Appeal
In an animated character appeal is the same as charisma in an actor, villains can also be ‘appealing’ as long as the character is believable and interesting. I looked at the difference between the hero’s and villains in Disney’s (1989) film The Little Mermaid and LAKIA’s (2009) film Coraline. Ariel has the typical disney princess ‘baby face’ with large eyes, long hair, soft voice and slender figure, Ursula is much larger and more overweight than Ariel to show that she is more powerful and intimidating. The Other Mother from Coraline starts as a cuddly mother figure and as her true character comes through she becomes taller and more skeletal. Coraline still has the baby face look but with more natural looking eyes.
In an animated character appeal is the same as charisma in an actor, villains can also be ‘appealing’ as long as the character is believable and interesting. I looked at the difference between the hero’s and villains in Disney’s (1989) film The Little Mermaid and LAKIA’s (2009) film Coraline. Ariel has the typical disney princess ‘baby face’ with large eyes, long hair, soft voice and slender figure, Ursula is much larger and more overweight than Ariel to show that she is more powerful and intimidating. The Other Mother from Coraline starts as a cuddly mother figure and as her true character comes through she becomes taller and more skeletal. Coraline still has the baby face look but with more natural looking eyes.
Exaggeration
As perfect imitation of movement can look static exaggerating movements is essential in animation to make characters easier to read. I looked at Tom and Jerry (1945-67) and the characters from Toy Story (1995-2010). When looking at the movements of Tom and Jerry you notice that every movement they make is exaggerated, even when the characters are trying to be inconspicuous there actions are still greatly exaggerated. In Toy Story the characters actions are exaggerated to emphasise the toy they are, Woody’s actions are obviously that of a cowboy and Buzz like a super hero, by magnifying the typical movements of their individual characters they it becomes much easier for the viewer to anticipate their character.
As perfect imitation of movement can look static exaggerating movements is essential in animation to make characters easier to read. I looked at Tom and Jerry (1945-67) and the characters from Toy Story (1995-2010). When looking at the movements of Tom and Jerry you notice that every movement they make is exaggerated, even when the characters are trying to be inconspicuous there actions are still greatly exaggerated. In Toy Story the characters actions are exaggerated to emphasise the toy they are, Woody’s actions are obviously that of a cowboy and Buzz like a super hero, by magnifying the typical movements of their individual characters they it becomes much easier for the viewer to anticipate their character.
Squash and Stretch
Squash and stretch is what gives drawn objects the look of flexibility and weight, the most important factor in animation. I looked at Mybrigde’s The Horse In Motion (1878) and Disney’s The Lion King (1994), looking at a gif of Mybrigde’s film makes it much easier to view, you can see the horses body stretching in the stride and compressing when all the legs are closest together. Looking at The Lion King you can see how they used these same principles when animating the Lions in their run and walk cycles. They use squash and stretch when moving their jaws with there human-like facial expressions you see the face stretch vertically and the cheeks squash inwards to keep the volume of the object the same.