- “Sometimes, it can all start with a whisper.”
- ―Adult Whispers[src]
Whispers is the titular protagonist of the 2000 Disney live-action film Whispers: An Elephant's Tale.
Background[]
Personality[]
Whispers is a young elephant calf who was born to his mother Gentle Heart. Since he was born, he was separated from his mother due to a hunting season set out by a group of poachers. Over time, he learned to adapt to unexpected circumstances like meeting elephants part of Half Tusk's herd - albeit unable to trumpet at first. As time grew throughout his life, he became resilient and was able to trumpet, thanks to his effort and optimism, as well as the determination he put in his heart, especially when it comes to saving the rest of Half Tusk's herd.
Whispers occasionally narrates throughout the film, mostly in certain plot points describing his life, such as the situations he faced as a young elephant, like his encounter with Groove and how he got separated from his mother before he found her. The story narrated by Whispers throughout the film reflects his life of the challenges he faced, especially when it comes to him saving Half Tusk's herd and finding his long-lost mother.
Role in the film[]
Whispers narrates that a long time ago, the animals began to gather at the watering hole anxiously, where it began with Gentle Heart who gave birth to a newborn elephant calf. After his birth, Whispers narrates that he was born within a privileged class of animals, just as the other elephants are gathered to see his birth. Gentle Heart, his mother, teaches him the first steps of how to walk like her, telling him to meet his family. Later, the elephants gather to see Gentle Heart, just as she tasks a shy Whispers to socialize with the herd. Just as he trumpets in front of the elephants, they all became impressed, followed by Gentle Heart telling them to walk to the Great River, just as Whispers' mother decides to give her son a proper name. Whispers then asks his mother to know which one of the elephants is his father, which Gentle Heart replies to him that there are no male elephants in herds, explaining that they move on.
That night, Whispers narrates that he adjusted to his life as a baby elephant, recapping that he never felt so loved or free and that his favorite game is playing tag, as well as playing in the mud during a mud bath just before getting ready for bed. Everything was peaceful until the elephants notice danger around them, just as Gentle Heart tells everyone to hurry up, due to a group of poachers on a hunt for elephants. Throughout the ambush, the poachers began shooting the elephants with their rifles, causing Whispers to have the saddest day of his life. Whispers continues narrating that he remembered every detail and every moment, especially something that he didn't understand. Later, Whispers' mother, Gentle Heart defends her son from the poachers, just as she advises her son to hide from the poachers. However, Whispers instead tries to make sure his mother is safe, only for her mother to disappear during the ambush.
After the poachers leave, Whispers arrives at the spot where his mother would be, but is cornered by a clan of hyenas, which he decides to avoid the hyenas. Whispers then narrates that he tried to call for help, but no one answered, recapping that he has never been separated from his mother before, fearing that he was preyed on by hyenas. As he waited for his mother after being separated from her, Whispers started giving up all the hope, adapting to a new herd of elephants. Later, an elephant who decided to abandon Half Tusk's herd named Groove (who is Half Tusk's sister) finds Whispers hiding behind a bush, telling her that his mother told him to hide and that he doesn't know where she went. She then asks Whispers if she had a trunk like what all adult elephants have, and as Whispers answers, she tells him that she didn't see his mother. However, a stubborn Whispers follows Half Tusk trying to get help from Groove to help find his mother, only for the conversation to interrupt when the elephants are panicking.
Throughout the panic, Whispers accidentally causes Princess to trip over and after Half Tusk stops the panic, Whispers suddenly finds Princess who was left behind. However, as Whispers and Princess are eating grass, Half Tusk tells them to move on. Just as Whispers begins to trumpet, this only made the other elephants laugh, just as Princess nicknames him using his titular namesake, which he denies - although he forgets to know his real name. As he mentions the poachers, this caused the other elephants to migrate to the Great River to avoid getting hunted under orders from Half Tusk, which they decide to migrate. Just as Whispers despondently asks Groove that he wants to find his mother, she replies that she was being sarcastic. Just as Whispers and Groove walk across a large lake, the latter tells him that he is officially stalking her, just before Whispers narrates that he wanted to find his mother while Groove wanted to improve her independence and despite her cranky attitude, Whispers sensed that she was warming towards him. As he and Groove find themselves in a forest full of baboons and as they explore, they find a male elephant jamming a tree using his trunk. Groove asks him if he could give her and Whispers lunch, only for Tough Tusk to accidentally drop the tree on him. Just as he lifts the tree to save Whispers, he and Groove continue their journey across the forest to find Gentle Heart.
