Eh,I still think him being faceless in the original cartoon works better in terms of message,but I still like this movie regardless of what people say!
@@f0xyLuvIdk?? He appears in the most of the movie, but the whole point of the story happening is because of Ted, its hard to recognize if he is primary or secondary
Someone made a video titled “if illumination villains were charged for their crimes” and they did a pretty good job. Someone else commented claiming that since the Onceler is really old, environmental laws might not have existed when he was cutting down the forests and stuff but idk bout that..
If you think that’s bad, you should see the original version of the song called “Biggering”. While how bad can I be says “who cares if a few trees are dying”, biggering says “who cares if *some things* are dying”
Evolution of the meaning behind each "How bad can I be" 0:34 - 0:51 "How bad can I be?" -->basically how can i be bad, rhetorical to self, truly believes himself to be good . 0:52 "How bad can I possibly be?" --> decides to push the boundaries of what "good" is. 1:19 - 1:38 "How bad can I be?" --> "good" and "bad" start to blur, believes he is just doing "what comes naturally"/"(he) is just following his destiny", redirects blame to (human)nature. The lorax protects nature, so he's using this argument against the lorax saying that what he is doing is natural/meant to be, still somewhat cares about persuading the lorax, although this sentiment quickly fades. 2:13 -2:22 "Come on how bad can I possibly be?" --> Now he claims that all he's doing is following the "principles of business," tries to strengthen his argument supporting his destructive business even more, nature/the lorax's will is irrelevant to him now. He also starts to develop a bit of a superiority complex and is shown to have become very greedy. 2:23 - 2:31 "How bad can I be?" --> rhetorical to the public who don't perceive him as bad and he knows it. 2:32 "How bad could I possibly be, let's s ee," --> has begun to question how much he could potentially get away with, acknowledges that he is "bad" 2:37 - 2:46 "How bad can he be?" --> public echoing his question to them, he sees how his "money is multiplying" and is excited to earn more, decides to protect himself from the repercussions of his actions so he can go further and earn more money. 2:48 - 3:05 "How bad can he be?" --> He is protected from the repercussions of his actions, he knows there are no consequences whatsoever, feels very powerful, fully embraces being "bad". 3:08 "How bad, how bad can this possibly be?" -->basically how bad can I get, a challenge to self, and the song ends right there. After the song ends, we see that the last tree is chopped down, implying that he never got to see "how bad it could possibly be" as his business was shut down immediately as a result. All his power was stripped away not long after he acquired it.
The scene gives me chills bc it’s literally a real world problem personified into one person and one song and the way his tone changes in the end really makes him Dr. Seuss most powerful villain
@OneWorldGovernment2030-yv3zc wildfires in *moderate* amounts arent actually a bad thing, theyre needed for the cycle of many ecosystems to come full circle and to clear out forests that like you mentioned would get too dense otherwise, but yea alot of them are bad too. The deer thing is a separate problem stemming from humans living everywhere though. We clear out dangerous predators that would normally eat them then instead just eat our own farmed animals letting the wild prey populations get out of control. Agreed for the most part though, again like you said balance is key
What I love about this final concentration is that the Lorax isn't mad at the Once-ler. Never once does he call him an evil person, nor do the animals he's protecting try to attack him. No, they aren't mad, they're disappointed. Disappointed that they're friend went down this path, sad that he's only now realizing the damage he's done. We've all heard that disappointment often hits harder than anger, and here, that is the truth. There is nothing that the Lorax or the animals could say or do to the Once-ler, that could equal what he's saying and doing to himself in this moment, and every moment since. Furthermore, if they truly had given up on the Once-ler, the Lorax wouldn't have left him that one sliver of hope: _Unless_
Yeah, but the Lorax could've avoided all of this if he just taught the boy to replant the seeds after cutting them down and maintain circular harvesting like most of us do IRL. He yelled at him for even chopping ONE tree as if he didn't realize they could be replanted, and in the end, that's what they ultimately end up doing...replanting them anyway with the ONE seed they managed to keep. XD It's as if the "guardian of nature" himself forgot trees die and get knocked over by nature all the time, thunderstorms, loose soil, over competition of goods. and typically sustainable lumberjacks only cut trees that are already dying/dead anyway or are going to die due to the environment they're growing in. That's why it was better to just let the song be the point of the story. If the Lorax taught him that, the movie wouldn't have happened. XD (nor if the people in Thneedville had a basic education....)
