Creating Characters with Personality:
For Film, TV, Animation, Video
Games, and Graphic Novels by Tom
Bancroft
Very Helpful
• Character design is the key in many industries—and they’re all covered in
this book• Practical step-by-step exercises • Contributors include Glen
Keane, Supervising Animator, Disney From Snow White to Shrek, from
Fred Flintstone to SpongeBob Square-Pants, the design of a character
conveys personality before a single word of dialogue is spoken. Creating
Characters with Personality shows artists how to create a distinctive
character, then place that character in context with a script, establish
hierarchy, and maximize the impact of pose and expression. Practical
exercises help readers put everything together to make their new
characters sparkle. Lessons from the author, who designed the dragon
Mushu (voiced by Eddie Murphy) in Disney’s Mulan—plus big-name

experts in film, TV, video games, and graphic novels—make a complex
subject accessible to every artist.
Personal Review: Creating Characters with Personality: For
Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels by Tom
Bancroft
For the record, I am not a professional animator/producer by any means,
strictly a hobbyist (granted, an increasingly active hobbyist, but a hobbyist
none-the-less), so take my review for what it is - the perspective of
somebody with no formal character design or animation training. Basically,
the concepts in this book were completely new to me.
This book was referenced in an Animation writing book I was reading. I
checked it out of my local library and within a few days I knew I was going
to need to purchase a copy of my own.
I know each person learns differently but I prefer books that presents and
steps through new material, prompts exercises for the learner to complete,
then reviews the salient points of the material just presented. This book
does exactly that.
The material, too, is valuable. The author walks the reader through the
thought processes of how to frame the viewer's perception of the character
being designed i.e., when to use characters whose basic shapes are
square and what kind of characters should be constructed from more oval-
shaped foundations.
There are also interviews with industry professionals (who are also
completing the exercises in the book). Some are insightful, some are
entertaining, but the real value is the actual material in this book.
I find myself referring to the book whenever I start a new project. If nothing
else, it reinforces the principles of character design and (hopefully) makes
my work better each time.
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