Peanuts’ Charlie Brown is one of the most iconic cartoon characters around, having adorned over 17,000 comic strips since 1950. His is a deceptively simple character design – but not, as it turns out, without its unexpected limitations.
In a recently resurfaced interview with Garfield creator Jim Davis, the artist discusses his own characters as well as those of Peanuts’ creator Charles Schulz, and how the jump from illustration to animation revealed ways in which they turned out to be, er, physically challenged.
In the 2021 interview, recently rediscovered by Screen Rant, Davis explains how, when animating the title character for 1969’s A Boy Named Charlie Brown movie, Schulz tried to have him scratch his head in thought. But with Brown’s head so large, and arms so short, he isn’t able to reach any further than the bottom of the back of his head.
An Interview with Garfield’s Creator, Jim Davis – YouTube
Davis reveals how Schulz helped him navigate similar animation issues with his own characters, including giving Garfield larger feet when standing up. This is similar to a technique Schulz himself adopted with Snoopy. “When Snoopy is on all fours,” David says, “he has little puppy feet, but when he stands up, his back feet get bigger, giving him balance.” To help Davis, Schulz “drew these big cat feet with Garfield standing up, and all of a sudden, Garfield was balanced.”
Snoopy recently became a beloved Apple Watch wallpaper (Image credit: Apple)
When it comes to animating illustrated characters, we’ve seen plenty of tricks and techniques that come together to make the whole thing appear seamless, like these 4 mind-blowing Disney animation secrets.
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