Disney+ Hotstar has just released a miniseries called “I Am Groot” by MCU with five individual shorts of baby Groot’s fun adventures. Packed with photorealistic animated visuals, each four-minute-long episode is going to steal your heart no matter how old you are. From Groot’s “Ran Kan Kan” dance-off to cool cameos, these mini-episodes will capture twenty minutes that you’re not going to regret. This series usually shows Groot’s early infant period, starting from the end of “Guardians of the Galaxy” Volume 1. So without much chattering, let’s break it down and talk about its easter eggs.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Groot’s First Steps’ Explained
Episode One begins with little Groot’s infant period as we watch him grow up in a small tub. We last saw Groot in his formative state in “Guardians of the Galaxy 1” when Rocket replanted him in that small white tub. Beside the tub, there’s lying the yarrow root, which we had seen before in vol 2 when Nebula and Gamora were quarreling over it. Anyway, we see little Groot bathing through robotic assistants and sprouting little leaves on his body. Behind the tub, we also see a tape deck in the wall that is most likely Peter Quill’s Awesome Mix Volume 2, which we have seen in the Guardian’s sequel. But here, Groot gets interrupted when the robot assistant brings a bonsai tree to his side, and little Groot’s rivalry begins, which prompts him to take his first baby steps. After many attempts, Groot finally stands on his feet, befriending the bonsai tree and sharing cheese puffs with it.
‘The Little Guy’ Explained
In episode two, we see Peter’s Milano is parked on a different planet, where toddler Groot is making a tree house but gets interrupted by a Vyloo, which clears the doubt that Groot is now on the planet named Berhert, as we have seen Vyloos before in vol 2, sitting on a tree on this planet. And this also makes sense that Groot’s activities, which are shown here, happened between Volume 1 and its sequel, as we know Milano gets wrecked in Vol 2. By the way, when Vyloo sits on top of the tree house, a bird snatches him away. Groot then discovers the little guys, who are a species of micro-shaped creatures most likely derived from the 70s Marvel comic book character ‘Grunts.’ When Groot introduces himself to them by usually saying, “I am Groot,” they get washed away by the air, and here you see Groot is finally enjoying himself being a big guy. Even as the little creatures attack Groot, the leaves that fall from his body are happily consumed by their community. But their joy is dashed when Groot steps his foot upon them while bringing more food for the little guys. Although finally, they are seen to be popped up from the ground.
See More: ‘I Am Groot’ Review – The Guardian Of The Galaxy Lives, Laughs & Loves In This Anthology Series
‘Groot’s Pursuit’ Explained
In episode three, we see Eclector, a ship for Yondu’s ravager clans. In Eclector, there’s our toddler Groot, investigating a strange sound that eventually leads him to get up. We see him using a watch tied to his head, which lights his way. Then we see him reading a book with a cover picture of Thanos, the Vyloo, a bird’s feather, and the purple banana, which he accidentally stepped on. But when his watch stops working, he smacks it, and we hear Guardian’s maker James Gunn’s vocal cameo. But eventually, the weird sound frustrates Groot and leads him to have a dance-off with a shape-changing slimy substance that mimics and speaks to him. It proves that dancing remains in the Guardian’s tradition, just as we have seen Star Lord’s dance against Ronan. Back here, we finally see the dancing Groot eject his copycat out of the ship and proudly say, “I am Groot.”
‘Groot Takes A Bath’ Explained
In episode four, we see toddler Groot bathing in a muddy puddle in the jungle of a different planet where their Milano is parked. This mud grows fresh young leaves on his body, which he can put on like clothes. But he is again interrupted by the screeching mockingbird-like creature, who also has some squirrel features. And as a result, naughty Groot takes the bird’s fur to wrap it like a scarf and leaves the poor creature naked.
‘Magnum Opus’ Explained
Episode five again shows the Eclector, and within it, we see Groot carrying Peter Quill’s backpack with him, and from it, he brings out Marvel’s real Alf comic book from 1988. He brought it to draw a family painting on it, so that he steals Drax’s soap and cut Rocket’s bristles. We also see Drax taking a shower, but you know, we can barely see him. Anyway, we see Groot is carrying a lot of things along with the Anulax Battery that Rocket stole from Sovereign. He’s also using Peter’s boots, which have rocket propellers on end. But he messes up when his artistic thoughts make him create glitter for the paint, so he puts a bomb on the processing chip, and boom! It blasts. And we finally see the cameo of Rocket, who uses his spectacles to see the complete painting. The painting much resembles the end of young Groot in vol 1 when he embraced his Guardian family.
‘I Am Groot’ Inspirations
Although it is quite natural that we will see Guardian’s things in Groot’s series, we can expect that we will definitely see this family picture in the upcoming Volume 3 of “Guardians of The Galaxy” as a result of Groot’s hard work. Christopher Hastings’ “I Am Groot” comic, released in 2017, might be the influence of this series because the titular poster at the end of each short is pretty similar to the titular font of this comic book. Even the 80th-century attire that Groot wears in episode 4, the Groot toys with the same figure, are already available on the market. Marvel is all about their figures, though. But hopefully, this series will give Groot more popularity, and we hope to see some more such animation-packed Marvel series which will bring us more Easter eggs and comics nostalgia again and again.
“I Am Groot” is a 2022 Animated Anthology series streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