Having gotten past a pride of lions within the forest at night, Whispers and Groove stroll past a herd of buffalo grazing on the grass, and as he tries to ask them for help, Groove tells him to leave them alone, just as three lionesses attempt to hunt them for their prey, only for the buffalo to defend themselves from the lionesses. After walking past the buffalo, Whispers curiously asks Groove of why lions had to attack elephants and buffalo, which she replies to him that it is nature's way - herbivores like elephants and buffalo feed on grass and leaves while lions prey on them. Just as they walk across the savanna, Groove sees skeletal remains of elephants who were killed, telling Whispers to be cautious of what lies within. It is then revealed that the place they are walking within is an abandoned poacher's village, as they pass by several huts, which Groove narrates that the skeletal remains of the elephants connect to the poachers. Groove then finds several bullets lying on the ground, reminding Whispers on the day he got separated from his mother. Whispers ended up being impatient about his mother, much to Groove's worry. As Whispers feels stressed about his mother, Groove calms him down, telling him that finding a new family of elephants would make him happy.
Whispers continues to narrate that he was determined to follow Groove to the Great River and that what she had in mind is finding him another family when she should have been concentrating on water and every water hole he and Groove came across had various problems like lions occupying a territory. He then began to ask Groove that he wanted a drink from the watering hole unaware that there are lions occupying the spot, which Groove tells him to avoid disturbing the lions. Later, Groove found a civilization for Whispers, where hundreds of birds flock around a herd of male elephants inhabiting the watering hole. As they approach the bull elephants, Whispers inadvertently insults them by calling them gorillas and warthogs, just as one of them warns Whispers to be careful of what he says, just as he also tells them that he cannot trumpet yet, irritating the elephants. Groove recaps that the reason why she left her sister Half Tusk in the first place is that she wants to be left alone, just as she abandons Whispers after an argument. Whispers tries to look for Groove, but could not find a sign of her.
That night, Whispers talks to an elephant, asking her if she saw Groove, which she warns him that there are lions surrounding him, asking her of where Groove went. However, that night, Whispers became under attack by hostile lions, much to Groove's worry. The lions begin to attack the elephant that Whispers was talking to, so he decides to defend her from the lions, much to Groove's worry that he is risking his life for an outsider. To this, they were able to defend themselves from the lions. The next day, Whispers and Groove encounter some shoe prints made by humans, linking them to the poachers. Later at night, Whispers and Groove come across a wildfire, which it is then revealed that the hunters are the one causing the fire. In a plan for them to get past the fire, Groove knocks down a tree so that she and Whispers use as a bridge. However, the poachers equipped with flashlights begin to approach him and as Groove looks for Whispers, the poachers begin to see him. Whispers began to retreat when the poachers arrive, causing the poachers to run after him while Whispers began getting Groove to help him. Groove defends Whispers from the poachers by charging towards them in revenge, just as she saves him from the poachers, making Groove and Whispers a team.
As the day passes, Whispers and Groove walk across a large vast area. As he decides to get help from the other elephants, she warns him not to do it on his own, telling him to wait. However, Whispers ignores her advice and risks himself to get help. After Whispers becomes exhausted, the other elephants approach him and as he gets milk from Half Tusk. Just as Princess asks him of what happened to Groove, Whispers mentions the poachers who were the ones who took her, leading the elephants on a search for Groove. Whispers then finds Groove who is severely injured due to her being injured by a group of poachers last night, just as Half Tusk approaches, leading her to give her water due to the extreme heat. Whispers tells Groove to come along, but is unable to move, telling him to be brave. However, Whispers began to cry over his friend and even Half Tusk was unable to save her sister from dying.
