Appeal in Animated Character Design: Concepts and History

James Edward Walker

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Fine Arts in Animation

at The Savannah College of Art and Design

© January 2013, James Edward Walker

The author hereby grants SCAD permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic thesis copies of document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter

created.

Signature of Author and Date_____________________________________________________ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"!!!"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Wen Seun Signature Date Committee Chair !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"!!!"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Ashwin Inamdar Signature Date Committee Member !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"!!!"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!William Wright Signature Date Committee Member

Appeal in Animated Character Design:

Concepts and History

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Animation Department In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Degree of Master of Fine Arts Savannah College of Art and Design

By

James Edward Walker

Savannah, Georgia January 2013

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations 1 Thesis Abstract 2 Introduction 3 Approach 4 Body of Investigation 4-20 Conclusion 21 Filmography 22-23 Still Image Sources 24 Bibliography 25-26

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List of Illustrations Fig. 1. Scene from Beowulf. Sony Pictures. 2007. 7

Fig. 2. Pyramid Head . Silent Hill. 10

Fig. 3. Scene from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney. 1937. 11

Fig. 4. Mickey Mouse 1928. Disney. 12

Fig. 5. Mickey Mouse 1939. Disney. 12

Fig. 6. Tin Toy. Pixar. 1988. 16

Fig. 7. The Incredibles. Pixar. 2004. 16

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Appeal in Animated Character Design: Concepts and History

James Edward Walker

January 2013

This thesis investigates appeal in relation to animated character design. In addition, it will look

into animated films and studios to illustrate the use of design cues to achieve allure. These design

concepts are essential parts for creating effective characters and are present in most financially

successful films. Characters that are monotonous in terms of design and that are more

generalized are far less exciting. Moreover, this can be accredited to the decline of enticing

characters in two- dimensional animation and the transfer to Computer Graphic (CG) animated

characters. The primary goal of this research is to assist other filmmakers in understanding ways

to ascertain intriguing characters for use in animated films, as well as to understand the profound

trend of attraction in characters made for animation.

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Introduction

In the realm of American animation there are thousands of characters. These characters come in

all shapes and sizes varying in quality of aesthetic charm in terms of design. For instance, some

of the first cartoons were Gertie the Dinosaur in 1914, and Farmer Al Falfa in 1916. This was

when characters designs were in their infancy stages, to the current CG animation era with

notable characters like Shrek and Woody. This thesis investigates in hopes to understand what

constitutes as quintessential and what attributes lead to creating poignant character designs.

These attractive qualities of the character designs may be an essential part that aids in the

audiences reaction and compassion for the characters in which can improve the quality of film.

To better understand the concept of appealing character designs, the process and the criteria to

achieve fascinating characters will be investigated and explained. The thesis will also cover the

history of animated character design and the design cues used to vehemently achieve intrigue in

design. This will investigate the trends in amusing characters to compare to designs that are not

as well developed visually. Based upon the research gathered, this thesis will research to

understand and define appeal, as well as finding design cues used throughout history in

captivating designs.

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Approach and Overview

In order to understand appeal in terms of character design, numerous aspects will be overviewed.

The sections following will explain the lure and relate it to animation. The design principles

come from various sources including Disney Animation and are the foundation of understanding

character design to translate it to animation.

Appeal

Appeal can be defined as anything that is intriguing that draws and maintains attention.

Something appealing is what a person wants to see.1 Appeal is a perplexed principle to define. It

is based on a characters personal attractiveness so arguably, also it is entirely subjective on the

viewer s point of view, and personal opinion as to what constitutes as visually pleasing.

Although this explains the wide variety of different styles of animation and character types that

are provided, if all kinds of audiences liked the same things. For instance, with animal

characters shot in stop motion, there would be little demand for abstract animation, hand drawn,

or action scenes. In turn, this would make all animation rather unidirectional.2 On the other hand,

with the diverse opinion in what is 'appealing', the industry is encouraged to develop new ideas

and specialize in styles to create a familiarity with their audience. In the book Illusion of Life, the

author describes appeal as follows. Appeal was very important from the start. The word is often

misinterpreted to suggest cuddly bunnies and soft kittens. To us, it meant anything that a person

likes to see, a quality of charm, pleasing design, simplicity, communication, and magnetism.

