Character Research

For inspiration, I've looked on the tinterwebs for some pictures and animations for 3D characters that are able to express a lot of emotion without the use of their voices.

The first characters I have decided to feature are Luxo and Luxo Jr.


These characters are at the extreme end of the spectrum. They are characters with no arms, legs or facial featues. The only things that give them a personality are they light bulb that looks a bit like an eye and the squeaking sound they make.



It is astonishing how much emotion is shown with no real physical attributes.

The second character I have chosen is Wall-E.


Wall-E is the next level up from Luxo and Luxo Jr. who are all machines and have limits to displaying their emotions. Wall-E only had eyes, eyelids, hands and a vague voice to contribute to his personaity.



It is safe to say that Wall-E is one of my favourite 3D characters, mainly due to the fact that he displays so much emotion effectively with such limited features.

The final characters I have chosen are the Stalk and Dark Cloud from Disney Pixar's animated short 'Partly Cloudy'.


I have chosen these characters because they are extremely effectice at displaying detailed emotion without the use of voice but only some minor sounds. This is mainly due to the characters being hugely versatile and dynamic.



It should be noted that for the Stalk, the emotion is making shown in the eyes and the cheeks as the beak cannot be animated for expression.

All of the characters I have listed here hav elements I will be looking to include in my animation.