Scooby Doo

Scooby Doo is a beloved and nostalgic cartoon created in the late 1960's, which involves five main characters who travel around America in their mystery van solving mysteries. The characters incorporate different personalities which are very stereotypical however they work well together for the young target audience that watch the program, and for the aged story line. The characters were presented in this way due to the influence of the era that it was created in:

+ Fred - The main leader of the group and is resembled as the hero.
+ Daphne - The main female role in the group and is resembled as the damsel in distress.
+ Velma - The brains of the group and helps them put the clues together to find the bad guy.
+ Shaggy - The jester of the group, always hungry and always ends up in trouble.
+ Scooby Doo - The main character, a lovable dog who will do anything for a scooby snack.

The original series held a good simple narrative that worked for both the older and the younger audience, with Scooby Doo and Shaggy being chased by the villain and accidentally capturing them as they run away. The series developed as technology advanced in both visuals and character development, the characters became less stereotypical, and gained more depth with the personalities. For example Daphne became a stronger character, able to defend herself and stopped being the damsel in distress as often as the original. This can be seen in the movie, Scooby Doo on Zombie Island 1998, Daphne becomes the main focus who brings the gang back together and finds them a new mystery.

The narrative is quite different to the regular mysteries, in which they catch the bad guy who is dressed up as a monster or ghost, in this instance the monsters are real. I quite liked this twist of narrative as it was something that they hadn't done before, and the reactions of their realisation of them encountering monsters that are real feels genuine through the facial expressions and the body language; An exaggeration is used as they use their arms to protect themselves with, shielding their eyes and slowing walking backwards as to try to escape the monsters. The colouring of the animation fitted the dark atmosphere, adding black fills for shadows and using desaturated tones to make it feel foreboding.

In the live action version of Scooby Doo, the characters are exaggerated more through their actions, as they feel as if they have taken influence through the walk cycles that each character obtains and makes it more unique. For example with the character Shaggy, emphasises his strides and shrugs his shoulders down, and as they sneak around, taking the most delicate footsteps by first lightly touching the floor with his toes and then turning his body to see if anyone is around before proceeding to move forward. I found the movement of his arms quite humorous with them being at his side but bent at the elbow and his hands forming a claw like shape, making him resemble a scared t-rex.

Father Ted

Father Ted is a comedy series that first aired in 1995 on channel 4 that follows the daily lives of three priests who live on a small island that isn't included on any map, Craggy Island, with its landmarks being 'the field' and the holy stone of Clonrichert. The narrative does not include plot heavy story lines, instead it shows the routines and reactions that the three priests and Mrs Doyle face everyday, no matter how small the problem may be. Father Ted, the main character, is seemingly the only normal character with in the household, with one priest, Father Dougal McGuire who doesn't really know what is happening all the time. With Father Jack Hackett, a drunk elderly priest, who's dialogue consists of as little syllables as possible, drinks and sleeps everyday, and Mrs Doyle the housekeeper who always asks if they want a cup of tea, forcing them to have beverage even if they don't want to.

The programs humour is based on the reactions of the main character and trying to solve the problem that he or the other priests have caused. For example, in one episode, Father Ted tries to raise money to repair the leak in the roof by arranging a raffle, in which the main prize would be a car. However as Ted notices a small dent in the car, he tries to fix it and ends up making the car worse and barely driveable. The reaction that Ted has as he realises what he has done to the car is what makes the scene for the audience. As the camera changes from Dougals face to a close up of Ted as he continues to try and hammer out what began as a small dent in the car, being as delicate as possible, it then zooms out to show the whole of the cars appearance. He slowly walks to Dougal, gazing at the cars appearance, muttering he'd sleep on it. It then cuts to Father Ted screaming in the night, as he realises that he has destroyed the car. This delayed reaction works well with the main characters personality, he tries to fixes things and in the end, he always somehow makes it worst, no matter how had

Episode 'Think Fast Father Ted'