Your eye is drawn to the figure that has appeal, and once there, it is held while you appreciate

what you are seeing. A striking, heroic figure can have appeal. A villainess, even though chilling

1 Bennett, Doug. Character Design Principles . Web. 2011. 2 Kricfalusi, John. Disney Principles 4- Appeal 1. Web. 2008.

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and dramatic, can have appeal; otherwise you will not want to watch what she is doing. The ugly

and repulsive may capture your gaze. 3 Elaborating on this concept further the author notes that,

Villains are usually the most fun of all characters to develop, because they make everything else

happen. They are the instigators, and as Chaplin pointed out, always more colorful than the hero.

They may be dramatic, awesome, insidious, or semi-comic, but inevitably they will be rich in

unusual personality traits. 4 For this reason, appealing has many facts. The word has flexibility,

adaptability and versatility when characterizing its use in animation.

Simplicity

Simplicity involves using basic shapes for a foundation for the overall shape of the character.

When utilizing basic shapes, it creates a recognizable silhouette, which in turn separates a

character from another.5 It is important to keep in mind the shape of the whole figure. It s a

simple technique taught in most art drawing classes, using basic shapes takes attention away

from detail and focuses on form. By building details from form designing characters is made

easier. The shape defines who the character is and the details add to character without

overpowering or detracting.

Clarity is the cleanliness in a design that is made to prevent confusion.6 Too much detail can

become confusing to the viewer creating a what is that moment. A streamline design with just

enough detail will overwhelmingly assist the viewer in seeing the point clearly. It is important to

remember that too much detail can take away from the face of the character, causing a loss of the

3 Thomas. Johnston. The Ilusion of Life. p68 4 Thomas. Johnston. The Illusion of Life. p417 5 Bennet, Doug. Character Design Principles. Web. 2011. 6 Ahad, Alex. Character Design: Big Shapes vs. Small Details. Web. 2011.

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focal point in most cases. A conducive character design does not need excessive details to make

it interesting. Often time s refinement is superior.7

Quality of charm There are numerous examples of character designs, although many of them are not created equal.

When comparing character designs throughout the field, there can be a higher quality level. This

benchmark is set when concepts are actualized and realized. These concepts improve design

aspects that were not necessarily present and or used as frequently; for example, comparing a

budget television animated character to a Disney feature film Character from the Golden era. The

quality of appeal in a character design is determined by the level of thought implemented into the

design and the cohesiveness of the final design. The quality is constituted by all elements of

design choices put into effect.

Pleasing Design

A pleasing design can be a combination of many different aspects. These aspects include

functionality, distinction, and personality.8 The functionality entails the build of the character

and how successfully the character can evoke emotion through animation. Starting with classic

animation time period these characters are comprised of simple and calculated forms that are

easy to control.9 Furthermore, distinction is the separation a character has visually from

characters in the respective film, as well as other characters from the world of animation.

Generally they are constructed using variations of shapes and details to not appear generic or

uninteresting. Lastly, a pleasing design involves personality. Voice actors, story situations, and

7 Bennet, Doug. Character Design Principles. Web. 2011. 8 Kricfalusi, John. Character Design 2: Primer. Web. 2007. 9 Kricfalusi, John. Character Design 2: Primer. Web. 2007.

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character performance aid this aspect.10 With that being said, a personality of a character can be

suggested based off of the appearance. Not knowing anything about the character, the personality

can shine through from the design. Some examples of characters with all these aspects include

Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and Scrat from the three dimensional (3D) animated film series

Ice Age. Overall, these designs should intrigue the viewer and should not be distracting. Yet,

there is a distracting area that should be avoided in CG character design. That area is the uncanny

valley. A term created by Masahiro Mori, a robotics scientist, is now used in CG animation that

pertains to characters that try to mimic human counterparts in appearance, but fall short in some

aspects, which lead to dismissal from audience.11

Films like Beowulf and The Polar Express are examples of this theory. In the New York Times

article Digital Actors in Beowulf Are Just Uncanny , David F. Gallagher explains, In the same

way, it s impossible to watch Beowulf without sensing that the actors are being pushed

around by invisible forces, not living and breathing on their own. The movies animation is

otherwise so sophisticated that it is hard to pin down just what is missing. Perhaps we have spent

10 Kricfalusi, John. Character Design 2: Primer. Web. 2007. 11 Plantec, Peter. Crossing the Great Uncanny Valley. Web. p1.2007

Fig. 1.Scene from Beowulf. Sony Pictures. 2007.

