Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at Kim Possible: So the Drama

Hey, look at that, we’re talking about Kim Possible again. I truly am glad that I decided to include the Disney Channel made for TV Kim Possible Movies in the Deep Dive Disney line up. It has truly been a treat to relive this show from my teen years with adult eyes and finally being able to see just how intelligent and funny this show really was. The show was so popular that it warranted not one, but two Disney Channel movies. Today’s outing, Kim Possible: So The Drama, was actually intended to serve as the series finale but ended up being so well received that the show ended up getting renewed for a fourth season. While I personally enjoyed season four overall, if Kim Possible did end here, I honestly would have been fine with that since this movie would have ended things on a very satisfying note. So, what is our story that was intended to wrap up this entire show? Well, Kim is looking for a date to prom but finds that all of the boys in school are taken, all… except Ron. This whole thing, combined with the recent takeover of his favorite Mexican restaurant (It’s Ron, it makes sense if you know the show), forces both Ron and Kim into an existential crisis where he’s forced to admit to themselves that they have feelings for one another and contemplate what that revelation means for their friendship. Do they keep the cherished relationship they already have, or do they take the risk and admit their feeling to the other and change everything? A wrench gets thrown in the works when a new student named Eric, who seems by all appearances to be the perfect guy, takes an interest in Kim. While Kim sees Eric as a way to have a date for prom without altering her friendship with Ron, Ron sees Eric as trying to edge him out and ultimately replace him. Things soon get even worse when Drakken puts his most diabolical plan yet into motion, a plan so seemingly random yet well put together that even Shego can’t figure it out, which, by Drakken’s logic, means Kim won’t be able to figure it out either. Will Kim and Ron remain friends or take that next step? And how do stolen toy designs, fast food restaurants and teen girly magazines factor in to Drakken’s evil plan? Well, you’re not going to find out reading the intro, so let’s dive right into, Kim Possible: So The Drama.

Main Character:

We already discussed Kim and Ron as characters in great detail when we covered A Sitch in Time. Truth be told, I don’t have a lot to say about them this time around and what I do have to say is better suited to the Story section. That having been said, I really like that more so than our last look at the series, it’s the relationship between Kim and Ron that takes center stage in a way that it really hadn’t been seen up to this point. Kim is still the Kim we love and while Ron appears to be going through an existential crisis exacerbated by losing Bueno Nacho to a hostile takeover and losing Kim to some sexy new guy. However, Kim and Ron’s arc in this film ties directly into the themes of the film so see you in the story section.

Villain:

As great as Kim and Ron are, for my money, the show would not be nearly as great as it was without Drakken and Shego. They didn’t appear in every episode, but I cannot imagine what the show would be like without them. Every second these two are on screen and Shego is sassing Drakken for his idiotic plans, it’s pure comedic gold. Not only does that dynamic remain intact for parts of this movie, there are also bits where it’s flipped on its side. With Drakken’s new plan being so complex and seemingly random that Shego can’t figure it out leads to some pretty funny moments between the two, but also serves to make Drakken’s evil plan seem all the more sinister. Yeah, in most normal episodes, you’d have Drakken lay out his evil plan right at the start, but here, we don’t really get the full picture until right at the end, meaning we get to solve the mystery along with Kim and Ron. Drakken really did the extra legwork for this scheme and covered all his bases. One of my favorite bits in the film is where Shego realizes that Drakken might actually win this time with a look of complete and utter shock on her face. So what is Drakken’s plan? Well, using some stolen Japanese toy designs and some experimental self-replicating robotics technology developed by Kim’s dad (established in the show to be a former school mate of Drakken), Drakken has taken over Bueno Nacho and inserted miniature killer robots that will increase in size and attack at his command into kids meals all over the world. That’s right, Drakken is literally going to take over the world with Happy Meal toys! While that’s pretty out there, even by Drakken’s standards, Team Possible has dealt with far worse by this point. No, where Drakken’s plan gets truly sinister is how he plans to keep Kim from interfering. That leads us nicely into the surprise third villain of the film, Eric. In a twist that completely caught teenage Wes off guard despite numerous hints dropped that Eric wasn’t exactly on the level, Eric turns out to be a robot built by Drakken to be the perfect boy and keep Kim distracted and drive a wedge between her and Ron while the doctor enacts his evil plan. I need to say this, the reveal of Eric is eerily similar to the big reveal of Hans in Frozen and the characters actually have a lot in common. I don’t want to assume, but I wonder if the writers of Frozen were Kim Possible fans. Honestly, my only real complaint about the villains in this movie, and I’ll freely admit this has a lot to do with watching this so soon after A Sitch In Time, it’s that Shego doesn’t really get as much to do. Oh sure, she gets to fight with Kim like she always does, but after she finally got to be the big bad in the last movie, having her go back to her henchwoman role in this one was a bit disappointing since she really was the coolest character in the show.

Side Characters:

While most of the series regulars are present for the film but they really aren’t given all that much to do. That’s actually not a bad thing since it keeps the focus squarely on Kim and Ron’s relationship. However, I did like this one bit where Drakken is trying to intimidate Kim’s Dad and Doc Possible is having none of it. Kim’s dad is awesome. Something I actually do appreciate about the film is how it seems to reference a lot of past episodes, which is a nice touch given that this was meant to be a finale. They even bring back this one crime boss character from an older episode voiced by Maurice LaMarche, my favorite voice actor not named Jim Cummings. Great stuff!