I love the gradual changing of meaning in the phrase “ how ban can I be?” And it becoming messed up as The Onceler does worse and worse things. It goes from “ Am I actually bad?” To “ I kinda know I’m bad” to “ just how much worse should I make things?”
@@mikelcali6364 this song encapsulates the corporate phrase "plausible deniability". The myth of a company doing bad accidentally through ignorance. _Oopsie, I had know idea bad things would happen_ *bats eyelashes innocent The original version of this song, "Biggering" made him a true villain. In that song he was not in denial, he knew exactly what he was doing and he chose money anyway. Corporate expansion became his obsession. The rest just didn't matter enough to him. _Who cares if... Some things are dying?_ _I don't want to hear you crying!_ _This is all so gratifying!_
This song pushed this movie off a cliff and ruined what would have been an at least servicable film to me. Even worse after hearing the original version of this song when it was "Biggering" and understanding just how much they butchered it to not displease the corporate overlords.
I suggest reading the original Lorax book because it has more accurate story-telling and charaterization than the movie, also the story is much more darker.
The moment he realizes he just fucked himself over when the last tree goes down is absolutely magical, i struggle to decide if he puts that face because he feels bad he killed them all... or just because he doomed his empire
@Nexus Prime I had to watch this movie recently in principles of business management class cause we are gonna analyse shit for a project, first thing I noticed was the stupidity of cuttimg down the trees wothout replanting any
This is random, but in the L.A. version of "how bad can I be" there's such a good line. Instead of "Who cares if a few trees are dying" they say "Que importa la muerte de un arbol" which I can't do justice by just translating it but it is essentially questioning if anything would change by the death of a single insignificant tree. This line is trying to downplay everything that's happening because a single tree's death does not matter. This sentiment is meant to be repeated over and over for every tree that falls, but at that point it's not a single tree, its a whole forest, but you don't need to acknowledge that if you don't lump them together. I'm such a nerd analyzing the meaning of words, but it's such a powerful line.
You spanish or watch movies in spanish? Anyways, maybe makes a reference of (apart of what you say) how Once ler knows he broke "the promise" he made to the lorax
I love how he goes from saying " how bad can i be " in a way to say that hes not bad and hes a good guy, to saying " how bad can THIS be " to try to justify his horrible actions
He doesn't. He was more than happy to chop down trees the second he found them. He only agreed to stop when it benefited him (it placated the Lorax) but the minute he was given some push or incentive to break that promise, he did. And while he did wrestle with his moral conscious for a moment, the whole point of the song is where he justifies his baser greed and destruction. It was always there. You just didnt watch the movie.
bruh it’s not even his fault he became the villain. his fam had hella influence on him because his mom ended up being the one making him cut down the trees and he didn’t wanna let her down and then when he stopped making money, she said “you’ve disappointed me son” like bro it’s so sad if u think about it
This book was published 1971. One can hope this new generation takes its message to heart, but those that are now in their 50s didn't, so there's no reason to hope.
i really like how the name of the song has a double meaning; at the start it means “i don’t see how my actions will cause harm” and then it develops into “let’s see how much harm i can cause”
actually the song just shows how he's stupid when it comes to business. If he was smart he would have made sure that replanted the trees at the same or greater rate he cut them down since his business relies on them.