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so much time looking at our fellow humans that we can detect a problem with something as

subtle as the physics of a muscle contracting, just a fraction of a second before it pulls the lips

into a smile. The motion-capture work in Beowulf, which was handled by Sony Imageworks

using technology from Vicon, is clearly leaving something out. People who are meant to be

enraged, or who are at risk of plummeting to their deaths, just look a little out of sorts. 12 In

2001, when CG animated films where on the rise in popularity, a film called Final Fantasy: The

Spirits Within was released. There were major advancements in computer technology at this time

and this was a film that spawned the creations of others like it. The characters were unflattering

and lifeless and strayed away from what was successful in terms of charming character designs.

This film was one of the first CG films that involved animated characters that were designed to

look like actual realistic humans. This film production was a crossover that took the story from a

popular videogame franchise. It also received heavy negative criticism and poor box office

numbers and is well known for the poster child for the uncanny valley in the animated film

industry. The main criticism on the film was that the characters tried to look too lifelike. Aki

Ross in Final Fantasy inadvertently comes across as pretentious: a cartoon character

masquerading as a human.13 As she moved, the spectator s minds picked up on the incorrectness.

Focusing on her eyes, mouth, skin and hair, destroyed the illusion of reality. Thus, identifying

Aki Ross in too many incompatible ways simultaneously and the brains of the audience could

not handle it.14 The issues with films like this were that the closer you get to reality, the harder it

is to convince an audience that it is real. Instead of enjoying the film, the sense of artificiality

creeps out at you and you get disengaged from the film. Realistic lighting, textures, cloth effects,

and geometry added to the downfall. Polar Express would be another example. The film released

12 Gallagher, David. Digital Actors in Beowulf Are Just Uncanny.(nytimes.2007). 13 Plantec, Peter. Crossing the Great Uncanny Valley. Web. p1.2007 14 Plantec, Peter. Crossing the Great Uncanny Valley. Web. p1.2007

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in 2004, had many of the same problems as Final Fantasy. It relied heavily on accurate

representation of real life counterparts and did not achieve the level of quality in appeal of other

notable CG films that were far less realistic and relied on design concepts rather than realism.15

Creating digital actors with so much attention to detail and the sum of money spent brings up the

question; Why not just use real actors? Avoiding the uncanny valley can be difficult when

realism is the ultimate goal of the characters appearance. Animation is a tool, which artists can

use to create new character designs. These designs can be presented in a way that the audience

uses logical thinking to know that the animation is not real but still remaining interested. With

the dawn of the CG era, it was enticing for artist to attempt and match or a least get close to

photo real imagery with new technological advances.16 One place where this seems to be

executed differently is in live action film with rapid cuts to CG action and then back to live

action. In films like Spiderman and The Dark Knight the use of computer-generated imagery

(CGI) is masked, which can make determining real from simulation more challenging. Thus, the

actor s faces or rendered objects are not highlighted because of rapid action.

Contrast: Straight vs. Curves

In the design process, straight contour lines versus curved contour lines create visual tension and

variety.17 In nature there are forms in balance, and they are ready to move in any direction.18 Yet,

there are few forms that are completely symmetrical. The contrast in form and shape makes an

active type of balance. One side could be straight while the other bows out with the relaxed

weight. The eye responds well to things that are not fully clinical and stiff in design. Pyramid

15 Plantec, Peter. Crossing the Great Uncanny Valley. Web. p2. 2007 16 Plantec, Peter. Crossing the Great Uncanny Valley. Web. p2. 2007 17 Bennet, Doug. Character Design Principles. Web. 2011. 18 Thomas. Johnston. The Ilusion of Life. p68

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head from Silent Hill 2 is an example of straight contour versus curve contour.19 Silent Hill is a

survival horror videogame franchise that places the protagonist in a world of obscurity with

zombies, and mixes fantasy with horror, elegance with gore, and beauty with the hideous.

Pyramid head has a sharp pyramidal shaped ornament around the head with a humanoid body.

This character also carries an oversized sword that is an accent to the large scale of the head,

which also has sharp straight contour line. In contrast, the soft draped baggy pant offer soft curvy

contour lines that accentuate the lean curvy body of the character. By emphasizing the silhouette

of the character, creates a unique visual presence. Characters designs have functions that are

capable of being posed and animated. Keeping that in

mind, the straight edges provide tension while the curved

contours provide rhythm.20 This combination equates to

visual interest which animators and designers can use to

lead the eye to predetermined areas.

