This series of shorts came out on Disney+ over the summer, but while I watched and enjoyed it at the time, I didn’t think to write about it until now. It’s a nice bit of wholesome, mischievous fun from the littlest member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
There’s no “arc” to be had here, no Big Bad to fight. Instead, it’s five very short tales starring Baby Groot. Each is under five minutes long and follows him on his various misadventures, whether that involves emerging from his pot for the first time, discovering a miniature civilization, or wreaking havoc on the ship in his attempts to create a bit of toddler artwork.
Disney+’s first big foray was its introduction of Baby Yoda/Grogu, and The Mandalorian kicked off an explosion of fan love and merchandising for the pint-sized Force user. But before there was Baby Yoda, there was Baby Groot. He was and remains my absolute favorite part of Guardians Vol. 2, and while I love me some Groot in any form, I’ll confess that, for me, Baby Groot is the best of the best.
So it’s really delightful to return to this version of the character in these fun little shorts. It hearkens back to everything I loved about Baby Groot in Vol. 2: his overwhelming cuteness mixed with his capacity for violence, his tenacious mischief combined with his small-child understanding of the world, and his appreciation for the little things in life.
Although none of the shorts feature actual Guardian adventures, a couple take place on various planets, so I can imagine that this is what Groot was getting up to while the grown-ups were, you know, guarding the galaxy. It’s a little like his wonderful dance scene during the fight at the start of Vol. 2, where Groot is just playing and having fun, oblivious to the other Guardians’ frantic attempts to stay alive while fighting a baddie. Only this time, whatever the other Guardians are doing, it’s happening offscreen altogether. Groot is tooling around on other planets, making new friends and/or enemies or discovering new things.
The rest of the shorts take place on the ship. Again, Groot is mainly left to his own devices, and wherever the others are, it’s not super relevant to the proceedings. He might be waking up at night to investigate a scary noise or leaving a trail of destruction gathering supplies for his new art project, and no matter what he does, it’s cute, hilarious, and more than a little irreverent.
As a fan of silent comedies, I vibe well with the storytelling here. We already know going in that the main character’s only dialogue is going to be, “I am Groot,” and most of the shorts either feature him on his own or only interacting with beings that don’t talk back to him. This places the narrative in the hands of the animation, spinning quick little tales through action and sight gags. It also brings to mind Pixar’s shorts, and how a lot of my favorites are the ones with no dialogue at all.
In my favorite of the shorts, Groot comes upon a hot spring and takes a mud bath that sends his leaf growth into overdrive, leading him to style his leaves in increasingly wild ways. Super cute—I love his utter joy at trying out new looks, and like others in the series, it remembers that Baby Groot can be a vengeful little thing when he wants to be and cause a lot of trouble for anyone looking to dim his shine.
Glad this little series exists to offer me some new Baby Groot adventures—and it’s already been renewed for a second season, so there will be more humor and cuteness to come!
Warnings
Some alien-toddler violence, a bit of gross-out humor, and some “don’t try this at home.”
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