The appearances and expressions of the characters help to build the personalities of the roles compared to the body language which is not as exaggerated compared to most comedy shows, instead it relies on the small actions, the twitches or characteristics that each character portrays. For example the appearance of Father Jack Hackett, depicts warts, boils and gnarled teeth, which resembles a filthy and non healthly lifestyle to the audience, it is not until the character creates a hostile expression towards Ted for not giving him a drink that the viewer sees that he is a grumpy old man, who would do anything for a drink. I personally love how when an alcoholic beverage is either poured or clangs slightly as it hits the table away from him, he moves his head from left to right, much like a dog that can smell his dinner and is then able to say the name of the drink. This small action shows how much he needs this form of drink to the extent he even knows the smell and sound of the bottle from a distance.

Another example can be seen in Father Dougal McGuire's reactions when Father Ted tries to explain something to him, in the episode that involves them going on holiday. Ted holds a miniature figure of a cow in his hands and holds it up to Dougal, explaining that the ones outside where very far away, which was they they looked small like the figure, Dougals expression is a mixture of thinking and confusion as he tries to wrap his thoughts around this concept, his body language leaning towards Ted as if to try and absorb the explanation, his armed crossed to show how he still doesn't understand what is being said.

Laurel and Hardy

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy created a comedy series, Laurel and Hardy, that was aired during the late 1920's, in the early american cinema. The show was set in black and white, including no sound with dialogue represented with text frames in amongst the scenes. This was due to lack of technology with in this era, and this form of film and projecting it in cinemas was revolutionary for the time. However as technology advanced, sound was included in the later series of the show.

The comedy of the Laurel and Hardy series is emitted from the body language and expressions that the pair portray as the narrative of the storyline starts to unravel, and they soon realise that they have mistook their fortune for something entirely different. For example in one of the episodes, Laurel receives a letter inviting him to collect his fortune left from a distant relative, the catch being that they had to spend a night in the mansion that the relative died in. As the night continues, the plot unveils one of the characters, a man dressed as a woman fortune teller, was slowly trapping one relative at a time, so that he could steal the fortune for himself. At the end of the show, the audience then realised that it had been Hardys dream all along.

The expressions that Laurel makes are iconic for the comedy duo, his expressions paint the predicament of the scenario that they are currently facing. This can be seen in the episode in which Laurel and Hardy are commissioned to move a grand piano to a house that is situated on top of a very steep hill. As the piano travels up the hill, Laurel lets go of the piano and it rolls back down the hill; Laurels expression is one of frustration but also sheer fear of what Hardy will say to him if the piano crashes into something as it races down the steep. The audience have a good idea of what Laurel will do next to save his skin, try to grab the piano in humorous ways. Another example can be seen when Laurel believes that he has done something good and shown Hardy that he can do something on his own, he depicts a smug look on his face as he twists his hat slightly in his hands and looks down at the floor as he awaits Hardys praise, that unfortunately never happens.

The body language is highly emphasised and exaggerated through the use of raising their arms higher or taking longer strides as they act, adding subtle movements such as holding on to their hat as they run, or holding their braces and playing with their tie as they feel embarrassed or praised for their work. These slight movements in their actions help to describe the atmosphere and the personality for the character on the screen. The audience can tell what form of character that Laurel and Hardy are, Laurel being clumsy, lovable but sometimes stupid, and Hardy being too selfish, vain and clever for his own good.

Emperor's New Groove

Emperors New Groove follows a spoilt young emperor as he sets his eyes on a small village to build a resort as a present to himself, meanwhile the emperors advisor is planning to take his thrown by making the emperor disappear for good. Her plan involved poisoning the emperors food however Kronk, the emperors advisors assistant, mixed the bottles and instead turned the emperor into a Llama. A villager from the village that the emperor plans to tear down, helps the emperor to turn back to human, with the condition that he leaves the village alone.

The narrative works really well for the family audience through the use of humour, appealing to both the parents and the children, and the simple plot that involves the characters. If the Emperors New Groove had a complex storyline, the audience would be restricted to an older target market, rather than a family based target market; the narrative has to be simple and clear for the younger audience to understand the story. I quite liked the addition of the monologue, where the animation is seemed to be put on pause and the main character in his llama form talks the audience at home. This touch makes it seem as if the characters are real to the younger viewer, making the story more believable to them.