Cuteness

Cuteness is a term that describes the visual attractiveness of an object. It is a basic opinion, but is

often tied to persons or anthropomorphic animals, which occupy body proportions that resemble

infants.21 Additionally, this body type is pear-shaped, small with an exceptionally large head and

eyes and small features like a nose. Character designer Charlie Thorson was well known for

developing these types of characters. Although his career was not extensive, he designed

characters like Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Sniffles the Mouse, Raggedy Ann, and Snow White;22

all of which are examples of cute characters. These characters are a mainstay in American

19 Ahad, Alex. Character Design: Big Shapes vs. Small Details. Web. 2011. 20 Bennet, Doug. Character Design Principles. Web. 2011. 21 What Mickey and Babies Have in Common. (itsamomsworld.com). Web. 22 Walz, Gene. Character Design in Classic Animation. Web.1997.

Fig. 2.Pyramid Head. Silent Hill

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culture and are heavily popular and recognizable to many. A cute character designed involved

more than large eyes. It is a strategically planned combination of large and small aspects that do

not over power each other. The dominant masses act as a focal point and are complimented with

smaller features and parts.23

History

The history of character design has a distinct backing of repetition and basic forms. With that

being said, through the years designs have changed considerably through use more advanced

shapes and styles. In addition, it has evolved from simply drawn characters to computer-

generated designs. By knowing the history of character design it can enable one s ability to

distinguish the difference between early character designs in comparison to today s modern

characters and incorporate into their own projects. This next section will give specific details of

the evolution throughout animation history, as well as, giving benchmarks set by animation

studios. Furthermore, there will be numerous examples of character designs that have been

repeated over time with more distinct precision.

23 Bennet, Doug. Character Design Principles. Web. 2011.

Fig. 3.Snow White. Disney. 1937.

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Walt Disney Animation

Disney took a lot of its inspiration from children s picture books as well as fairy tales. The

beginnings of anthropomorphic animals can be accredited to illustrations in Lewis Carroll s

Alice s Adventures in Wonderland novel.24 The name Disney is synonymous with Mickey

Mouse. Ub Iwerks designed the original Mickey Mouse and over the years, Mickey has had

significant changes in appearance. These changes were made to increase the likeability of

Mickey as well as make him easier to animate. To begin with, the first Mickey was comprised of

a series of circles. The design was simple, clean and easy to animate. He had large goggle like

eyes with small pupils. Later, his eyes became solid black ovals. This version of Mickey was in

Steamboat Willie in 1928. The design improved over the original but it was difficult for

animators to make him look in multiple directions, other than straight ahead, and retain a

pleasing expression.25 Next, Walt Disney sought to revitalize the appearance of Mickey in the

wake of Donald Duck s success. Animator Fred Moore was in charge of the overhaul.26 The

changes including a pear shaped body, smaller cheeks, and whites of the eye with black pupils.

24 Anthropomorphism in Literature. (fantasybookreview.co.uk). Web. 25 Thomas. Johnston. p447 26 Thomas. Johnston. p447

Fig.4. Mickey Mouse 1928.(left). Fig. 5.1939.(right). Disney.

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The eyes were a modified version of the original but much smaller and more oval shaped. The

new version of Mickey first appeared in the Disney s 1939 film The Pointer.27 In later years,

other major changes to Mickey included increased size to focal points like the hands and feet as

well as the thickness of his arms and legs.

Disney would go on to create a cast of anthropomorphic animals, including Donald, Daisy,

Minnie, and Goofy. Most of these characters retain distinct similarities in design cues to Mickey

Mouse. Most visible are the large eyes, mouth, pear shaped bodies, gloved hands, and rather

large feet. These characters were featured mostly in shorts and rivaled the emerging Looney

Tunes Cartoons. The Disney features were noted for their character design, animation, and sound

design. Snow White was Disney s first film and was followed by classics like Sleeping Beauty,

Bambi, and The Little Mermaid. The characters were indeed charming, and appealing mostly to

children. Most two-dimensional (2D) Disney animated films saw success until the decline in the

early 2000 s. Disney has since converted over to CG for most of their productions.

