Sylvain Chomet might not be your traditional animator or artist. Being a huge fan of ‘The Simpsons’, I found out about him when he created the couch gag opening for The Simpsons. He is one of the few artists that use real life figures and use their caricatures as characters. I never imagined what real-life caricatures of the characters would look like. his visual style convinced me that the Simpson characters are inspired by real people, not simply random characters, and that they are a part of us as well.
He stylizes caricatures like they belonged to the 1920s but with a modern touch which gives his art style a very unique touch. He places these characters in modern environments, buildings, etc.
I admire Sylvain Chomet’s film The Triplets de Beville, and one of my favourite aspects of the film is the character design.
What makes his work avant-garde and his narrative so effective, despite the fact that they are silent pictures is what intrigues me.
All the characters are very exaggerated e.g., so huge noses, long legs, a particularly very fat dog with the features of the characters are so exaggerated that is almost satirical and these characters are full of flaws and this is what makes them so lovable.
At the same time we’re having quite an accurate anatomy and a realistic feel so we have this mix between realism and then goofiness which makes the film and the feel of the characters very unique in my opinion. If we look at the linework we can see that it’s done in pencil giving it a traditional look which seems fitting for the film that seems to be set in the period of the 1920s. You can also notice how the line is kind of sketchy in the feeling of it and it gives it a sense of informality turning our attention to the design. There’s a clear line with overlap at intersections and this makes the design very readable which is often the case for cartoons in general but I think in this case here. It’s just very beautiful work on the animators’ and character designers’ sides. I think one thing I should mention about the design is that it has many quirky details such as the grandmother’s shoe, where one heel is really large because obviously a short leg and a long leg and this is what gives her a lot of character also the very thick glasses and the dimensions of the head there’s also something that’s exaggerated here also notice the very fat dog.
The director is said to have gone through something similar in his life. It is like he observes people around him and creates their caricatures and in a way his films are a version of his reality.
Arsalan Awais 