I love how smooth the transition between the "How bad can this be?" as in, that he's good, to "How bad could I be?", as in a excuse, to "How bad CAN I be?", where he's challenging himself. Also, this song is just SO iconic. (I just noticed each time the meaning of "How ba-a-a-ad can i be?" changes, the Once-ler's guitar changes, from a acoustic guitar, to an electric guitar, to a 2 electric guitars bound together)
Yeah but people in the comments are crying that the song isnt critical enough of corporations just because they didnt use another song that was “better” and went with this one which is a lot catchier and is fantastic on its own as a song.
@@ironmaster6496 Now that is a reasonable, non whiney position to hold on the matter. I wish all these other people would have just looked at it that way instead of dismissing a genuinely really good song because they became fixated with its original version.
@@jaydenshepard7928 I like this version for how misleading it is. The song is super fun and upbeat but the lyrics are actually super down to earth about corporations. People who say Biggering is better simply because how sinister it is completely missed the actual point of this song
@@RXQ1jj The message about corporations isn't good though because in real life corporations were the ones who were saving the forests and environmentalists destroyed them because by not regularly cutting down and planting trees, we got the massive year long forest fires across the world that destroyed ecosystems.
Yeah it is a rather dumb thing to say and it is soaked in irony as well but I dunno seems like a pretty important lyric to add to the song cause it really shows his ignorance for how much harm this is truly causing highlighting his unawareness and greed as well as his carelessness
It’s sad cuz he could’ve saved his business and the animals if he would’ve replanted the trees he chopped down. Classic Supply and Demand. As the demand increased his supply did not
2:01 this part actuallu made me cry so hard, it was actually so emotional. the deep meaning it had made me break down into tears. enough for me to not be able to recover from it. that line changes my mood everytime i hear it or even think about it. anytime I hear it, a tear of sadness rolls down my cheek. I am actually so serious. the $ sign on his back had a deep meaning behind it that I was able to realize. It's like there's a minor great depression happening right now. Illuminations, you have successfully made me depressed for the rest of my life and I hav e realized this world cannot be changed back anymore. I have realized the sad yet horrible truth from that scene and I will never recover in my life again.
@@sprinkleconeanimation7938 it means that he is buying out the media and legal system and politician to cover his corruption. Which is very common in the world today
The PR people are lying’ this line is referring to the companies PR reps (public relations representatives, basically the people in charge of public outreach and outward image of the company to it’s consumers) are lying about the realities behind the companies practices, such as in the ‘a portion of proceeds goes to charity’ line. ‘And the lawyers are denying’ is essentially saying that the company practices are unethical and harmful, thereby violating the laws that are meant to prevent companies from behaving unethically, so the company lawyers are having to find loopholes and ways to deny that the business practices the company is committing are illegal.
“A portion of proceeds goes to charity” “Just look at me petting this puppy” I love how this show-even though it’s a children’s show-expresses the fact that marketers try to appeal to their audiences and the public in order to boost sales and increase buyers and in such a subtle way- bravo the Lorax 👏
@@NixDarkLord i get the point youre trying to make but it wouldnt if people werent so purposefully ignorant to what money hungry assholes do and chose not to spend their money on them lol If people would actually be involved in what bullshit they were wasting money on, these types of corporations wouldnt survive
The problem is that his social environment even confirms and reinforces the worst of him. Humans usually judge themselves by the people surrounding them, and they reassured his attitude by buying his products.
or if he had just stuck to harvesting the stuff from the trees. in the original, it is revealed it takes 10 months for a truffula seed to germinate, and even more years for one to turn into a tree
too much cost and labor to replant, cultivate, and tend to growing trees. it’s all about making the most profit possible as fast as you can. what he should’ve done is invest the majority of his wealth into real estate and guaranteed cash flow for the rest of his life.
@@whatislife5627 so what? Really why do you feel the need to say that. Can we just enjoy the fucking song and say that we enjoy it without one of you pointing out you like the other one better. Don’t answer that, I’ve checked the answer is a quite decisive “no”
Welp the end of this movie made me cry when I was younger especially the quote at the end. I always thought I was a baby for that but after revisiting this & seeing this I can see why. Definitely some powerful messages and portrayals.