United Productions of America

UPA Productions was formed in 1941. They were influenced by Pablo Picasso s abstract

expressionist paintings as well as The Dover Boys short film and comic strips.28 Their studio

wanted to set itself apart from Disney. UPA did not want a realistic style of animation and

primarily focused on graphic elements to design characters, as well as backgrounds. Considering

many of UPA s characters designs were regarded as extreme in correlation to Disney s designs,

they utilized many of Disney s design concepts, including balance, construction, communication

27 Thomas. Johnston. p447 28 Kricfalusi, John. Wally vs. UPA. Web. 2007.

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and simplicity.29 Using this collection of concepts they validated that characters could appear

largely divergent and have similar levels of quality of charm. Their unique style was instantly

recognizable to those who were familiar. Some extraordinary aspects included mostly side angle

views of the characters, geometric shapes, and thick outline of characters;30 UPA character

designs were almost all simplified caricatures of humans. Often noses were enlarged to give the

character charm and identity. Furthermore, the combination of small and large shapes created a

composition in the character itself, drawing the eye to keys points. UPA made a point of having

visually pleasing contour lines and silhouettes. Line of action in animation is a visual harmony

that leads the eye and balances the character.31 Some excellent examples of UPA design are

Gerald McBoing Boing and Mr. Magoo. Without a doubt UPA designs would influence the

industry for years to come and would include the character look as well as the concept for

animation.32 In the genesis, UPA started the limited animation movement that revolutionized the

landscape of animation. Afterwards, many studios adopted this technique because it was faster

and cheaper to produce than traditional animation. This method also allowed for more animation

to be produced but numerous films lacked originality, thought, and overall intrigue of those

previous.

If you grew up in the 70s or afterwards, you've probably come to accept ugliness and lack of

sensory pleasure in all the arts: music without melodies, sloppy illustration, icky fine art, ugly

cartoons both on TV and in feature films. A small handful of today's cartoonists look back to the

1930s to the 50s and see that obviously everything was more appealing to the senses back then,

but most people today just accept ugliness in art matter-of-factly. Anything obviously appealing,

29 Kricfalusi, John. Wally vs. UPA. Web. 2007. 30 Solomon, Charles. Pixar s Link to Picasso? Web. 2012 31 Kricfalusi, John. Line of Action. Web. 2006. 32 Kricfalusi, John. Wally vs. UPA. Web. 2007.

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like an old time melody is automatically written off as corny and unhip. 33

At one time, the "look" of a cartoon was its main factor. It drew you in aesthetically, demanded

your attention based on being tremendously pleasuring to gaze upon. Currently when watching

cartoons it is an acquired taste. It has to be learned (like eating broccoli) because cartoons are not

attractive anymore.34 They actually hurt your eyes and you have to train from youth to ignore the

physical pain before you can accept cartoons for some other reason than that they are cartoons.35

Hanana-Barbera Productions was a studio that adopted the limited animation technique in the

early part of the 1960 s. Differing from UPA, Hanna-Barbara used the technique as a cost cutting

tactic rather than an artistic expression.36 Numerous accounts displayed the poor quality in

design and animation techniques. The core principles in design for production of enticing

characters were seemingly forgotten.

There are more executives in charge of animation today at each studio than there ever were, and

they equate "appeal" with "too cartoony". They all want to be taken seriously as filmmakers, so

to them the uglier, blander, more detailed and less fun to look at their characters are, the more

"realistic" they are. "Realistic" equals "quality" to the sensory deprived.'37

Computer Graphics Era

When Pixar screened a computer-animated short film called Tin Toy in 1988, test audiences

hated the sight of the pseudo-realistic baby named Billy who terrorized the toys. Such a strong

reaction persuaded Pixar to avoid making uncannily realistic humans.38 The short Tin Toy was

33 Kricfalusi. Disney Principles 4- Appeal 1. Web. 2008. 34 Kricfalusi, John. Disney Principles 4- Appeal 1. Web. 2008. 35 Kricfalusi, John. Disney Principles 4- Appeal 1. Web. 2008. 36 Kricfalusi, John. Appealing Character Design Goes A Long Way. Web. 2008. 37 Kricfalusi, John. Disney Principles 4- Appeal 1. Web. 2008. 38 Hsu, Jeremy. Why Creepy Uncanny Valley Keeps US on Edge. Web. 2012.

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not Pixar s only brush with the uncanny valley. Early films Toy Story and Toy Story 2 involved

humanoid characters that seemed off and unflattering. The human characters, though not

featured extensively, had an eerie feeling.39 Eventually, Pixar would retire from using humanoid

characters extensively until the release of the Incredibles in 2004. In this film they figured out

how to make captivating humans in CG. They used caricatures, which distort proportions of

characters, thereby keeping the essence clean and recognizable. Their goal was not to reproduce

reality but to enhance it. The inspiration for the character design was flat two- dimensional

mock-ups. Brad Bird describes in a DVD interview, Characters and their unique frustration,

that s what appeals to me. I think all the characters look wildly different from one another but

they feel part of the same universe. How are we going to do humans? Are they going to be

believable? How are they going to look? Brad wanted a very stylized human design type for The

Incredibles film. He continued, It s always tricky finding a balance between realistic to stylized

scale that s both believable and compelling but still cartoony and appealing. 40 The key was to

hint at reality, not duplicate it.

