5 of the Best Animated Characters

     It seems that animation has been having a hard time getting credit where it's due, although recently, it has been gaining momentum. For some reason, we have become more comfortable with the idea of even giving an animated film the honor of best picture at the Academy Awards. If you stop to think about it, the only reason this is being done is because the vast majority of blockbusters are already mostly computer generated anyways, and that is also the current format for animated features. I could go into an entire article discussing the merits and downfall that CGI brings to the animation genre, but that is for another time. Right now, I want to look at my favorite characters from cartoons. Now, my list is not about which characters I love best best due to their characterization, but rather the effectiveness and creativity of the animation itself, and how effectively it tells us what we need to know about them, so please keep that in mind as you read the list. Some are obscure characters, sometimes just thrown in without any real character development, but that only makes the necessity for effective animation all the more present. These are characters designed so that when you look at them, you know all there is to know about them. So, without further ado, here is my list of my five favorite animated characters, in no particular order.

Kaa/Sher Khan (The Jungle Book)
     The Jungle Book is a beloved Disney classic with memorable characters, music, and dialogue. But among all that greatness, lies one of my favorite characters of all time, animated or otherwise. Kaa is a villain, but he isn't evil. His motivation is pure survival, so while we classify him as villain because he wants to eat Mowgli, he really isn't. This is one of the reasons scholars use the term antagonist, or someone who is causing some kind of trouble for the main character. Kaa fits this description much better than that of villain. I like Kaa because he is intelligent, seductive, and seemingly nonthreatening. Unlike Sher Khan, the film's main villain, he doesn't go around parading his claws and teeth or threatening people. He's just kind of there and
while he is a snake, he doesn't appear to pose a threat to anyone. So much in fact, that when Mowgli first sees him, he just dismisses him. This comes across in the animation. He is big, but you never see his full size all at once, only in sections, and he is smooth and speaks seductively in a hardly threatening tone. Another thing that makes you love him is how playful he is. Even after he's already got Mowgli in his grasp, he just keeps on singing with him and playing with a hypnotized boy. It's pretty disturbing if you stop to think about it, but Kaa's gentle nature comes through the animation as well as one of Sterling Holloway's best voice work. Sher Khan, on the other hand, is a very sinister villain and it's brought out in every thing animated about him, his facial expression, retractable claws, and the cool, sneaky nature of the way he walks. My favorite thing about these two characters, and why I list them together, is the scene were they meet up and talk about Mowgli, Sher Kahn suspecting Kaa has him and Kaa trying to keep his lunch. They are complete opposites in their methodology and the entire conversation is actually quite civil and proper, only adding to the sinister nature of Sher Kahn, and the comparative peaceful nature of Kaa, and the differences come out in their facial expressions and body language.

The Crocodile (Peter Pan)

(Looking at the audience while following Hook)

(His first appearance)

     I like Kaa because he is the all around best, in his animation AND dialogue. but it is hard to make the case that there is a character that relies so much in animation and is perfectly executed as well as the crocodile. He doesn't speak a word, nor does he make any sound to let us know what he is thinking. it is conveyed solely through his body language and never has it been done so perfectly. They were able to give us a crocodile that in many ways acts like a real crocodile, but blended it perfectly with his abilities as a cartoon character. From the time we first see him, the crocodile already let's us know all he is about: eating. And not just eating, but eating Captain Hook and nothing else. In the Skull Rock scene, we see him him break the fourth wall and look at the audience to kind of wink at us and show us his excitement (and his plans) as he's following Hook across the lagoon and into the cave. In the cave, we see how he is more than capable of catching something else if he wanted to. He just throws aside the life boat like it's nothing to try to catch his favorite meal. We must also look carefully at his expressions during the final fight sequence in the movie. They range from excitement, to disappointed, to annoyed. He slaps the water when he Hook nearly fall from the ship and plays with the water as he's watching Hook and Peter Pan duel on the mast. The combination of the crocodile's silent nature and funny expressions would find itself in another brilliantly animated character, although with not as much effect, in Joanna, from Rescuers Down Under. Like most of the characters in Neverland, the crocodile is static, and doesn't really change throughout the film. He is there as an obstacle, and nothing else.

(Pushing lifeboat aside)

(Slapping water)

(Patiently waiting)

Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland)
     The Cheshire Cat is an interesting character not only because of his animation, but because he seems to be the only one in Wonderland who is actually sane. While it is true that at first glance he seems to be as mad as just about everyone else, his eccentrics seem to be intentional, and he does it for fun. He understands what Alice wants and understands her entire situation even though no one else does (and remember, he acknowledges that everyone is mad, which would imply his sanity). We could even infer that this is his way of coping
with this crazy world he lives in. It would be very unnerving indeed to be the only sane person in a mad world. His animation is effective because he is one of the few characters that doesn't seem to belong to Wonderland, and his disappearing and dismemberments add to the mystery and the idea that he doesn't really belong there. While everything in wonderland is odd and magical, they all seem to have clear boundaries and act like regular humans in the sense of what they can do, they are anthropomorphic in many ways. The rabbit can talk and seems magical at first, but his character acts like a human.The Cheshire Cat acts much like a fairy godmother, but a mischievous one, appearing here and there in Alice's time of need and providing guidance, actual as well as emotional, and sometimes causing her trouble. He only appears briefly, like Kaa, but he is essential to the story, and it doesn't hurt that, like Kaa, Sterling Holloway again lends his voice. His sweet but sinister tone works brilliantly here, just as it would in The Jungle Book years later.

Chef Skinner (Ratatouille)
     OK, it's true that the majority of characters on my list are villains and minor characters but there is a reason they the most effectively animated characters. Villains and minor characters don't get as much screen-time and attention, so they must be effective in conveying as much information about their character as possible in a short amount of time. Chef Skinner is a perfect example of this concept, as well as being detailed to boot in his expression. He was drawn abnormally short, and probably intentionally, to give him a Napoleon complex. His height, or lack thereof, though never mentioned openly, is demonstrated throughout the film. He keeps step ladders throughout the kitchen so that he can reach the windows and counters, and as his hands go one over the other like a ladder when he is rebuking Linguine, it is a perfect demonstration of his realism as well as believability in respect to his actual abilities. Just watch the scene at the 12 second mark.

While he is short, it does not interfere with his abilities. He is still intelligent and to make it to the position he had under Chef Gusteau as sous chef requires great culinary knowledge and skill indeed. This intelligence is also brought out in the animation, for while he is stern and rude at times, you can see in his face how he is carefully planning and scheming.

Baloo the bear (The Jungle Book)

     Tell me, if you can, if there is an animated character whose look, style, movements, and voice match a character's personality as well as Baloo? His life motto is to look for the "bare necessities", and his entire body language reeks of this lifestyle, from the way that he walks to his calm nature. Baloo the bear is animation at its best, because his drawings capture the character perfectly. A lot of the animation in The Jungle Book is actually on par with Baloo and I think it may be one of the most effectively animated films of all time for that very reason. Look at the way he walks all slouched and his facial expressions are that of an extremely calm and patient character without a care in the world. He doesn't even have to talk and you already know all you need to know just by watching him.

     Well, those are my favorites. Do you agree? I hope this list has helped you see animation in a new light, with a greater appreciation of the animation process and the effectiveness that we take for granted these days.