Following Groove's death, Whispers keeps up with the herd elephants and later reach an open vast area. He then narrates that he left his past behind when he promised Groove and ran with the rest of the elephants, no longer feeling alone. After a short conversation with Tuskless, Half Tusk alerts the elephants that she saw a flock of birds in the sky, leading them to migrate to the watering hole. Whispers then leads the elephants to the watering hole, just as he and the other elephants feel happy that they found water. Whispers then approaches Princess, who harasses him that he will never fit with the herd of elephants, even if Tuskless wanted him to be accepted, treating him like an outcast. Whispers then grumbles that Princess has anger issues to work out - unaware of a group of poachers behind him and as they arrive, he decides to warn the elephants that the poachers have returned.
Whispers tries hard to trumpet like an adult elephant and all of a sudden, he finally learns how to trumpet like what an adult elephant does, getting their attention. Half Tusk alerts the other elephants that Whispers gave the signal so that the other elephants can become aware of the poachers. As the elephants evacuate into the river to hide into the water, Whispers decide to face the poachers by himself to defend all the elephants in revenge. However, Whispers notices Princess whose leg was caught in a log while a crocodile attacks her, leading Whispers to rescue her and defend her from the crocodile, causing it to retreat. As Whispers is attempting to save Princess, the poachers suddenly arrive and begin using their rifles to shoot the elephants. Whispers then submerges underwater as the poachers wait for him to pop up, only to find no sign of the elephants. As a result, all the poachers were unable to hunt the elephants, just as they retreat and feel disappointed that they were unable to hunt an elephant.
After the poachers leave, Whispers and Princess were able to survive the ambush, just as the other elephants rush towards them. Princess realizes that Whispers' plan to make her hold her breath and stay underwater to fool the poachers was successful. As a result, all the other elephants praise Whispers for being a hero who saved them from the poachers. Seeing another elephant from a distance, Whispers tells the elephants that they should meet her. Noticing that she is too far from him, Whispers gets her attention, followed by the other elephants approach her. Whispers then realizes that the elephant he met is none other than his mother Gentle Heart who is shown to have survived. Whispers happily reunites with his mother who has been searching for her son for so long, promising that she'd always take care of him. Whispers and his mother Half Tusk are accepted into Half Tusk's herd. Afterwards, Whispers narrates that the poachers are still hunting, but found something they could not take: the courage of a strong heart, the love of a family, a mother's promise, and an elephant's trumpet, as well as narrating that his story "can start with a whisper."
Trivia[]
- The way Whispers was separated from her mother Gentle Heart by a group of poachers at the beginning of the film when he was a baby reflects the infamous scene from the 1942 Disney film Bambi, where Bambi's mother was killed by a hunter. However, unlike Bambi's case, Whispers' mother survives rather than being killed.
- The part where Princess gives Whispers his namesake could be a possible reference to the 1941 Disney animated feature film Dumbo where the Circus Elephants gave Jumbo Jr. the titular namesake during the part when they see his large ears. Unlike Dumbo, who had a real name before being called by his titular namesake, Whispers had no real name.
- While most of the elephants featured in the film were filmed in the wild, only the elephants that portray Whispers and Groove were portrayed by trained elephants respectively.
- Although Kevin Michael Richardson was credited as voicing the adult version of Whispers, every scene where he appears depicts him as an elephant calf, as only his adult self is the one narrating the film's plot.
- At the beginning of the film, Whispers tells his mother, "Got milk?", a reference to a titular advertising campaign.
- When Groove tells Whispers about the situation with her getting ugly, the latter replies to her, "Talk about ugly", which Whispers puts an emphasis on "ugly". This was previously used in the 1994 Disney animated feature film The Lion King during the scene at the Elephant Graveyard where Shenzi and Banzai put an emphasis on the word "ugly" while complaining about lions being their natural enemy, just before Scar tells them that not all lions are bad.
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