Manchester Animation Festival Research: Contrast in the Re-Making of Danger Mouse

Danger Mouse's re-design

Among the plentiful panels and screenings on the festival was the Re-Making of Danger Mouse: a lovely endeavour where the productive process of the new series is being shed some light for all us aspiring animators out there. Although I have not watched the classic Danger Mouse profusely as a child, I was intricately interested in how the cartoon had now evolved from the vintage essence it brought as a traditional animation. One of the panel guests stated that the aim of the new Danger Mouse was to appeal to a new audience while still satiating the expectations of the old and classic audience that had loved the series during its classic era. In terms design, all of the characters had been redesigned while still keeping the old vigour of the original designs. For example, although the new Danger Mouse  possesses a more elegant and detailed design (with his body proportion being slightly elongated and slimmed) it still carries the same sense of familiarity which appeals with the classical audience while giving a sense of a vigorous change (for the sake of breaking monotony). Another sense of lividity had been added to the re-make of the series with the blending of 3D photographic backgrounds and 2D digital design. With the use of this technique, I believe that the animators effectively redefined the environment, combining it with the more resonant style of character animation. When a re-make is being done, if the characters are drawn in the same manner and animated with the same style, the effect of the re-make would be purely quantitative and not qualitative - something that animators are to never embrace. Now, the movement of the characters are more flexible and smooth, a bigger sense of action and character frivolousness is introduced to compare with the more static one of the original series. In terms of story development and plot, I was bewilder by the manner in which the studio created fresh new stories which were not rearrangements of the original ones: different types of writers congregate to create a blend of wit, plot, and character (for some are good at making jokes, others at creating descriptive and interesting stories, while yet others at defining characters through communication). All of this meticulous processes constitute the new Danger Mouse, which in my opinion is not a reboot, but a new vibrant experience that merits from the masterpieces of classical animation.

3D/2D background sample