Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels [Paperback]

Tom Bancroft (Author), Glen Keane (Introduction)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0823023494 | ISBN-13: 978-0823023493 | Publication Date: February 1, 2006

From Snow White to Shrek, from Fred Flintstone to SpongeBob SquarePants, the design of a character conveys personality before a single word of dialogue is spoken. Designing Characters with Personality shows artists how to create a distinctive character, then place that character in context within a script, establish hierarchy, and maximize the impact of pose and expression. Practical exercises help readers put everything together to make their new characters sparkle. Lessons from the author, who designed the dragon Mushu (voiced by Eddie Murphy) in Disney's Mulan—plus big-name experts in film, TV, video games, and graphic novels—make a complex subject accessible to every artist.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tom Bancroft has been an animator
for more than fifteen years, working
for Disney and Big Idea Productions
(producers of Veggie Tales). Most recently, he contributed to Disney’s Brother Bear. He lives in Franklin, TN.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill (February 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823023494
• ISBN-13: 978-0823023493
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.4 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Cartooning
  • #86 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Graphics & Multimedia
  • #86 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism

More About the Author

Tom Bancroft is a veteran Disney and Big Idea animator. At Disney, he helped create the animation for many memorable characters including: Young Simba, Jafar and Iago, Pocahontas, Rutt and Tuke and for the film MULAN he designed the character "Mushu", the dragon. While with Big Idea, he designed and directed the LarryBoy 2D series of videos. Tom still keeps his hands in animation, but he also enjoys creating comics, children's books, and characters for all forms of media.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really Shocked By This Book!, May 14, 2006

By 

L. West "Mark Skull" (Philadlephia, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels (Paperback)

I've been a professional Illustrator for 4 years now, and before then an avid student of art. But during all that time, I've bought piles and piles of "How To Draw" books, namely by Christopher Hart. I was in the book store one day and saw this one and almost just bi-passed it as just another amaturise attempt at trying to make a "How to Draw Cartoon" book, the cover being the main turn-off.

In my 8+ years of buying these types of books, this is the first time I was simply astonished by what they were presenting; MOVEMENT!

It is rare that anyone write's these books with any mention on how an artist can try to achieve a sense of force and movement, and that is why I so highly recommend this book. The incoporation of how to apply the knowledge to comic book work was also great, not to mention the fact that Tom Bancroft also had the "Assignements" in the book which gives you a real look into what can go into creating charachters.

From novice to seasoned professional, this truley is a great book!

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best book you'll find on understanding how character design works., October 12, 2006

By 

Brian Reynolds (Charlottesville, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels (Paperback)

"I'm stumped, all my characters come out looking the same! What am I missing?"

"I'm drawing the same character as Seth, but his pictures are coming out better than mine. Why?"

"Ok, there's been a change of plans and our target audience is no longer going to be for kids in kindergarten but now 11 to 14 year old boys."

"Ok, the client is for a Honda dealership that primarily serves the Mexican market and we need a superhero mascot that appeals to these customers but doesn't turn off the other people who would be buying cars from them."

If you're researching this book chances are that you've already got some experience reading art and animation how-to books or know somebody who has. There are many books on cartooning and animation but there has been a frustrating lack of material that really digs into the meat of the creative process behind character design. Most books fall into categories that either narrowly focus on concept art from specific productions, or they discuss all facets of animation and cartooning and relegate character design to a single chapter and / or style. This book recognizes that educational void and happily is helmed by a man who not only can draw, but can explain the REASONS behind the stylistic choices employed by the best designers out there.

The REASONING is an important point that cannot be stressed highly enough and is what pushes this book beyond just another how-to-draw endeavor and becomes something that should be mandatory study material for anyone involved in the character creation process, from cartoonists, animators, sculptors, and 3D modelers, to storytellers, marketers, and producers. Tom Bancroft explains the esthetics of design appeal and allows you to better understand how your choices affect the audience's psychological response to the character's look. Going further you'll learn how to take that design awareness and modify your efforts to fit a wide range of stylistic applications so that your romanticly-loveable-yet-monstrous-and-scary frankenstein character can be drawn for an action-drama scenario or a slapstick-sendup. You'll still have to figure out for yourself however what the boss means when he asks for you to make your work "more hip and edgy!".

This book is filled to the brim with excellent and inspiring artwork and text which is both easy to comprehend and is satisfyingly complete. When you're finished going over this book I guarantee you'll either have learned something useful or you'll be applauding Bancroft for finally delivering the goods on a topic so many of us love but haven't seen explored to this extent outside of the studio or classroom.

Bravo, Tom, and thank you!

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your average "How To Draw" book!!, January 31, 2006

By 

T. Hodge (Franklin, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels (Paperback)

I got a chance to peruse a pre-release copy of this book and I really liked what I saw.
Tom is a former Disney animator and does a great job of breaking down the elements of good character design. What I really like about his book is that it isn't merely a "How to draw like me" book. He teaches principles that anybody can put to use in their own style.
Not only did he ask Rob Corley to write a chapter (his business partner), but he asked several guest artists to submit their interpretations of the same character. Among the guests are Peter deSeve, Mark Henn, Bill Amend and Jack Davis... yes, the Jack Davis. A very diverse collection of styles, yet with one thing in common: they create excellent designs brimming with personality and attitude.
Tom's point in the book is that good character design, regardless of style, comes down to clarity, appeal and knowing your character inside and out.
(Oh, and Glen Keane wrote the forward for some more words of inspiration!)