How A Character In Disney's Strange World Recalls The Late, Great Firefly
"Resident Alien" star Alan Tudyk has had a number of memorable roles throughout his career. In terms of movies, long-time fans look back fondly on the parts he played in "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," "A Knight's Tale," and "Tucker & Dale vs Evil." He even had that memorable guest spot on an episode of "Frasier" as the new owner of KACL that Dr. Crane takes under his wing. Although, his most beloved role to date is probably still the fun-loving pilot Hoban "Wash" Washburne from Joss Whedon's "Firefly" and its feature film sequel "Serenity."
However, to many members of his modern fanbase, Tudyk is likely more known for his voiceover work. He can be heard in "Ice Age," "Batman: The Brave and the Bold," "Young Justice," "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," and HBO's "Harley Quinn," among many other projects across film, TV, video games, and more. But just as John Ratzenberger has become a mainstay of Pixar's films, the Julliard-trained actor has similarly become a fixture for Walt Disney Animation. Since 2012's "Wreck-It Ralph," he has lent his voice to a variety of characters in each of Disney's movies released since then.
Of course, the latest release from the House of Mouse titled "Strange World" is no different. In the new movie from director Don Hall and writer/co-director Qui Nguyen, Alan Tudyk plays three different roles: The narrator for the exposition at the beginning of the movie, an Avalonian radio host, and Lieutenant Duffle. And interestingly enough, one of the three seems to reference his time on the good ship Serenity.
(From this point on, there are slight spoilers for "Strange World." Please proceed with caution.)
I am a leaf on the wind
In "Strange World," Lieutenant Duffle is the pilot of the Venture, the ship chartered by President Callisto Mal (Lucy Liu) to take her crew of explorers and experts into the unknown to learn more about the virus plaguing their crops. And just like Tudyk's fan-favorite character in "Firefly" and "Serenity," Duffle is a bit of a jokester, as we see when he facetiously tells Searcher Clade (Jake Gyllenhaal) that he can drop him back off at his farm if he doesn't want to go on the mission. However, this isn't the only thing that Wash and Duffle have in common.
As the Venture makes its descent into a giant sinkhole that leads to an uncharted subterranean world, winged creatures attack the airship. One even breaches the cockpit and pulls out Duffle from the driver's seat. Meridian Clade (Gabrielle Union) steps in as the new pilot and we never see Duffle again after that. As "Firefly" fans know all too well, Wash also met his demise when something broke through the windshield of his ship. Since this is a Disney movie targeted towards children, "Strange World" obviously didn't get as graphic with the death as they did in "Serenity," but the call back to the 2005 movie still hurts a little bit for fans in the know.
In a way, it's darkly funny. I'm sure that Tudyk had a bit of a laugh when the script came across his desk. It's certainly a departure from the weasel, toucan, chicken, and scroll that he played in his most recent Disney outings. Although, maybe this is a sign that he shouldn't play pilots anymore if he wants to stick around until the end of the movie.