2023 Inktober 7 - Tyrell's Disney Moment

With all the fanfare that surrounds Tyrell, "Prince Ali" from Aladdin would suit him best. Everybody claims he's all that, and he seems to actually believe it and revel in it.

 

But the truth is, he feels as much like a fraud as Aladdin does. He knows people don't really care about him, the lonely boy inside the glamorous prince, and he harbors a legitimate fear that his parents are the same way. When the party's over, what's left? What's he actually good for? Who would bother to keep company with him under different circumstances?

 

This is why he's so horrible to Reid, even if it doesn't justify him by any means. While he appears to have it all, Reid's the one who actually has more, who has the very things that Tyrell pines after. I like to compare the two boys to toys. Tyrell would be that rare toy that's kept in pristine condition in its box, while Reid would be that simpler toy that actually gets played with.

 

And it's no wonder Tyrell snaps after he's thrown out, like he's worthless after all. He was so unprepared for the real world, for harsh reality, that he virtually exploded like a stick of dynamite, and everybody was caught in the radius of his blast. He may not be as gigantic as Genie when Jafar gets his hands on the lamp, but people are in for the most unpleasant surprise of their lives when he returns. Not even Tallis and Ann can see the boy they once knew, adored, and pampered so much anymore. He's so frightening that he makes Beowulf cower, and the only reason Reid doesn't run from him is because Reid has also reached the end of his rope and is prepared to fight fire with fire.

 

To me, this is what makes Tyrell such a tragic character. He has plenty of potential to be good, but the things he was taught were so erroneous that he was woefully warped out of shape and truly didn't know any other way.

 

Goes to show, like Aladdin, there's a whole lot more to a person than meets the eye. We may not know much of Jafar's backstory, but I'll bet you anything something happened to steer him down that path of darkness and he was the one to maintain that dark path for the rest of his life. 

 

Then again, Aladdin goes through a lot of grief and still manages to be sweet, honorable, and heroic, learning well from his mistakes and becoming more and more polished until he truly shines.