The personalities of the characters are emphasised with the mood that each character portrays with the action in the narrative. For example, as the emperor likes the idea of being a llama, he skips and struts with a bounce in his hooves, and the next scene shows him miserable and crying as he his shoulders droop and his head is lowered, realising that he wants to be human again. Some of the characters can be identified through certain characteristics that they make as they perform different poses or dialogue. For example the character Kronk, after he says his dialogue, that the emperors adviser believes to be stupid, he grins smugly creating a humorous scene; the smile becoming iconic to that character.

The visuals of the animation obtain a stylised character design that is set with a mayan setting and works with the family audience through both the use of colour and the cartoon esk appeal to the figures.

Character expressions and poses

I researched more into visual imagery of body language and expressions on a character to emphasise both the personality and the emotion that is perceived on the character.

In the popular Japanese animation, Naruto, his character design is exaggerated dramatically with facial expressions. For example when his character is shocked his eyes disappear and are replaced with white circles and distressed outlines, matched with a mouth that is wide and jaw dropped, the teeth portrayed as blocks. I find that this expression works quite well as the viewer can tell that it is a shocked expression, and it creates its own stylisation with in the illustrative style of the show. Another interesting expression is one that shows a disgusted look, his eyes narrow dramatically and his mouth nearly becomes a wide line, with his eyebrows close to his eyes. I find this quite humourous but also inspiring as it takes a subtle approach to the emotion of disgust rather than it being the typical, hands in front of face with a shocked expression and angled eyebrows.

Naruto character sheet

I then stumbled across some poses for one of the characters in the Disney animation, Black cauldron. I found them influential through the use of line, the extended stretch and elongated legs that emphasised the characters run. The slumped poses worked well with his head resting in his palm as his body is leant forwards and slouched, contrasting with the happy demeanour portrayed in a stretched form with his body leant slight back with his head held high.

Black Cauldron

Space Dandy

Narrative: An alien hunter in space, Dandy, who searches for rare aliens with his friends, Meow, a cat alien, and QT, a robot. The narrative is aimed at an older audience with the sense of humor that is entwined with the adventures that they face each episode. Each episode is different to the next with what seems to be no inkling of linking to the plot of the series, however after watching the series again there are parts which foreshadowing the finale of Space Dandy. The plot can alter from being comedy based with characters and themes of episodes, which are evidence of this, to being dark and emotional themes that works well to portray the personalities of the three main characters. For example, the episode 'A World Without Sadness, Baby' focuses on the main character, who awakes on a strange dismal planet where everything is portrayed in mainly grayscale and desaturated colours. The episode touches on the theme of limbo and death which is quite subject heavy for the light hearted episodes that came previous. However this episode helps to build his personality and portray this to the audience, through showing how he tries to escape to get back to the life that he loved and to join his friends that he travels with.

Character: The character design for the show is a mix between a Western and Japanese style through the portrayal of the angular jaws and small eyes compared to the stereotypical anime eyes that take over most of the facial features. The design is quite intricate with clothing and proportional figures, that depict the characters personality, for example with the main character Dandy, he wears a baseball jacket that is related to the popular high school baseball team, which does reflect well on Dandys ego. His body language helps to portray his 'cool' demeanour' as he interacts with characters, head high, winking and snapping his fingers at characters. It also helps to portray his cowardly side, hands in pockets with small steps, hunched shoulders and looking at the ground, or even running away as fast as he can with his arms swinging high in the air and his legs barely skimming the ground as he dashes away. I feel that not only does his body language make the show with the comedy moments but his facial expressions are a key part in this. Dandy's facial features are enhanced with the position of his eyebrows that makes his eyes look clueless, confused and scared with a comedy appeal; his mouth expressions are exaggerated from normal expressions to emphasise the emotion that is depicted. 