39 Hsu, Jeremy. Why Creepy Uncanny Valley Keeps US on Edge. Web. 2012. 40 The Incredibles DVD interview with Brad Bird and directors. 2004.

Fig.6. Tin Toy. Pixar. 1988. Fig.7. The Incredibles. Pixar. 2004.

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Far different from The Incredibles, Pixar introduced a new character to their line up in the

animated film WALL-E in which they give human qualities to robots. Katie Hood, animator,

explains I find WALL-E s charm in his expressions especially the way his binocular looking

eyes are slightly drooping, which gives him a kind of sad or inquisitive look .41 The film is

largely without dialogue because most of the thoughts and emotions are physically expressed.

The eyes and body language were responsible for telling the story and communicating thoughts,

feeling, and emotion. A supporting character Clean N Go M-O is also small and intricate. The

childlike proportions add to the cute factor. In general, the humanizing of objects and animals

gives them likeability and it is something of a recurring theme in Disney with such examples as

Beauty and the Beast with numerous characters and more recently Finding Nemo. Creating

appeal in a villainous character is not so straightforward, large eyes and the usual tricks would

not necessarily sustain and could cause the character to appear unbelievable.42 For example,

Captain Hook from Peter Pan had an aesthetic charm. His regal clothing and styled curled

hair suggested that he was not only a man of vanity, but of importance as well. His extravagant

movements and constant overlapping action of his feather plumage made the eye fixate on him

and humor was created through the constant flopping of a feather over this proud character.43

Again, it is hard to create appeal for a villain, as the substantial purpose of the villain is to be

disliked. By creating situations, which reveal Hook's more human side, he is a far more relatable

character. This is expressed in several points, most obviously Hook's fear of the tick tock

crocodile, displaying vulnerability in his character. Another point highlighted was the attention

the character made to his appearance, suggesting that he has insecurities in his appearance. The

41 Hood, Katie. Appeal. Web. 2010. 42 Hood, Katie. Appeal. Web. 2010. 43 Hood, Katie. Appeal. Web. 2010.

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battle scars he has obtained create sympathy.44 A notable feature is that he has one hand and it is

often highlighted.

The animation landscape has seen a shift in the designs of its lead characters. The villainess type

of character like Captain Hook and non-expected lead character types are put in lead roles. In the

film Ratatouille, Pixar faced a unique challenge in making a rat named Remy appealing as a

main protagonist. They achieved appeal by focusing on articulation.45 Remy s body was

designed in a teardrop shape and posed in a way that had a slight s curve shape to his spine.

The low center of gravity added softness to his round body. By focusing on body contour Pixar

was keen on creating simple direct shapes. The clean silhouettes and simplified forms helped

retain a stylized design. The large eyes and mouth of Remy were meant to produce wide range of

expressions and make him more enticing. The protruding parts of him such as the muzzle, brows,

and ear produced interesting contour lines in the silhouette.46 Teeth can heavily influence the

appearance of a character. Depending on the ratio of teeth and gums shown, a character could be

more or less attractive. By simply exposing more of the gum line, it would make the character

less attractive than only exposing a portion of the teeth.47 In the film, animators have the control

to pose the teeth for a more charming effect or stress a rat-like appearance for Remy. By cradling

the teeth within the lips it was possible to make the teeth look smaller and more attractive.

Deformation form expressions with compositional purposes provided character poses that

delivered clear communication. Allowing the facial deformation to flow and connect to other

44 Hood, Katie. Appeal. Web. 2010. 45 Konishi, Sonoko. Articulating The Appeal. Pixar Animation Studios. Web. 2008. 46 Konishi, Sonoko. Articulating The Appeal. Pixar Animation Studios. Web. 2008. 47 Konishi, Sonoko. Articulating The Appeal. Pixar Animation Studios. Web. 2008.

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features allowed for the ability to read the whole body as an emotion. Appeal is the visual

qualities of a character that get the viewers attention during storytelling.48

Further following this trend, DreamWorks Animation is most known for films like Shrek and

How to Train Your Dragon. Shrek is not your typical hero type, in fact, he is the opposite.

