When I was a young child my dad used to take me to Choices video shop where we rented out old cartoon series and we would watch them together. I loved the video shop... it was my version of a library only with videos! I do remember though, my dad once said that there was such a thing as watching too many cartoons (that was why we were not allowed SKY TV, he thought I would watch cartoon network all day... and I probably would have) Anyway I remember he said this to me when I was watching Hanna Barbera's Pixie and Dixie and my reply was, ''its fine dad it's educational...'' And to be honest it kind of was, as I am now doing animation at university. I am sure that my obsession with animated cartoons as a child played a huge part in my chosen career...
Any who...
Here is a mini character study I did of Witch Hazel, one of the forgotten characters of Looney Tunes. I have seen loads of people do art work and studies based on Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and all the other main characters. But to be honest Witch Hazel is one of my personal favourites from the Looney Tunes cast. I just love her personality; she is so funny and bubbly. She has such an infectious giggle and I love all of her outrageous and over the top expressions.
The Pink Panther original cartoon series was another one of my favourites. I like how every episode was set in a different place. There was no limit to the stories you could make with him. The Pink Panther is not a very complicated character, nor are his expressions too exaggerated. I like that he still gives a great performance without needing to be too extreme.
This character is Mr Jinks from the Hanna Barbera cartoon Pixie and Dixie. The series was like a really really cheap version of Tom and Jerry. They didn't tend to put in as many key frames, but I don't think it matters. I would much rather watch something like this than any of the crap children watch today.
This cartoon did not have hundreds of expressions but they are so much richer than most modern children's animated characters.
Then there's my character... This is 'Feeble' the fox, whom I shall be using for 3rd year final film. I really wanted to experiment with the expressions he could make. Technically I am a stop motion animator, but I have always wanted to make a cartoon. I was not confident enough with my drawing when I originally started uni. But now I am improving I would love to make a 2D animation with this character. I think his expressions would look so much better as a cartoon than a stop motion puppet.
With a few more tests I should be able to see whether my drawing is strong enough to produce my short film in 2D.
