook the raising of a man-child BECAUSE HE HAS A MORAL CODE.
The moral code of characters, to me, is most compelling when it deals the character a shit hand. When the moral code doesn't make them noble and enviable, and it instead ruins their life, steals their dreams, etc. Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of my favorite Star Wars characters, and upholding his moral code stole his life - other than dealing with Anakin and Anakin's crap, what life did Obi-Wan have? And all simply because Qui-Gon asked him to.
Back to Ronin, there is this hint to me that his role in the world of leafmen keeps him from Queen Tara. They were childhood friends, but in adult life he is her guardian, her protector, and must be those things above all else. Above his own personal wants. Queen Tara appears to be rather enticed by him, always playfully, and Ronin is the one consistently putting on the brakes.
Something is preventing these two from being together, I feel it, because there is so. much. TENSION. There's little dialogue, due to them being side characters, but so much emotion and bond between them conveyed by so little. It is magical.
SPOILER ALERT
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Queen Tara is killed, and it takes away any future for Queen Tara and Ronin. Due to his moral code there may have never been a future in the sense of a tidy romantic off-in-the-sunset, but something is better than nothing and now he has nothing. Can you imagine the guilt and just how heavy his regret must be?
It's a lovely story, but when the film credits roll I'm always left stewing over the question of WHAT IS THEIR STORY?!
Was it childhood bonds broken by adult expectations? Was her role as the Queen what kept them apart? Was it his military ambitions? Was his military ambitions fed by an unconscious drive to protect Queen Tara or to be 'good enough' for her? I can only speculate in my brain.
This is a lesson for me. I want secondary characters to spark life and interest like this. I don't want them taking over the show necessarily, but secondaries should be interesting and have lives and motives and desires. Also, being able to tell so much with such few words and actions is a lesson in and of itself.