Analysing an Animated Character

For this task we chose to analyse Russell, an 8 year old wilderness explorer in the movie 'UP'. He is very colourful and chirpy, attracting mainly a young audience but also anyone who loves children's films and an animated comedy movie. He is a very plump character, coming across as cute and cuddly, and with his innocence makes the audience sympathize for him and his actions. He has been created to appeal to young people of his age, who can also be just as ditzy and innocent. It could also appeal to older people as there is a range of other characters, such as Carl Fredrickson, who is from the older generation. As Russell is a 'Wilderness Explorer' it may appeal more to boys who can relate to the activities he does of his age, such as Scouts and Beavers, who must earn badges by doing good deeds. For example Russell asked to help Carl cross his street and front yard. Russell has quite a high voice and talks quite slowly and loudly as well as speaking his mind, as he doesn't know how to keep things to himself like any 8 year old would. The sound based on Russell is quite chirpy and happy, as he is an innocent and cute character. The lighting is also rather bright, showing the target audience that he is a cheerful character. His clothes are also bright, which represents his personality as a bubbly character, although his socks are always pulled up above his shoes close to his knees, which is a sterio-typical nerdy and innocent sort of character, not knowing that what and how he wears his clothes could mean he doesn't have a role model to look up to.