Shrek s inspiration in design stems from the children s book Shrek! By William Steig. The

design team faced challenges to create an ugly, yet intriguing character. The original design from

the children s book was a lot harsher than what was developed for the film. Steig s version of

Shrek had sharp teeth, pointy horns, and blemishes on the face. The final design was more round

and refined. Shrek received human like features that were not present in the original book. This

added to the likeability and fascination. The attraction to him is his lime green color, design, and

demeanor.

In 2004, when the design team at DreamWorks began designing for Kung Fu Panda, the

filmmakers were still shaping the plot for the film. However, they knew that the film would tell

how a goofy panda named Po would discover his inner discipline. This in turn made him able to

trump animals representing the five base forms of kung fu, the tiger, crane, monkey, viper and

praying mantis.49 Multiple artists took passes at Po, offering various solutions to

anthropomorphize the film's energetic panda. Nico Marlet, a lead character designer for

DreamWorks Animation, had an approach that broke away from the assumption that animals

needed to look human in order to practice kung fu.50 With this he created Po.

"The way Nico designs, he looks at the actual animal and tries to distill down what's there into

something that works for the film," Raymond Zibach, production designer for Kung Fu Panda,

48 Konishi, Sonoko. Articulating The Appeal. Pixar Animation Studios. Web. 2008. 49 Debruge, Peter. Panda Designer Breaks it Down.Web. 2008. 50 Debruge, Peter. Panda Designer Breaks it Down.Web. 2008.

20

says. "Some of the rules we followed were actually his, like we don't stick necks straight up out

of torsos and then put animal heads on the top or it just looks like a guy in a costume. Instead, we

have the neck coming forward, so the head and neck and body are really one unit." 51

Marlet's early designs explored the panda's basic shape, which were round curves, stooped neck,

and heavy belly. "They're very appealing already,"52 Marlet says describing the character Po.

Then he tested the balance of black and white in the bear's face. Jeffrey Katzenberg, executive

producer of Kung Fu Panda, did not want to have too many black patches on the face in fear of

making Po appear villainess.53 Marlet s breakthrough became apparent in Po s eyebrows, which

were big and flexible enough to accommodate the full range of Jack Black's expressions.

DreamWorks has a reputation for creating unusual lead characters. The film MegaMind is one

example of this continually trending theme. The first sketches of MegaMind were highly

villainess and had very harsh features. The art director felt it wasn t a character that an audience

could sympathize with as a main character. The next design pass was a bit more friendly. He had

a more sly and nefarious side to him which it turn adding more charm. The designers focused on

the shapes in his face. The new goal was to have round and attractive shapes and expressions.

Really sharp, pointy features are something you see in villains and can be taken as less of an

approachable character versus someone with more soft round shapes are typically found in

endearing characters.54 The financial success of films with similar style of character act as

evidence that there is a shift in what is accepted. The design concepts remained steady but

designers overhauled a landscape.

51 Debruge, Peter. Panda Designer Breaks It Down. Web. 2008. 52 Debruge, Peter. Panda Designer Breaks It Down. Web. 2008. 53 Debruge, Peter. Panda Designer Breaks It Down. Web. 2008. 54 MegaMind DVD. Animator s Cornrer. (2010)

21

Conclusion

Walt Disney Animation, along with other studios, laid the groundwork with its stellar character

designs and concepts, many of which are timeless classics that continue to inspire. The CG era

did more of the same as far as Disney design, even though CG animation added obstacles not

seen in the era of 2D animation. The CG animation studio Pixar followed the trend of traditional

Disney with character designs. With films like Despicable Me, Shrek, and MegaMind, it should

be evident that studios are bringing a new energy to the market, similar to UPA s projects, with

new and exciting character design. Their designs can break down barriers and be far less

conservative than previous generations. New trends in character design aim to prove characters

can look drastically different from years past, but yet, use and retain familiar design concepts

that make them appealing. The lack of satisfaction in creating what has been done could be valid

reasoning. Only time will tell if and when a new resurgence will occur and additional refreshing

and exciting characters emerge.

22

Filmography

Beowulf. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. 2007. USA: Paramount Pictures. Despicable Me. Dir. Pierre Coffin. 2010. USA. Universal Pictures.

Farmer Al Falfa. Dir.Paul Terry. 1916. USA: Bray Studios. Gertie the Dinosaur. Dir. Windsor Mc Kay.1914. USA. How to Train Your Dragon. Dir. Chris Sanders. 2010. USA. Paramount Pictures.

Kung Fu Panda. Dir. John Wayne Stevenson. 2008. USA. Paramount Pictures.

