General distortion within cartoon characters

Distortion of the human body has always been used within cartoon characters as it helps exaggerate key features of the character. I will be researching and analyzing game characters that have been distorted to draw the audience into a particular part of the design. Manga and Anime use these factors by designing characters with large shiny eyes, long legs and really small mouths. I personally feel this design is to create a cute factor and sexy factor within the characters which naturally draws female and male audiences.

I'm going to be looking at characters such as Mario to see why they have been designed this way and if there are any key features that the designers have deliberately made to attract the audiences attention.

Mario

Mario who was originally called Jump man in the game Donkey Kong 1981 was distorted to fit with date and time as the pixel count was low. He was given a big hat, big mustache and nose so facial features wouldn't have to be made on this low pixel character. Just by exaggerating features Nintendo managed to create a far more likable character and visually pleasing.

Also during game play Mario's head is way out of proportion and this has been designed this way to help the audience follow the on screen sprite and its direction. Mario's head is the main function of his body and shows the direction of the sprite. It also shows emotion and character as the first thing we as people look at when looking at a character is the face; we associate the face to the id of the character.

Link

Link has also been through the same history as Mario where had been created with a big head and small body. However as time has gone he has taken more influence from Anime and Manga as you can see the obvious traits which are the big shiny eyes and small mouth. These features are linked with children and children are seen as cute and innocent and Link has adapted these features and now he looks young and not very aggressive, he has become more likable.

"Zelda Wind Waker" demonstrates this use of cuteness distortion which attracts your eyes to links focal point which is face.

Why Nintendo? Why?

Nintendo has always managed to create successful characters as they are so likable throughout all audience age. This due to distorting and exaggerating the characters body and features. Nintendo has used distortion to its advantage to gain a more likable character range and a particular audience.

The type of distortion they have used is very similar

to anime where they make the features almost child like but using an adults body. This creates an innocent  and cute character which is known to attract the younger generation audience and more female players.