Project 1: Research for Character Design.

Character Inspiration!

Whilst thinking up different ideas for my character, I knew I wanted them to have the "Small but Mighty," characteristics. This lead to me onto unlikely heroes, spanning through Disney, Warner Brothers, Hannah-Barbera, and other companies;

Meeko (Pochahontas.)

I immediately fell in love with Meeko the first time I ever watched Pochahontas. Created in 1995, Meeko is one of the most well know, if ever so slightly untrustworthy, side kicks known in the Disney Enterprise. His love of food and fear of everything else make him the perfect unlikely hero in many situations. His self-centred and one track mind often leads to him either discovering news that would save everyone, or bring the villains plans to a halt, or destroying them altogether!

Albeit it being a Disney film, where pretty much anything is possible, Meeko's inability to speak often comes to an advantage when it comes to story lining  simply because of the fact that he knows so much, if he could speak, the films would be pretty much cut in half. he is destined to create most of the problems as well as solving them, and these are the kind of characteristics I would love to see in my own character; the kind that makes you want to hug him and strangle him at the same time. 

Like with most half-wit heroes, they usually have an accomplice that is smart enough for the two of them, and in Meeko's case it was Flit, the Hummingbird that follows either him or Pochahontas  throughout the storyline. What a love about Meeko and Flit is that even though they have literally no verbal communication  the audience is able to understand completely what they are saying to each other through facial expression. In most cases there are snippets of hilarious sarcastic features, as well as anger and the scenes of Flit pretty much telling Meeko where to go. This is something I would like to apply to my characters in my own animation, where the more level-headed character would try and convince the more egotistical one that what they are doing is not a good idea, and be able to portray that through means of little to no vocabulary.

Pochahontas was a film created purely in 2D animation, and although I will be creating my 2D animation straight into digital software, rotoscoping will always be an option i will try and test out.

Bartok (Anastasia.)

Another character I looked into was on the opposite side of Meeko and Flit. Bartok, the accomplice of Rasputin, in the 1997 Fox Animation Film, Anastasia. 
I was always had a feeling of sympathy in films for characters who weren't really aware that they were bad, and sometimes they were so inept, and so stupid that you couldn't even tell what side they were on. But on the plus side, they never really got to meet the bitter end that the actual villains would. (Much like Kronk in the Emperor's New Groove.)
Again, I think i took to Bartok so well, for the same reasons that I loved Meeko. Small and cute, with not much knowledge of what's actually going on, and they are mostly just interested in themselves or making jokes!  The fact that he is very cute also makes a big difference, because no one could dislike a face like his! 
Although in this case, Bartok is able to speak and does so quite often, some would say too often even. Unlike Meeko, Bartok is never really interested in food, instead, it appears to be the things he says which get him into trouble. But I see this as another good quality in this film. As the gift that these characters have, seem to be what gets them into tight spots with no possible way out, and that's what I want to apply to my own character, for them to have something that can relate to your typical Disney, or Fox animated films, but still differ from them visually and be their own character as well.

Scrat (Ice Age.)

Another beloved character that came to mind instantly was Scrat, the sabre-toothed, acorn-obsessed squirrel from the 2002 Blue Sky Studios, Ice Age animated film. I totally fell in love with Scrat the moment I saw him. He was instantly one of the characters that the audience was going to love.
He differs from the characters that I have researched previously, mainly because he is completely 3 Dimensional, instead of the traditional 2D. He also differs from the other characters I have researched, mainly because of his role in the film. He isn't close, at all, to the main cast, which doesn't necessarily make him a hero or a villain  he is mainly just a by stander.  He does, however, have a massive part to play in the film, as he goes off on his own completely different journey, the majority of the things that he does will either co-inside, or effect the main storyline massively, and I think that's a really clever aspect to have for a character that literally has no relation to the three main characters. He stands out to me from the other characters because of his mannerisms as well as attitude. Where Meeko and Bartok have some sort of longing or relationship with the main characters in their films, Scrat has no such desire, he literally only wants his acorn and that's it. He even crosses paths with the main characters on a couple of occasions, but still brushes them off and desires to contact with them, only the acorn. And I find that quality in Scrat completely awesome, as he's like a combination of Meeko and Bartok put together!