Warning! SPOILERS for Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Disney+ has released a new and improved animated reboot of Diary of a Wimpy Kid - here's the ending explained. The live-action version of Jeff Kinney's best-selling book series took some liberties with its adaptation in order to make the movie a little friendlier for older audiences. The 2010's version also added some familiar faces to the screen with the likes of Steve Zahn, Rachael Harris, and Chloë Grace Moretz. However, after the failure of its fourth installment Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, audiences thought it unlikely that the franchise would continue in its live-action format. However, Jeff Kinney fought for his beloved series to continue on, and Disney+ finally announced the animated version at the 2020 Disney Investor Day event.
Disney+'s animated movie closely follows the original source material, as Greg Heffley (Brady Noon) and his best friend Rowley Jefferson (Ethan William Childress) navigate the awkward transition from elementary school into middle school. Greg hears horror stories about middle school from his apathetic older brother Rodrick and unfortunately finds out that a lot of what he says is true, such as that there are no doors on the stalls on the second-floor bathroom, that he and Rowley won't be able to find seats at lunch, and that, of course, the infamous "cheese touch" is real. After Rowley inadvertently asks Greg if he wants to "play" after school, he sees that he can no longer slide under the radar. Greg believes that Rowley can't survive the territory without him. He finds out soon enough just how wrong he is when Rowley breaks his arm and rises to instant popularity. It all comes to a head when Rowley submits the "zoo-wee-mama" cartoon, and the two break off their friendship.
The Diary Of A Wimpy Kid 2021 reboot definitely follows the whimsical and kid-friendly book series closer than the 2010 version. This is probably due to Jeff Kinney writing the script and producing the film this time around. Characters like Angie Steadman don't appear and Colin is replaced by Chirag Gupta. Granted, the story's themes and outcome are almost the same as the original. The movie is full of family-friendly fun and has a pure-hearted message in the end. With that in mind, here's Diary of a Wimpy Kid's ending explained.
What Happens In Diary Of A Wimpy Kid’s Ending
While playing a forbidden game, that includes hurling a football at Rowley who is riding a kid's rumble tricycle, Greg's throw gets under the wheel sending Rowley flying. He breaks his arm and Greg begs him not to tell his parents the truth how this happened. In both the live-action and the Disney+ movie franchise, he resents his friends' growing popularity after Rowley essentially takes his "zoo-wee-mama" joke (which Greg rejected) and becomes the new school cartoonist. This leads to a fight between the two, in which the protagonist proclaims that his friend would be nothing if he didn't break his arm.
After the fight, the two end up hanging out with other people, like the creepy Fregley, and their argument heats up when Rowley asks for his game back. Their fight is interrupted by a group of teenagers rolling up on the two to get revenge after the events of Halloween night. The teens make Rowley eat the dreaded cheese, and Greg is up next. Before he can, the coach runs the teens off. As the schoolyard repopulates the kids notice that someone took a bite out of the cheese. In the Disney+ Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie, Greg makes the ultimate middle school sacrifice by taking the fall for his friend and inheriting the cheese touch in his place.
Why Greg And Rowley Become Friends Again
While Greg and Rowley both make mistakes in their friendship, it's really Greg that ends up being a bad friend. He breaks his best friend's arm, and rather than show concern he asks him to lie about it. Subsequently, when Susan Heffley tells her son to tell the truth to the Jeffersons, he backs down and runs away, claiming that the "right thing to do" is to do nothing at all. After his cartoon is censored by the school paper and Rowley easily passes through, Greg's angry about his friend's accomplishments, rather than being happy for him. The Disney animated classic certainly doesn't paint the protagonist in a favorable light. Why then do Rowley and Greg become friends again in Diary of a Wimpy Kid?
In the end, Greg learns his lesson and decides to sacrifice the popularity he so craves by taking the fall for Rowley. It's definitely a gesture that not many middle school kids would make, and after he treats his friend so poorly it's probably the only thing that could've mended their relationship. Truly, Greg is desperate by the end. The only friend he can seem to make is that creepy kid Fregley, while Rowley has no problem finding other people to hang out with. It seems that the protagonist learns a lesson about being yourself from his awkward friend.
Greg Gets The Cheese Touch — But It's Not So Bad
In Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the "cheese touch" is something of a school legend. After a moldy piece of cheese sits on the blacktop for an indeterminable amount of time, the students avoid it in disgust. When a student touches the cheese they inherit a cootie-like affliction that can be passed around from kid to kid. The final victim of the touch moves to California, taking his malady with him. After Greg takes the fall for Rowley, he takes on the cheese touch with aplomb and finds out that having it actually isn't that bad.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid's protagonist uses the student's disgust to his advantage. While the live-action original movie doesn't explore this, its implications are what finally wraps the animated film up. Since the students avoid him in droves, Greg is able to sit and eat lunch wherever he wants. Kids leave him alone in the second-floor bathroom and bullies avoid him. By completely ignoring Rodrick's earlier advice about flying under the radar, he's able to live out the rest of his middle school year by wielding the power of the cheese touch.
The Real Meaning Of Diary Of A Wimpy Kid’s Ending
The themes that Diary of a Wimpy Kid explores are that of friendship, popularity, and doing the right thing. Throughout all of Greg's trials, he encounters both good choices and bad ones that are pretty common in elementary and middle school life. While he sacrifices a lot for popularity, like his best friend, when he makes the choice to take the fall in the end, Greg makes up for all of his previous poor decisions. The Disney+ movie's ending shows that one good friend is better than popularity, sometimes doing the right thing requires sacrifices, and the only way to truly make friends is by being yourself.
