I wish cartoonists would pay more attention to what people wear. Clothes are funny (above), though you'd never know it by looking at modern animation and newspaper strips.
A hundred years ago main characters were drawn like clowns with outrageous clothes. I admit that's going too far, but I prefer that to the bland clothes cartoon characters wear today.
The way I see it, characters should always dress to fit their occupation or physical type. Rich people should look rich, poor people should look poor. Texans should look like cowboys, fat people should look like opera singers, and skinny people should look like scarecrows.
Cartoonists should exaggerate. Slightly rich people (above) should look and act very rich. Sneaky people should dress like professional sneaks, and not simply act that way while dressing normally.
Unfortunately we live in an era whose fashion is dominated by geniuses like Calvin Klein. Klein set himself to the task of making the common man look as elegant as the rich, and he pretty much succeeded. Now every working person looks good, but nobody looks funny anymore.
Er...well, maybe some people do. Thank God for emos, skaters and hip hoppers.
7 comments:
On the plus side though, you can play off the fact that everybody looks so good by making people extra squeamish about looking poor or having them look too good in the wrong or odd situations.
This is food for thought, Eddie. I don't even notice clothes on modern day cartoons, but I LOVE the clothes on the characters in the old cartoons. This is my cartoons website: ReallyFunnyCartoons.com
I have always sort of blanked out when it comes to drawing clothes on characters, but I'm going to take your challenge. You're right. Clothes should be fun.
Maybe its time for modern cartoonists to break this ridiculous cliche of having cartoon characters wear the same unfunny, boring clothing in every cartoon short or episode. I mean Elmer Fudd didn't always wear the same outfit in every Warner Bros. cartoon, did he? It would be amazing if someone like the character designers had the guts to defy this ridiculous logic and get loose and have fun with the clothing on the characters and change it up every so often, depending on the short in question.
Yet again, many cartoons lack funny drawings and funny stories and funny gags to begin with, so we'd have those things first and go from there. Why does the industry have to play it safe all the time? It's baffling...
Can't believe in less than five more months, the whole class of 2012 (my class obviously, born in 1994) graduates in May. I can't wait until then so you can post up some special graduation songs. I remembered the advice you told me about Yellowstone and recently told my parents about it and they were considering either going there or Washington D.C. to celebrate. Just something interesting I wanted to bring up as well. Happy New Year!
Klein.
Think about the Disney shorts - look at Mickey or Goofy's clothing in the 30s (and early 40s) and compare it to how they dressed in the late 40s and 50s.
So Emos actually do have one thing going. Sweet. :)
Thank god for Hipsters, as well! Great post, Eddie, it reminds me of your classic post "The important thing is to know that your own times are funny!"
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