Six reasons Young MacGuffin is an underrated sweet summer child (and why I ship MerGuffin)
I have a thing for minor background characters, that much is obvious by my fandom track record. Young MacGuffin is a prime example of my love for the characters nobody gives a toss aboot. So! Like I usually do, Iâm gonnae explain why. Hold onto your arses.
Look at it! Heâs shakin in his wee boots, bless. God I love the suitors. First weâre introduced to young Macintosh, whoâs vain, arrogant and a right arsehole into the bargain (I love him, heâs such a prick). In direct contrast you have young MacGuffin, whoâs all nerves and shyness, and waiting for his dadâs queues to act. MacIntosh is a leader, but MacGuffin is a follower. He tries to make himself as small as possible, but for all his bungling awkwardness, Merida actually takes notice of him (this is why I consider the Merida/MacGuffin epilogue in the artbook/deleted scene to be canon, itâs a conclusion to this particular scene).
Side note: I love this scene as a character moment for Merida. Sheâs not interested in getting married and plans on doing everything in her power to get out of it, but sheâs still a teenage girl and she sees something in MacGuffin, despite his âŚMacGuffinness. Letâs face it, heâs not typical of your male Disney romantic interests (he ainât no Flynn), which is a very welcome change. But more than anything, I love that itâs Merida who is the one to show interest first, itâs not from his perspective or a romance led by him trying to win her over. I need more female characters to lead/own their romance in fiction full stop. On top of that, this scene exists but itâs not important to the movie, which is why it didnât make the cut. Even though we know what happens from the deleted scene/artbook epilogue, it didnât make the film because itâs not important to her story right now. So yeah, thumbs up, I dig it. Go get yer lad, Merida.
Cannae beat the Scottish banter! The more indecipherable the better. Plus Iâm a sucker for Doric (itâs both melodic and hilarious- Doric speakers can never pronounce my name at all, they always wind up calling me Helga. Fuck knows how they get there cos my nameâs Halima.)
When MacGuffin was first introduced I had this horrible feeling they were going to give him a ridiculous, insulting voice, but thank god for Kevin McKidd! People tend to focus on young MacGuffinâs dialect rather than what he says. Can we just for a minute appreciate what a cheeky wee shit he is?
âIf he wis a wee bit closer, ah could lob a caber at him, ye ken.â
(translation: If he was a little bit closer, I could throw a log at him, you know.â)
Teasing young MacIntosh and Dingwall about Mor'du.
âSince yer saying it and I wasnât there to see it myself, Iâll go ahead and take yer word for it.âÂ
(translation: You bunch of lying bawbags, you can stay here and sit on your tod, nice and safe, while I go ahead and check it out for real)
Young MacGuffinâs a massive nerd. Out of the three suitors and the lords, heâs the only one whoâs ridiculously excited over joining the hunt for Mor'du. Hell heâs just ridiculously excited about everything. And it makes a hilarious contrast with Posh-tosh MacIntosh (who btw has the kind of wanky accent that would get him chibbed in Glasgow).
MacGuffin: Itâs all goinâ tae be settled once we get doon tâ that field!
4. His friendship with young MacIntosh
Why does no one talk about this? Hell, why isnât fandom shipping them, cos goddamn theyâre cute (and this is coming from a staunch MerGuffin fan). Thereâs a really nice progression to their friendship in the background throughout the film. You couldnât get two more different characters. Oneâs painfully shy, innocent and eager to join in; the otherâs full of his own shite and struts about like a peacock with a stick up its arse. To begin, MacIntosh isnât much impressed with Young MacGuffin. He rolls his eyes, draws him mocking looks, and makes fun of his thick dialect. But MacGuffin isnât naive, he knows MacIntosh has an ego the size of his gigantic beak, but heâs not so shy and awkward that he bows down to it - MacGuffin gives as good as he gets. By the end, theyâre the perfect odd-couple besties. Bring in Dingwall, whoâs cool as a cucumber and couldnae give a flying fuck about anything, and Merida, who is both part dork, part sarky asshole, part capable badass, and theyâre the perfect comedy superteam. I just want a million adventures with Merida and the suitors, ok?
5. Introspective, observant and cute as a button
I love the kind of characters who are good at reading those around them. Young MacGuffin pegs MacIntosh early on, but more importantly knows how to handle him and deal with his ego (drench it in sea water). And the look he gives his dad when heâs all âLet these lads try win her heart before they win her hand, if they can!â says so much about their relationship. He loves him, does everything he can out of admiration for Lord MacGuffin, but heâs not blind to his dadâs faults (âchrist dad yer so embarrassingâ XD).
The changing expressions on young MacGuffinâ and MacIntoshâs faces are brilliant to watch during Meridaâs speech to the Lords- the animation alone says so much- the way young MacIntoshâs face goes from âWhat are these mental old men on about? are they high??â to 'Hold on. Shit, this could really benefit me.â âITâS A GRAND IDEA!â Meanwhile, MacGuffinâs face goes from smiling softly at Merida to looking unbearably sad when it seems the Lords arenât going to go alone with her proposal -ugh, my heart.
6. And finally, this line.
âItâs jist nae fair makin us ficht for the hand o the quine that disnae want any bit o it. Ken?â
âItâs just not fair making us fight for the hand of a girl that doesnât want any part of it, you know?â
Dingwall and MacIntosh, much as I love them to pieces, their comments are about themselves - which fair enough, they want their freedom the same as Merida wants herâs. But young MacGuffinâs the only one who points out itâs a shitty deal forcing them to marry a girl without her consent. (and then panics because he just spoke his mind and hates drawing attention to himself, dkjasdkjdh). Can we just please have more male characters like this full stop?? Also, Merida giggling at him.
Fuck these two, theyâre perfect.
TL;DR, Young MacGuffin is an awkward, shy, story-loving, easily excited, kind-hearted, thoughtful, cheeky, teasing wee fanny, and I love him.
Kevin McKidd: (Young MacGuffin voice actor) ââŚeven though he canât be understood by anyone, his heart is in the right place. Heâs very sincere. Heâs kind of socially awkward and shy, but he would be the right pick for Merida. At one point in the second year it was on the cards that Merida was going to pick him and that she saw in him something that she really liked, and they were going to walk off into the sunset at the end of the movie, but then that all changed.â
Kevin McKidd said he wanted the follow-up to have a happy ending with a royal wedding. âI feel bad for young MacGuffin that he didnât get the girl, but it may be in the sequel.â
Personally, Iâm so glad they didnât go with it in the final edit of the film, but I love that itâs still there in some small way, and that it exists in the artbook as âThe Epilogueâ, which is how I consider it.
Jesus look at these two blushing cuties.
(lines from the deleted scene - I love the mirroring of MacGuffin and Fergus too)
Merida: For the life of me I canât understand a word he says.
Elinor: Well dear, I didnât understand a word your father said when I first met him, either.
Artbook pics of the epilogue, yours truly.
