Full Transcript
Do cartoon characters blink? I guess what I'm asking is, have you noticed whether or not they blink? And to be clear, I'm not talking about the exaggerated Disney character expression where they're like, "What?" I'm saying when characters are just standing there or talking, do they blink routinely like I just did just to moisturize their eyes? Because the answer is surprising. For example, if you're my age, you are well familiar with this scene. It's the steamed ham scene from the Simpsons. So, before I show it to you, stop and register your guess now. Do these characters blink every few seconds while they're talking or standing there? The answer is yes in this case. But if we go grab a random scene from Family Guy, watch the dog only. He blinks and I think he only blinks once in this entire long scene. He did it right there. The man Peter never does or at least he doesn't in that particular scene. In other scenes he does. I actually went and looked up dozens of clips because I'm on a tight deadline to do something totally unrelated. If they could, which they can't, would be because they could. So, for example, if you look up an anime like Attack on Titan, the characters will go several minutes without blinking. Like, all of these shows have it as an animation, and the characters will do it on occasion, but they'll also just not do it for very long stretches. And it's hard to discern what the actual rule is here. You could say that it probably just comes down to budget that in a lot of those anime shows they're trying to preserve the cost of animation and if they're not blinking they could just use a still image of their face. But the characters in South Park blink and they pride themselves on their minimal character animation. They make these episodes in like 5 days. With anime, it seems like the rule might be that during routine interactions they'll blink but then they will all stop during the most intense sequences. But I don't know if that's an artistic choice or a technical one. But for me, what was shocking was how little I had noticed it. I know I have some actual animators who follow me. Plus, a lot of people are just huge fans of animation. So, if you know the rule, tell me. Because from an observer's point of view, it doesn't seem like there is