Clattertron

[dc]I[/dc] send out a new email newsletter every week through MailChimp (sign up here), and decided to back up my old newsletters here. This is Clattertron Newsletter #5 – Character Wants from August 7, 2015. 

I read an interesting article the other day about animator Chuck Jones. Granted, Jones was an amazing individual, so any article about him will be interesting on some level.

The article, via Boing Boing, summarized a video by Every Frame a Painting on Jones’ evolution as an artist:

“A character must have a recognizable human want, e.g.:

• Daffy Duck wants glory
• Pepe Le Pew wants a paramour
• Wile E. Coyote wants to catch and eat the Road Runner
• Bugs Bunny wants revenge (he is always provoked and never initiates the conflict)

Each character moves based on that desire, and it’s funny to us because we have had similar desires.”

– Boing Boing

It’s a simple thing, on the surface, but certainly adds layers to the characters and stories, and drives how your characters act and react. It reminded me of the famous Kurt Vonnegut quote about writing:

“Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.”

I need to remember to make sure this is the case with my own characters, be it in my fiction or my comic strips. Tweaking the characters in my comics is probably a good thing, and will probably help with writing and coming up with ideas in general.

The video talks about the rules Jones had for his characters, and the discipline he used. For example, Bugs Bunny never starts a fight, but he gets revenge if provoked (and he’s always provoked in the cartoons).

On the other hand, Daffy Duck will always pick a fight and be worse off because of this.

There’s also a good bit in the video about the joke writing in Jones’ animated shorts, using a two-part structure: the assumption in the first part, and the second part proving it wrong (reality).

Again, more fun food for thought and how I can apply it to my own joke writing in the future. I kept this in mind while drawing an upcoming comic: the first panel set up an assumed visual gag and the second panel took it in a totally different direction.

This isn’t the first time I’ve used a set-up like this. Here’s an old favorite.

I read once how upsetting expectations is the root of comedy (or something along those lines), and it makes sense.