Walk Cycles: Character and Irony

I'll consider this my contribution to our blog, since I actually did some important work today. I have to mention that a lot more happened in the Alice Studio that's worth noting, perhaps Chance or Brian can chime in.

I'm including a pencil-test I did today, which is a study of a walk cycle of Junior, a Tex Avery character from "Hound Hunting" (1947), animated by Ed Love. The link below includes the full cartoon as well as an animator breakdown (I don't know if its accurate or not, but you can notice different styles as the intervals specify. I'll point out a few things I noticed while doing the study, which I will have to include in a follow-up study.


First, notice that Junior's walk is very different from George's. Junior is big and fat, but is also very "stupid" and therefore he has the personality of a follower. Watch how Junior walks behind George, regulating his own walk so as not to cross George's path. This irony is drawn out when Junior does walk alongside George, when Junior does a funny sideways walk.

That said on the difference between the two characters, now let me draw your attention to some of the specifics of Junior's walk. The whole sequence "came into focus" when I noticed Junior's right hand, the one holding the napsack. Notice how it rotates around the wrist, toward and away from the camera. Now, you should start to see some of the other subtleties Ed Love is capable of, all which help convey the irony of the cartoon--you can almost see Junior looking around at the landscape, left and right, back and forth, but thinking nothing!

Finally, watch the last scene, also animated by Ed Love. This is a variation on the opening walk cycle, but what an important difference. Notice the feet are dragging, until Ed Love introduces a third walk cycle, concluding the cartoon with an ironic hearkening back to the mood created during the opening.

If you really think you're still up for it...watch the whole cartoon, and see if you can spot how much the animators rely on walk cycles and variations of them to create a certain tension for each moment of the cartoon. They're all over the place.

Here is the cartoon with accompanying breakdown: http://kaseykockroach.blogspot.com/2008/11/tex-avery-hound-hunters.html

Here is the model sheet that shows you how to draw Junior. You can discover the underlying construction easily even though its not shown (Once you've figured out Junior's construction, compare it with George's. Notice the importance of proportions?): http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6884/1394/1600/What%20Price%20Fleadom.jpg


And, I attached a pencil-test of my study (its not perfect, so go f*ck yourself!)




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Alright John K., eat your heart out,
-Brent