Megamind. Dir. Tom McGrath. 2010. USA. Paramount Pictures.

Ratatouille. Dir. Brad Bird. 2007. USA: Walt Disney Pictures. Shrek. Dir. Andrew Adamson. 2001. USA. DreamWorks Pictures.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Dir. David Hand.1937. USA: Walt Disney Pictures. Spiderman. Dir. Sam Raimi. 2002. USA: Columbia Pictures.

Steamboat Willie. Dir. Walt Disney. 1928. USA. Celebrity Productions.

The Dark Knight. Dir. Christopher Nolan. 2008. USA: Warner Bros. Pictures. The Dover Boys. Dir. Chuck Jones. 1942. USA: Warner Bros. Pictures.

23

Filmography cont.

The Incredibles. Dir. Brad Bird. 2004. USA: Walt Disney Pictures.

The Pointer. Dir. Clyde Geronimi. 1939. USA. RKO Radio Pictures.

Tin Toy. Dir. John Lasseter. 1988. USA. Pixar.

Toy Story. Dir. John Lasseter. 1995. USA. Walt Disney Pictures.

Toy Story 2. Dir. John Lasseter. 1999. USA. Walt Disney Pictures.

WALL-E. Dir. Andrew Stanton. 2008. USA. Walt Disney Pictures.

24

Still Image Sources

Beowulf. Web. Sony Pictures. 2007. Mickey Mouse. Web. Disney. Silent Hill. Web. Konami. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Web. Disney. 1937. Steamboat Willie. Web. Disney. 1928. Tin Toy. Web. Pixar. 1988. The Incredibles. Web. Pixar. 2004.

25

Bibliography

Ahad, Alex. Character Design: Big Shapes vs. Small Details. http://skullgirls.com/2011/05/character-design-big-shapes-vs-small-details/. 2011. Bennett, Doug. Character Design Principles. http://www.disneyanimation.com/viza627/chardev/charDesign.html. 2011. Beck, Jerry. Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, The History of Cartoon, Anime & CGI. New York. Harper Collins Publishing, 2004.

Debruge, Peter. Panda' Designer Breaks it Down. How Nicolas Marlet mastered art of 'Kung Fu'. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117986536?refCatId=1043. 2008.

Disney. Building an Art Packet. http://www.disneyanimation.com/viza627/projectTab/visRef/index.html. 2011. Fantasy Book Review. Anthropomorphism in Literature. http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/fantasy-sub-genres/anthropomorphism-in-literature.php Gallagher, David. Digital Actors in Beowulf Are Just Uncanny. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/digital-actors-in-beowulf-are-just-uncanny/ 2007.

Hagen, Sheila. Remembering Joe Grant. www.mouseplanet.com/foundations/fm050512sh.htm. 2005. Hood, Katie. Appeal. http://ticktockcrocodile.blogspot.com/p/curlys-page.html. 2010.

Hsu, Jeremy. Why Creepy Uncanny Valley Keeps Us on Edge. http://www.innovationnewsdaily.com/1011-uncanny-valley-mystery.html. 2012.

It s A Mom s World. What Mickey and Babies Have in Common. http://www.itsamomsworld.com/what-mickey-and-baby-have-in-common.html.

26

Bibliography cont.

Konishi, Sonoko. Articulating The Appeal. Pixar Animation Studios. 2008.

Kricfalusi, John. Appealing Character Design Goes a Long Way. http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2008/12/appealing-character-design-goes-long.html. 2008. Disney Principles 4- Appeal 1. http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2008/12/disney-principles-appeal-1.html. 2008. Character Design 2: Primer. http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2007/08/character-design-primer.html. 2007. Line of Action. http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2006/05/animation-school-lesson-5-line-of.html. 2006. Wally vs. UPA 4. http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2007/05/wally-vs-upa-4-when-milquetoasts-rebel.html. 2007. Oreb, Tom. UPA. http://cartoonmodern.blogsome.com/category/upa/. 2007. Plantec, Peter. Crossing the Great Uncanny Valley. http://www.awn.com/articles/production/crossing-great-uncanny-valley. 2007. Thomas, Frank. Johnston, Ollie. The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. New York. Hyperion, 1981. Soloman, Charles. Pixar s Link to Picasso? UPA, The Overlooked Animation Pioneer. http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/03/24/pixar-picasso-upa-animation/#/0. 2012. Vaux, Robert. The History of 2D Animation. http://www.ehow.com/about_6394473_history-2d-animation.html. 2012.

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