I’m well into the preproduction for my newest animated short, “Mississippi Mud Pie”. Here are some model sheets for the two characters. Animatic pending!

The main character is an alligator. I wanted him to contrast the posh man, so I made him short, squat, and with big, expressive eyes. It was difficult to have a chunky character who also has a high dynamic range of movement. To counteract this, and make him look more like a gator, I opted to make his upper arms thin so that animation wouldn’t be hindered by having to take into account fat deposits there. It also gives a rather nice contrast between body and forearm.

The hardest part of the design, and what required the most redrafting had to have been the legs. I tried to come up with a compromise between my usual “stubby” choice and the more lithe, but more animatable legs I kept drawing for him. The wholly stubby leg design would limit animation and movement.

The Posh Man is the polar opposite of the aligator. Tall, lithe and composed, with a large cranium and hat (compared to the flattened cranium of the gator). I think the contrast will be fun to animate.