Listening to this masterpiece of a villain song after getting disappointed from the "supposed" villain song from Wish. This is how you do it, Disney. Take some notes.
I love how the instrumentals start off cheery and innocent-like, but slowly starts getting more and more corrupt until the end where it just devolves into just evil.
One of the things that I always liked about this as a villain song was that at the beginning of the song, Onceler genuinely doesn't see what he's doing as being a bad thing and the question of "How bad can I be?" Is more of a, "it's no big deal" dismissal, but by the end of the song, it's more of a challenge to himself to see what he can get away with.
From my perspective, its an attempt to place corporate high ups in an innocent position. They want you to relate them to the onceler and how he was forced into it by his family. Biggering is much better symbolism imo as it shows what they are actually like( Why it was cut)
All while he was ignorant and arrogant of doing so. That’s what makes them the antagonists. In their perspective are always assumptive, ambitious, and they let their overconfidence betray and wipe away their morality for others and their environment before replacing them with the morality of their personality and them thinking that they’re always the protagonist no matter what bad they do.
@@thatoneguy609 I think it's fair to say that the seeds for the change are planted almost as soon as the song starts. There is a definite point when the song changes, if I were to object to the OP I'd say the song was never innocent it was just sinister in a less obvious way
COPPA after turning off Movieclip's comments on their 'How Bad Can I Be' scene. Edit: I meant comments, not moments. Thank you. Edit 2: Replaced Movieclips with COPPA.
Think about it if he didn’t invite his family after the Thneed became popular and he promised the Lorax he wouldn’t cut down trees ,the trees would’ve still been there.
it is, quite literally. while pretending to be anti-corporate theyre actually pro-corporate for portraying the onceler as a good innocent guy who doesnt know that what hes doing is bad until the very end, biggering is way better, more realistic and true the OG. theres a huge difference between "Who cares if some.. THINGS are dying!"(biggering) and "Who cares if a few trees are dying!"(how bad can i be)
@@shrekisthebestfranchiseand5032 I feel like that was the point. In that he literally did not care what he was doing just like all corporations. He’s saying his bad can he be because he doesn’t care about anything he’s doing. He doesn’t think it’s bad, because he’s not thinking about it. He’s only thinking about the profit, and that’s what corporations do. They ignore it and think that what they’re doing isn’t that much compared to everyone else. Why do you think media keeps asking regular people to stop doing things to ruin the earth, when it’s actually big business doing it
0:01 him: "Bad, im not bad im the good guy here" Also him 3 minutes later: Cuts down a whole forest and enslaves the fricking animal kingdom without giving a single shit about what he's doing"
It represents how excessive and over the top his actions are, because a guitar doesn't need to look like that to play properly yet he still bought it and replaced his simple not over the top guitar that played perfectly even though it looked simplistic and was maybe even cheap.
So? Why you judging those people. I’m sure your crushes weren’t that great looking as well. Proven by whatever atrocity your profile pic is. Let’s do better.
A few facts. I can even consider this one to be the definitive song where Locopoton1 goes too onboard on killing the Loud Sisters. I can hear him singing to this song alongside with the likes of Dreadpool, Yuujirou (Yujiro) Hanma, Tetsuo Shima, Evil!Ren Hoek, Griffith, Thragg, Homelander and several others.
I didn't think it was possible to make "Who cares if a few trees are dying?!" sound ominous, threatening, and scary at the same time, but the voice behind this guy managed to pull it off somehow :/ bravo.
As someone already stated, a cut song called biggering uses the line "who cares if some things are dying" and it actually makes the once-ler look like a villain in this story.
i just wanted to give a big thanks for all the comments that mentioned Biggering. I eventually got curious and went to go check it out and wow i'm glad I did, without those comments I would never have known about it. I now understand what they meant when they say this doesn't even compare. So to everyone who brought it up I understand the frustration now.
