“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” can be said to be an extension of the moral of Ratatouille, which says that not everyone can be an artist, but an artist can come from anywhere. Based on the famous book series written by Bernard Waber, the film, a musical, shows the unusual friendship between young Josh Primm and Lyle, a crocodile who can sing. However, Josh’s affection for Lyle is put to the test when the owner of the house, Mr. Grumps, finds out about Lyle and decides to have him taken away. “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” is an entertaining watch that will be loved by people of all ages. In this article, we are going to talk about the important characters of the film, namely, Lyle and Josh.
Spoilers Ahead
Lyle
Let’s just say that Lyle is the child in all of us. But as we grow up, responsibilities take hold of us, and we decide to hide that child away in some corner of our hearts. Hector does quite the same too. After losing his apartment, he abandons Lyle to make some money for himself. Lyle was the reason he could make it big in life, but due to his needs (the ways of the world), he had no option but to leave him and search for a solution to his problem. This is something that we, as adults, mostly resort to. When we realize that what we are good at isn’t helping us make our life “better” in the present sense of the word, we abandon it for something that does so. In other words, sacrifice our dreams for our finances. After Lyle enters the lives of Josh and his parents, he turns their lives around in a more happy way. He helps Josh come out of his shell, helps Josh’s mother “rip up the recipe” and let herself break the mold that she had formed due to her family life, and finally reminds Josh’s father of his prime when he used to wrestle and helps him bring back his former inner strength. From the film, we realize that Lyle helps people do what they love to do, reminding them that there’s more to them than their responsibilities.
There is also the presence of the significance of opportunity. Time and again, Lyle gets the opportunity to prove his worth, but he fails due to nervousness and stage fright. No matter how much he is encouraged by Hector and Josh, he is unable to sing in front of others. It is right at the end of the film that Lyle, more than being supported, decides to let go of himself. In life, it is also the same. No matter how much our close ones encourage us to do something that we are good at, we are often afraid to show it to the world, especially when our talent requires an audience. It is upto us to let go of our inhibitions and claim our talents, no matter the audience. And no matter how much we feel like Lyle, all of us have that one Josh in our lives who never gives up on us.
There is also the other suggestion, the more prominent one that we mentioned in the intro. Not everyone can become an artist, but an artist can come from anywhere. Lyle, a crocodile who can sing, is a metaphor of the saying that you never know who has what talent. But the thing is, everyone needs that push and that opportunity to realize it. Even Remy, from Ratatouille, needed Alfredo Linguini to discover and explore the chef that was lying dormant inside him. In the same way, Lyle got Josh, who helped him come out in the open. And that’s when “magical magic” happens.
Josh
Josh is an anxious guy who always keeps track of reality. When his family shifts to Manhattan, Josh warns his parents of the rise in crime statistics in Manhattan. He has a digital assistant who tells him about the source of all the noises he hears at night. The crowd and the rush of a big city are too much for him. He again looks up Google for ways to make friends. But after he meets Lyle, although scared at first, he eventually befriends him, and as he declares later on to his parents, Lyle has helped him come out of his shell as well and made him accept himself. This is when Josh realizes that miracles indeed happen, just as his friend Trudy tells him. Oftentimes, it so happens that letting someone into our lives makes us realize that we, too, have changed for the better in a way that is nothing less than miraculous.
Hector
Hector represents us in the film. He is someone who has to make do with what he has and tries to keep himself happy while doing so. He was a magician and a performer who, after he finds Lyle [a crocodile who can sing] realizes that he can make a fortune out of him. But he doesn’t intend on misusing Lyle but rather tries to help him realize what he can do. If only more of us were like Hector, the world would be a better place. But then again, he has to leave Lyle when he has to figure out a way to clear his debts. So, he keeps Lyle in a safe place and leaves. Next time, he again leaves when offered money to do so by the owner of the house where Josh and his family live. After returning, he gives Lyle the reason that he had to leave: need and weakness. We understand what he means by this. At the end of it all, it is all about the ways of the world. Unless we learn to live in it, there is no other way to make a living. However, what’s more, it is important to accept it and move in. Thus, when Hector apologizes to Lyle and wants him to come back to Josh and not him, he accepts his deeds and thus himself. This is the real “magical magic.”
