Vladimir Propp Theory

In this post I will be researching into Vladimir Propp and his Theory of narrative and also his theories into the characters used.

Vladimir Propp was a Soviet formalist scholar who analysed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales. Vladimir suggested characters took on role of narrative "spheres of action" or functions, Propp came up with seven different character types.

1. The villain—struggles against the hero
2. The donor—prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object
3. The (magical) helper—helps the hero in the quest
4. The princess and her father—gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished
5. The dispatcher—character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
6. The hero or victim/seeker hero—reacts to the donor, weds the princess
7. False hero—takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

These roles could sometimes be distributed among various characters, as the hero kills the villain dragon, and the dragon's sisters take on the villainous role of chasing him. Conversely, one character could engage in acts as more than one role, as a father could send his son on the quest and give him a sword, acting as both dispatcher and donor.

And now I am going to apply Vladimir propp's theory to a film and the film I am going to choose is Finding Nemo.

1. The villain - Would be the dentists daughter (Darla).
2. The Donor - The Turtles because they give the Marlin the speed needed to get to his quest.
3. The (Magical) helper - Would be Dory because she helps Marlin.
4. The Princess/Prize - would be his son Nemo.
5. The dispatcher - The seagull which tells Marlin the way to his son.
6.  The Hero or victim/Seeker Hero - Would be Marlin because he is going to save his son Nemo.

From looking at Vladimir Propp's theory I can see some character profiles that would be included in my film but a lot of them won't be included for example there will be a hero and a villain and a victim but there won't be a dispatcher a helper or a donor in my film, but the research has helped me to see that this theory does apply to a lot of theory.