What Makes a Character Iconic

Animated films have shaped many of our childhoods, the pure joy and innocence that they portray upon us as children brings about the calming nostalgia that we get years later (Nair, 2018). There are many iconic character with outstanding animators behind their creations (Nair, 2018). Some of these characters’ already have an exceptional amount of fame, for example, Mickey Mouse but the focus of this blog will mainly be on the more underrated characters who deserve the recognition.

Ursula (The little Mermaid): 1989

Created by Ron Clements and John Musker, Ursula was different than the previous Disney Villains and although all of them have their own originality, Ursula is an exception. Not only did a majority of the film take place underwater (Dart, 2016). She was also designed as a “Cecaelia”, which is a hybrid of human and octopus, so naturally constructing this character required them to clearly illustrate action underwater and natural movement of her tentacles in a way that would complement her figure (Dart, 2016).

In fact, they ended up drawing her with only 6 tentacles instead of 8, because the studio was having financial trouble as well as trouble with coordinating 8 limbs (Disney Wiki, n.d.). Before agreeing on the octopus hybrid, the artists considered having her as a rockfish or a lionfish instead (Disney Wiki, n.d.).

Genie (Aladdin): 1992

Much like Ursula the Genie was a tough character to design and animate, when he is not floating he is transforming into all sorts of random objects and creatures (Week99er, 2016). Somehow all his different characters looked like him in a way as well. Eric Goldberg is the brilliant creator behind the Genie, and anyone that has seen Aladdin would know that the Genie plays a big role in the film (Week99er, 2016). The Genie does not have a single straight line, he is drawn of only sinuous lines and s-curves which come in handy when transforming him into various shapes (Week99er, 2016).

Esmerelda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame): 1996

This film was released shortly after “The Lion King” so it had big competition ahead of it, and although it failed to top The Lion King’s ratings it was still a success of its own (Oh My Disney, n.d.). The story revolves around a deformed boy who is an outcast and that on its own was a whole new view towards the cliché representations that the other Disney films had portrayed (Oh My Disney, n.d.). Esmerelda is no princess and her lifestyle is not a very healthy one, she portrays a gypsy that begs for money amongst the poor in the streets of Paris (Brew, 2011). Victor Hugo created Esmeralda and his goal for her was to be very physically

attractive yet flawed, she is a women of ethnicity appearing with bronze skin, dark hair and vibrant emerald eyes (Brew, 2011). In certain ways Esmerelda’s character is a lot like Megara from Disney’s Hercules, released just a year later (1997) Megara is a strong female character who is anchored within the wrong path.

References: [The Figure numbers are according to their placement]

[Figure 4] A celluloid of the Genie from Aladdin , 1992. (n.d.). [image] Retrieved (3/27/2019) from http://www.artnet.com/artists/walt-disney-studios/a-celluloid-of-the-genie-from-aladdin-TGOHeRH6afuBJWyjfCQKRQ2

Brew, S. (2011, May 16). Looking back at Disney’s The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. [online] Den of Geek. Retrieved (3/27/2019) from https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/17457/looking-back-at-disney%E2%80%99s-the-hunchback-of-notre-dame

Dart, C. (2016, January 19). Read This: How Divine inspired Ursula The Sea Witch. [online] News.avclub.com. Retrieved (3/27/2019) from https://news.avclub.com/read-this-how-divine-inspired-ursula-the-sea-witch-1798243255

[Figure 5] Disney On A Scale of 1-10 What Is Esmeralda From The Hunchback of Notre Dame In The Beauty Department. (n.d.). [image] Retrieved (3/27/2019) from http://it.fanpop.com/clubs/disney/picks/show/718552/on-scale-1-10-what-esmeralda-from-hunchback-notre-dame-beauty-department

Disney Wiki. (n.d.). Ursula. [online] Retrieved (3/27/2019) from https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Ursula

[Figure 3] Genie Wallpapers. (2018). [image] Retrieved (3/27/2019) from https://wallpapercave.com/genie-wallpapers

[Figure 1] Juneau, E. (2014, May 12). Analyzing the Disney Villains: Ursula (The Little Mermaid). [image] Retrieved (3/27/2019) from https://www.ericjuneaubooks.com/2014/05/analyzing-disney-villains-ursula-little/

[Figure 2] Mariosa, I. (2016, April 25). U : URSULA “WELL, IT’S TIME URSULA TOOK MATTERS INTO HER OWN TENTACLES.”. [image] Retrieved (3/27/2019) from https://writingformurphy.wordpress.com/2016/04/25/u-ursula-well-its-time-ursula-took-matters-into-her-own-tentacles/

Nair, A. (2018, September 26). Positive and Negative Effects of Watching Cartoons on Children. [online] FirstCry Parenting. Retrieved (3/27/2019) from https://parenting.firstcry.com/articles/positive-and-negative-effects-of-cartoons-on-child-behaviour-and-development/

Oh My Disney. (n.d.). Creating Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" | Insider. [online] Retrieved (3/27/2019) from https://ohmy.disney.com/insider/2012/01/27/creating-disneys-the-hunchback-of-notre-dame/

[Figure 6] Pinterest (n.d.). [image] Retrieved (3/27/2019) from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/168392473543943790/

Week 99er. (2016). Creating the Genie and more with Animator Eric Goldberg. [online] Retrieved (3/27/2019) from https://week99er.com/new/creating-the-genie-and-more-with-animator-eric-goldberg-aladdinbloggers/