Spongebob Squarepants

A sponge, Spongebob Squarepants, who lives in a pineapple under the sea who either spends his time working at the fast food restaurant, the Krusty Krab or hanging out with his friend, Patrick. Each episode is different to the other, with no plot heavy episodes, that focuses solely on the adventure that entails the main character. The narrative is aimed at a younger audience which can be seen through the character design and the simple structure of the episode that be easily understood by the viewers. Although their are a few jokes and comedy moments that are aimed at an older audience, such as parents that watch the show with their children. This cheeky humour works quite well with the show and can be easily missed by the younger audience.

Spongebob Squarepants design is a sponge with legs and arms that can wave and move quite fluidly to create interesting and humourous poses, whether it involves him chasing after jellyfish or flipping krabby patties at the Krusty Krab. The expressions of Spongebob is what makes his personality, for example for an awe inspired expression his eyes will increase in size and his smile grows to fill most of his face, which works with the target audience for the show. Another example is his sad expressions where his nose would droop and his eyes would differ between narrowing for an annoyed look or widening for a puppy dog expression. With the main character being a sponge it gives room for the facial expressions to be extremely exaggerated compared to normal characters in other shows, it gives room for the mouth to be stretched out wide to make a silly expression, or even his whole face sink into his head, purely for the reason that he is a sponge with these properties to be able to do so. 

Danny Phantom

The narrative follows a 14 year old boy, Danny Fenton, is accidentally turned into a half ghost when he steps inside his parents machine. With his new found powers he saves the city by putting ghosts back into the ghost realm with the help of his two best friends, Sam and Tucker. The narrative is aimed at an older young audience, for example 10-14 year olds, which can be seen through the age of the main characters and the setting in which they are in, the main environment being a high school. Each episode shows the main character battling a different ghost as they try to to terrorize the town, ending the episode like it was a normal average day for the three main characters. This form of narrative works well as can lead to creative plot lines with no worry of needing the plot to stretch over a few episodes. The plot episodes involve a darker atmosphere that incorporates his friends or family to be kidnapped by a powerful ghost from the ghost realm; the endings of these episodes mostly end with the plot never seeming to have actually happened, involving time travel or a magic item that can rewrite what has happened during the episode.

The character design is quite simple with the use of colour and the shapes used to create both the characters and the world that they are situated in. The animation for the characters run smoothly which works with the quick change to each pose that is relatable to Danny Phantom and Fairly Odd Parents. The body language for the main character changes from a teenager with slumped shoulders and a disheartened expression as he faces the school characters, to one which is linked to a superhero with hands on hips and a proud demeanour when he turns into a ghost. I quite like how the eyebrows are dramatically animated along with the exaggerated pose that the main character is in, it helps to portray his personality even more to the audience. The poses are quite stylised in an angular fashion which surprisingly works well with the use of the action poses that Danny makes. I feel that it relates well with the square and angular illustrative style of typical western comic books, like Superman and Batman. 

Over the Garden Wall

Over the Garden Wall is a cartoon series consisting of 10 episodes that follows two brothers, Greg and Wirt with a bluebird Beatrice, and a frog, as they try to find their way out of the woods and back home. The narrative of the cartoon depicts a victorian esk story portrayal of two brothers trying to find their way home, whilst they meet with wonderful and weird creatures along the way. The story of each episode in the series has a Grim Brothers fairytale like structure to both the design of the world and the characters, including the way they pronounced their dialogue. The dialogue being quite formal with the majority of characters that are introduced, pronouncing each syllable; this helps to create an ages atmosphere over the cartoon, linking with the character and world structure. The Grim Brothers influence can be seen through the small adventures that they undertake, such as the episode 'The Ringing of the Bell' where Greg and Wirt stumble across an old cottage, in which an old woman and maid reside. The brothers soon realise that the girl is being deceived as the old woman rings a bell in which the girl has to obey any command. After trying to rescue the young girl, the brothers see the girl for what she really is, a demon, who the old woman was trying to protect all along. This form of narrative strongly reminds me of the Grim Brothers with the twist in the story that makes you question who is good and who is evil.

