The moral lesson here reminds me of the song "Less Can Be More," from Rankin/Bass's The Return of the King:
Less can be more,
And small can be beautiful,
For life isn't all
Just big and wonderful.
And what do I need,
When you get right down to it?
All my cares come from greed,
And it's time that I knew it.
Things I can't do without
Are the small things that life is all about.
Less can be more,
And small can be beautiful,
I don't want it all;
Just part of wonderful.
For what do I need,
When you get right down to it?
Just a garden and seed,
And the love to pursue it.
Things I can't do without
Are the small things that life is all about.
It's one of my personal favorite songs and thinking of it brings me back down to earth whenever I feel greedy and wanton for more. It's the keystone of my minimalist philosophy.
This video essay is every bit as entertaining as the character Jack Horner himself.
Seriously, I MISS when some bad guys were straight up evil. Do I believe in empathy, compassion, and the goodness in humanity? Yes. Unflinchingly. Sadly, it's not in everyone because some people are devoid of any it. These people are something to be cautious of and accept that wherever good exists? There's a counter balance.
Slight nitpick though. The flashback of him doing his nursery routine dose show something important. Horner was greedy in his actions but he was envious of a magical individual. The memory Horner is shabby, humble, and a family business but the way describes it treats it like it was glamorous. The trick here is it doesn't matter if it was one, the other, or a little bit of both. What matters is that Horner sees no value because it's not magic. While a wooden puppet brought to life was getting all the attention, Horner asked "what's so great about him? I've been real this whole time". Horner is genuinely and greedily envious of anyone and thing with magic