Activity 2A.1: Choosing a Story
Some examples of animated movies based on fairy tales, myths, folktales, or short stories are listed below.
- Aladdin
- Cinderella
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (stop-motion animation)
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- Little Mermaid
- Shrek
- Sleeping Beauty
- Snow White
Activity 2B.1: Initial Character Design
Clips Demonstrating Follow-Through and Overlap and Appeal
Most animated movies will include examples of these two principles. You might show students examples of earlier Disney shorts featuring characters such as Goofy, Donald Duck, or Mickey Mouse. The example in the unit is a clip from Snow White, another good choice.
Activity 2B.2: Creating Turnaround Sheets and Character Studies
Sample Turnaround Sheets
DC Cartoon Archives Model Sheets
http://dcanimated.toonzone.net/Model%20Sheets/modmain.htm
How to Draw Elfquest: Character Charts
www.elfquest.com/fun/CharModels2.html
Klasky Csupo Animation Lessons: Turnarounds
www.cooltoons2.com/various/artlessons/turnarounds.html
Teen Titans Art and Design: Original Turnarounds and Model Sheets
www.titanstower.com/source/animated/artmodelsheets.html
Sample Character Studies Showing Expression
The following character studies were lent from the Van Eaton Galleries to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive (www.animationarchive.org/2006/09/media-two-disney-concept-artists.html).
Character Design Blogspot: From Concept to Final. Round 5 (The Jungle Book)
Character studies for the characters of Shere Khan, The Monkey, and The Girl
http://characterdesign.blogspot.com/search?q=Jungle+Book
Baby Pegasus, from Concert Feature F-128
Albert Hurter
www.animationarchive.org/pics/concept07-big.jpg
The following character studies were lent from the Van Eaton Galleries to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive (www.animationarchive.org/labels/model%20sheet.html).
Donald Duck, from Production 2043
Bill Roberts
www.animationarchive.org/pics/miceduck07-big.jpg
Unititled (Minnie and Mickey Mouse)
www.animationarchive.org/pics/miceduck01-big.jpg
Donald’s Date (Daisy and Donald Duck)
www.animationarchive.org/pics/miceduck11-big.jpg
The following character studies were lent from the Van Eaton Galleries to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive (http://www.animationarchive.org/2006/08/media-reluctant-dragon-and-pinocchio.html).
Model Sheet Pinocchio F-3
www.animationarchive.org/pics/model106-big.jpg
The Art of Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (book)
Hayao Miyazaki
You can find sample pages of the book, including character studies of Chihiro Ogino, online.
http://animeaffairs.wordpress.com/2008/08/10/the-art-of-miyazakis-spirited-away/
Activity 2B.3: Finalzing the Character Design
Sample Model Sheets
About.com Animation Character Sheet
http://animation.about.com/od/otherusefultutorials/ss/charactersheet.htm
Animationmeat.com Model Sheets
This site includes model sheets, turnarounds, and character studies showing action and expression.
www.animationmeat.com/modelsheets/modelsheets.html
The Unofficial Disney Animation Archive: Model Sheets
This site includes both model sheets and character studies showing action and expression.
animationarchive.net/Model%20Sheets/index.php
Pencil Tests
(Note that some pencil tests may be more “finished” than others—show students tests that use simplified character designs.)
Academy of Art Animation Notes: Classic Milt Kahl Pencil Test
hand-drawn-animation.blogspot.com/2009/04/classic-milt-kahl-pencil-test.html
Pencil Test Depot
www.penciltestdepot.com/
X-sheet Videos
xsheetvideos.blogspot.com