Cartoon characters need personality in order to hold a viewer’s attention. A cartoon can be drawn with skill and care, and yet, fall flat. It can even be funny and energetic, and still not connect with the viewer, because it lacks personality. In my opinion, a great case in point is Disney’s “Roger Rabbit.” Never heard of it? I rest my case.
Here’s the key: Your audience wants to find something that they find engaging about a character. Otherwise, the image becomes boring. And if you’ve ever noticed, boredom is never a strong positive. No one ever says, “I feel like getting bored.” So we try to avoid that.
To make a character – your character – engaging, something about it, some feature or trait, has to be compelling. This is often misinterpreted to mean that you have to make a character “likable” in order for people to like it. We can scoff at people who hold this wildly inaccurate view. Yes, my artistically inclined friends, simply hurl that thought from your brain as fast as a banshee recoils from a glass of sour milk. At least, I assume banshees recoil from sour milk. What kind of a warped, unholy banshee would actually like sour milk? Please quiet down. You’re getting me off topic.
Back on track again: The thing to remember is that there’s a big difference between making a character “likable,” or compelling to watch. That’s what we’re talking about, along with a little banshee humor tossed into the mix.
No one can like every character. Who warms up to a villain? Lawyers? Okay, that’s one. But it’s hard to come up with more examples. However, a villain can be wonderfully engaging it their wickedness. They can be syrupy sweet and cunningly disingenuous. And the audience will find it hard to take their eyes off such a character. Therefore, you’ve got to find something in each and every character that is charismatic, in its own way. Pokies rely on luck, and your previous spins won’t affect future spins in any way https://www.playpokiesonline.org/play-for-real-money.
Today’s cartooning takes away is simply this:
“Create villains that viewers love to hate.”
Hi Chris,
thank you so very much for your sharing. I am a painter and try now to make an animated childrens book. Your advices and books are of great help to me. You are so skilled I can hardly believe that someone can do all this with such differenciation and humor!Thanks again
Marleen from Amsterdam, NL