The main target audience is the young generation with it being released weekly on Cartoon Network, however darker themes are portrayed through the show which seem to be aimed at an older audience much like Adventure Time. With this form of narrative compared to the rest of the show, the narrative reveals what the world and what the beast that follows and infects the world and its inhabitants actually are. This unveiling makes the rest of the adventures that the brothers undertook make more sense with the reality of the situation that they are in, how the main characters seem so different, almost alien compared to the rest of the characters that they interact with.

The character design is quite simple and drawn in such an illustrative style that it suits the younger target market that the program channel Cartoon Network aim for; The use of the dark narrative works well with the illustrative style that is mixed with a victorian fashion.

The personality of the older brother Wirt is portrayed through his facial expression and demeanour with a slouched posture and lowered shoulders to depict his gloomy and stubbon moods. The facial expressions are quite exaggerated with the movement of the mouth with decreasing in size or increasing to the point it fills most of his lower face, pupils extremely smaller to show shock etc. Wirt's body language highly effects the tone of mood that he is engulfed with, throughout the narrative he is quite anxious of the new characters that he meets, a hunched posture and closed off from people by keeping his arms wrapped around himself or taking a step back. Whereas Greg is always optimistic, which changes Wirt's attitude by taking a straight posture, becoming more confident seen in his dramatic movements with his arms or moving his hat, and walking with a slight bounce, a 'skip in his step' as he helps different characters. In some cases with his body language it is exaggerated through the use of his joints in his arms in which remind me slightly of adventure time through how they can wave compared to the movement in a more realistic arm.

The younger brother 'Greg' holds a happy outlook portrayed in both his body language and his facial expressions as he wonders to the next adventure with the world as they search for a way home. With Gregs attitude the solution to the episodes problems are unlikely solved with an action that he accidentally does. He often spins and dances, exaggerating the width of his steps and skipping slightly with his arms outstretched which works well with his happy facial expressions, creating a happy go lucky demeanour. 

Body language and expression inspiration

The acting up brief focuses purely on the animation of the narrative rather than the aesthetic appeal of the composition. The animation needs to be emphasized, dramatic and exaggerated to enhance the atmosphere and the emotion of the scene. To gain inspiration for body language and expressions that Moom could have within my animation, I searched for character sheets from different animations.

This really helped me to create sketches and storyboard my narrative, getting into the emotion and drawing the character. Looking at these different expressions and poses, I noticed that the jaw and cheeks are moved/exaggerated as well to create funny facial expressions, and the neck is slightly stretched to create that shocked or bewildered look. The body language absorbs the use of squash and stretch to create volume and motion with in the stationary image, moving the hips and shoulders at angles to create a smooth movement.

Tangled 'Flynn Rider'

In the Disney film, Tangled, the facial expressions from the character Flynn, take advantage of the angle of the frame, the angle of a sad expression can be emphasised with a low angle, adding more shadow to the face to make it more dramatic; this can then be further emphasised with a dismal atmosphere, such as a rainy or cloudy background. I was quite inspired by how the jaw was as exaggerated as it was with expressions that involved Flynn shouting or looking confused, however elongating the jawline worked quite well with the style of the illustration and the animation. In addition the use of the mouth being lower or higher than it would realistically be on a face worked well with the jawline, as well as the eyebrows being raised or burrowed deeper into his forehead.

Treasure Planet 'Dr Doppler'

In Treasure Planet, another Disney film, the body language of the character 'Dr Doppler' is exaggerated by moving his body more forward or backwards with the pose that he would be making. For example talking to the main character, Jim, he would lean slightly fowards, one arm on his hip and the other pointing at Jim as if almost telling him off; this shows the characters personality how he is stereotypically perceived by the audience through small gestures such as the pose previous. His facial expressions where quite inspiring through how they took advantage with his nose, making them flare when he would be scared or angry, which worked with his alien esk character design. I also liked how the characters lower eyelid is used to make him look more scared or annoyed as usually you would just move the eyebrows to relate to those particular emotions.

Treasure Planet 'Dr Doppler'