Memorable Scenes:

First things first, one of my Twitter followers was nice enough to point out this cool little Easter egg that went right over my head. During a scene in Ron’s bedroom, there’s a sticker on his mirror that reads “No On 65.” This was in reference to an unpopular mandate from Disney that no television show made under the Disney umbrella could exceed sixty-five episodes. While there were several exceptions to the rule, this still caused a lot of popular shows to be canceled at the height of their popularity, angering the fans in the process. By the end of its unusually short third season, Kim Possible had reached that magic number hence why it ended up being initially canceled after this film. As I already mentioned, Kim Possible would end up being renewed for a fourth season and the show would end up being the last ever to be subject to the rule of sixty-five. Neat!

The climax to So the Drama is pretty epic, especially for Kim Possible. First, there’s Kim having probably her coolest fight with Shego to date. Kim fights Shego all the time, but since Shego has superpowers, Kim has always been the underdog in the fight. This time however, Kim is decked out in an experimental super-suit which allows her to fight Shego on equal footing and the epic showdown between these two rivals does not disappoint. Second, there’s the setting. The roof of Bueno Nacho headquarters, rain falling, thunder and lightning cracking and the skies filled with Drakken’s robots It’s pretty cool, exactly the sort of place where you want your final boss fight to be. Then, there’s my favorite part. Once Kim and Ron have saved the day, Drakken tries to run for it only to get stopped by Ron. See, throughout the entire series, there’s been this running joke where Drakken can never remember Ron’s name even though they’ve fought hundreds of times. Ordinarily, Ron just dismisses it with a wise crack but not today. Drakken took away his favorite restaurant, his one true sanctuary, and worse than that, he manipulated the emotions of his best friend, nearly breaking her spirit in the process. Drakken doesn’t just get to shake his fist at Kim from his escape vehicle this time, no, this time, he’s going to jail, but first, he’s going to say his name. I love the satisfied Boo-Ya from Ron when Drakken capitulates. However, the real best part of the movie comes right after the climax. While Kim and Ron were held captive in Drakken’s lair, they finally had a chance to open up and admit their feelings, and so once all has been said and done, they show up at Prom, holding hands for all to see. While Bonnie, the show’s resident mean girl, laughs at Kim for dating that loser, expecting the rest of the school to join in, Kim and Ron’s classmates instead cheer for our heroes as a slow dance starts up and Kim and Ron finally share a kiss. I’m not going to lie, fifteen-year-old Wes was crying his eyes out at this scene and I doubt I was the only one. It was just really satisfying to see these two characters end up together, something we’ll be discussing in further detail in our next section.

Story:

As I’ve made clear at this point, the focal point of this movie is Kim and Ron’s relationship and whether or not they should acknowledge their feelings for one another and take that next step. I like how both Kim and Ron come to realize they have feelings for one another and neither one really knows how to handle it. Perhaps realistically, neither of them end up handling it especially well at first. While Ron allows these feelings of doubt to consume him, Kim denies that they’re even there. There’s this one especially telling line from Kim where she says “He’s not a Boy, He’s Ron.” Now, you could read that a number of ways, but I think what they were going for was to say that Kim just never really thought of Ron that way until now. Something I always appreciated about the show is how it showcased a platonic male/female friendship like it wasn’t a big deal and never had this annoying will they/won’t they that so many writers think makes for good television but just ends up making your show seem tedious. (Seriously, by the time the end of Friends rolled around I could be bothered to give a shit about Ross and Rachel.) I have a lot of female friends, quite possibly more female friends than male friends as a matter of fact, and I’ve had romantic feelings for very few of them, so it’s nice to see a show that represents that. While I can see how making such a great set of platonic friends like Ron and Kim into a couple could rub some people the wrong way, it didn’t really bother me all that much. I had no issue with them being made into a couple, it just wasn’t something that had occurred to me until this movie rolled around, and from the looks of things, it hadn’t occurred to our heroes until now either. I can certainly understand how wrestling with those feelings can be difficult. When at one point in college, I developed feelings for a female friend of mine, I went through a lot of the doubts that Ron and Kim did in the film. However, what ultimately makes Kim and Ron work for me as a couple is this simple statement: If not Ron, then who? Who else has been there for Kim since nursery school? Who else knows Kim on the level that Ron does? Who better understands Kim’s insecurities, her fears and it always there to make her smile? Who else has literally faced his worst nightmares on numerous occasions simply to his best friend? At the end of the day, who out there could ever be a better match for Kim than Ron? These two have been friends their entire lives, they’ve been through everything, they’ve even been in battle together. What other boy could Kim ever trust to have her back like that except this one? Because, he’s not just a boy… he’s Ron. Making Kim and Ron a couple was a huge step for the series and one I was entirely in favor of. It felt like a naturally progression of the dynamic even if we didn’t realize it at the time. And seriously, I still cry when they kiss.

The Dark Disney Factor:

There’s only one especially off-putting scene in this film, and that would be Eric’s demise. It’s not especially bad compared to other things we’ve looked at, but seeing Eric leaking green goo while he slowly deflates and his voice distorts is pretty unsettling in my opinion.

Final Thoughts: To reiterate what I said in the intro, if this did prove to be the final swan song of Kim Possible, I don't think anyone could rightly say the show didn't end on a high note. I for one am glad we ended up getting season four, but this film still holds a special place in my heart. It has great action, plenty of the show's trademark comedy and some surprisingly compelling relationship drama. Do I think this is better than A Sitch in Time? It's hard to say as the two films, despite being part of the same show, are drastically different. One is a pure comedy that gives us a fun time travel story that feels like a longer episode of the show and one is a more cinematic experience where the changing relationships of the characters takes center stage. I guess it's just a matter of what you're in the mood for. However, I'll tell you what I'm not in the mood for, our next article. Join me next time as we look at the film I feel is responsible for a great decline in Pixar's overall quality, Cars.