The most important aspect when creating any show especially for a children’s series is the character designs. During my research I realized that in majority of series aimed at elementary school kids had either anthropomorphic characters, abstract or animals. For example.
In the shows shown above, the animals mostly mimic human characteristic while being intact with their animal nature e.g., a fox character might be cunning but also thief, while a rabbit is very quick so he might be a science wizz, or a cat who might have a low attention span and is engaged in various activities at the same time. I could take on a similar approach but I feel that when transferring such characters on a mockumentary series (set in an elementary school) it might break the illusion of the medium. Children might not resonate with such characters.
On speaking of anthropomorphic characters shows like; The misadventures of flapjack, chowder, Spongebob or the adventures of gumball, the characters have their own visual language and could move freely.
They could have over-the-top exaggerated expression and I think children appreciate these kind of character quips.
Another character style I feel most resonates with children are the actual human figures themselves, but instead of being to detailed or realistic a more stylized, simple and shape oriented approach is more easy to empathize with. For example;
Show like; The fairly odd parents, total drama island, the loud house, or Ben and Holly’s little kingdom the characters are mostly floating heads and each character has a unique shape that is linked to it attributes.
Hence, I feel going for the simplistic design approach (where characters are based on shapes) would amplify and compliment my concept.
References
Arthur (Tv series). 1998. [Film] Directed by Marc Brown. USA: PBS.
Camp Lazlo. 2005. [Film] Directed by Joe Murray. USA: Nickelodeon.
Franklin. 1997. [Film] Directed by Brenda Clark Paulette Bourgeois. Canada: Nelvana.
Spongebob Squarepants. 1999. [Film] Directed by Stephen Hillenburg. USA: Nickelodeon.
The Amazing World of Gumball. 2011. [Film] Directed by Ben Bocquelet. USA: Cartoon Network.
The Fairly OddParents. 1999. [Film] Directed by Butch Hartman. USA: Nickelodeon.
The Loud House. 2016. [Film] Directed by Chris Savino. USA: Nickelodeon.
The Marvellous Misadventures of Flapjack. 2008. [Film] Directed by Thurop Van Orman. USA: Cartoon Network.
Total Drama. 2007. [Film] Directed by Jennifer Pertsch Tom McGillis. USA: Cartoon Network.
Arsalan Awais 