WMG / The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl

Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

The movie is set in the same universe as Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, Pulp Fiction, From Dusk Till Dawn, the Kill Bill duology and Inglourious Basterds.

Yes you are most definitely reading that correctly. Reason why is because Max is eating a Big Kahuna Burger at the beginning on the docks when he meets Sharkboy.

The entire film is actually a character study of Max, and every time the characters from his imagination interact, it reflects Max's feelings about the real world in some way.

• Each dream character reflects a facet of Max's feelings towards people in his real life, told through the perspective of a little boy in a broken home.
  • Sharkboy and Lavagirl are obvious stand-ins for parents that Max feels neglected by, but also fulfill the purpose of providing him with friends that he doesn't have. Both heroes are older than him, but they are also still teenagers and not adults, which means that, while they are still capable and can look out for him, he is still their peer and can interact with them in a non-authoritative way.
    • Sharkboy arguably acts as a Mary Sue self insert, complete with the convoluted backstory, plethora of badass moments (to a child) and basically taking the forefront of the mission at hand. Still, Sharkboy is a reflection of Max, and symbolizes his most impulsive and instinctive feelings: Sharkboy hates Max's bully Linus (he rips up his paper), has a big crush on the Ice Princess, whose a stand in for Marissa, and treats Mr. Electric as an enemy to be defeated since in real life, Mr. Electricidad, while not evil, still acts as a barrier between Max and his crush and discourages Max using his imagination as replacement for friends. In the Freudian Trio, Sharkboy is the Id.
    • If Sharkboy symbolizes Max's base desires and feelings, Lavagirl symbolizes Max's tumultuous and complicated feelings towards those in his life. She has a Mysterious Past, which may reflect Max's feelings about his own mother and that he's unsure of her intentions, as his parents are implied to be on the brink of divorce, and while his mom is a hardworking parent whose trying her best, its still causing strife in Max's life. Lavagirl's main conflict revolves around her lack of identity and that she fears she may be evil, which reflects Max's own introspection and analysis of his own dreams and how they affect his life; how good or bad is it to get wrapped up in a fictional world? Lavagirl, being the most reasonable out of the three, can also be the most critical; she explains the rules of Drool to Max and offers helpful advice, and tries to warn Sharkboy to not fall for a trap, which he ignores. Still, Lavagirl has a case of Power Incontinence, and burns things that she touches, which may reflect a deeper self-loathing and loss of control that Max feels due to his parent's failing marriage, his bullies, and his out-of-touch teacher. In the Freudian Trio, Lavagirl is the Superego.
  • Mr. Electric is an obvious stand in for Max's teacher, Mr. Electricidad. However, while Mr. Electric is undoubtedly evil, Mr. Electricidad is clearly just a troubled Reasonable Authority Figure who is exasperated with Max and overprotective of his daughter, but ultimately a decent guy. This reflects Max's own insecurities; Mr Electricidad has told Max to not rely on his escapist fantasies and to try to make friends and develop his social life, but to a lonely kid like Max who uses fantasy to escape his problems, its unhelpful advice and only pushes him further from his teacher. Mr. Electric, in this case, is a cartoonish caricature of a more nuanced person. This is also why Mr. Electric is the only dream entity to outright die; he's no longer needed by Max to cope, as by the end of the movie, he matures beyond the need for him.
  • The Ice Princess is a stand-in for Max's crush Marissa, but we get two separate perspectives from Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Sharkboy has a crush on her, while Lavagirl describes her as selfish and heartless. Lavagirl's dislike might not be as strange as it seems; If lavagirl and Sharkboy are reflections of Max, then they both reflect different parts of his mind. Sharkboy, as the Id, has a crush on the Princess but lacks the skills to convince her to help them, and Lavagirl's dislike gets her trapped in a block of ice. It's likely that Lavagirl's feelings towards the Ice Princess hint at Max's own feelings being more complicated: while Max clearly likes Marissa, as she's the only person in the entire class who seems to like his stories, she's also rather quiet and doesn't stand up for Max when he's being bullied, only comforting him after it's already happened (which is justified given that she seems rather shy and nonconfrontational until she eventually stands up to Mr. Electricidad). Perhaps Lavagirl's attitude is reflective of some mild resentment Max harbors towards Marissa mixed in with his crush. This also makes the ending where Marissa finally destroys Mr. Electric fitting with this theme, as she's finally developing the backbone to stand up to a bully and to her own father by technicality.
  • Minus is Linus, obviously, and the fact that there is virtually no change to Minus aside from wearing a goofy costume makes the comparison between them almost moot. Out of all of the dream world stand-ins, Minus and Linus are the most similiar because Linus already acts as the antagonist to Max's life. And, yet, he still turns out to be less of a real villain than Mr. Electricidad, as he decides to work with Max to save Drool rather than destroy it. This sudden change seems to stem from Max's desire to not only defeat Linus, but to understand him; it's implied that Linus's Freudian Excuse is that his own dreams were crushed at some point, and that he takes it out on Max. The reconciliation at the end of their fight reflects how Max comes to understand that Linus/Minus is not a supervillain, but another kid like him.