On Apple TV + animated series for kids pineapple and ponyThe characters are literally designed to break and break expectations.
“Pinecone is a warrior and in a way he was a warrior,” said Stephanie Kaliner, a showgirl on the series based on Kate Beaton. New York Times Best selling children’s book The princess and the pony. “But with the help of a pony, see that you can be a charming warrior or a charming warrior, or you can be a warrior in ballet shoes. This is the main lesson of the book, so we tried to convey that message from the book to the series in as many ways as possible.”
This meant designing both the narrative and the actual characters of the series, Whose first season came out in April and comes from DreamWorks Animation.
“You think a mage should look like Gandalf Gray, but we’ve always wanted to show that no, a mage could look more like that. Or do you see a clenched-fist muscle guy in the contest in the first episode and think he’s May “Put on a floral costume and dress up in chamomile,” added Kaliner. “It was a big part of the conversation. “Anything that looks like a ripe fruit or a trop that feels comfortable because we’ve seen it before, tried it, and then moved on in another direction.”
Kaliner said the team always wanted viewers to “just feel part of this world”. But they also wanted to do it “obviously” or the hard way. Therefore, they never wrote about specific discussions of physical, visual or identity diversity in stories and dialogue to avoid unintentionally making a difference to their young viewers.
“We talked about making the world look the way you want it to look,” he explained. “We didn’t want anyone at Sturdystone to say to themselves on screen, ‘You are,’ ‘You are, or you can’t do it and you can do it.’
So, until there are lessons on the obvious physical differences between the show’s human-encoded characters, the main and supporting characters, among other things, are racially different, LGBTQ, have people with disabilities, some wear hijabs, and at other stages, strangers. . you see them. in animation Different body types and sizes.
The bodily diversity that exists between the show’s war heroes and the larger group of residents of the half-medieval wizarding community – more or less muscular, short or tall, rounded or lean – makes it distinctive in both anime and live. action children and families. Series. Within the genre, the historical focus has been on teaching children a healthy lifestyle through nutrition and physical activity, but there is rarely an intentional depiction of what it would look like on screen in different bodies.
“The reflection of the world is not something I see constantly in animation,” said Taneka Stots. pineapple and ponyThe story editor told him THR. “I feel like we lean towards the art style that we want to see in a happy, healthy lifestyle. But we can live a healthy lifestyle in many different ways and it doesn’t meet certain body standards. ”
Gladys and Ren
Courtesy of Apple TV+
To help the story editor take responsibility, his work was motivated in part by the experience of being different sizes at different times in their lives. They also hoped the series would “end up setting a precedent that imagination shouldn’t exist in a realm of ideals”, especially when it comes to inclusivity.
In order for the show to do this through character design, the story editor took some time with Kaliner, Beaton, and other writers to discuss the lack of body diversity in children’s cartoons, the results of which were later returned to the show. . character writers and designers.
The negotiations will have a direct impact on what one of the series’ couples, Renny and Gladys, described by Kaliner as “an evil warrior from another time who is a Tory woman but also a warrior woman”, will look like. “Star Voyage” – Ended. Through them, Stotts talked about how, when pairs of stones come together in animation, “usually they come together as a large body and then as a thin or small body.”
“We love to show the shapes of children, and that sometimes goes to extremes,” explained Stotts. “Let’s put a block next to the rectangle and then make a small one or a large one. But I wanted to see you on the side of the block.”
Kaliner confirmed that “we’ve passed a lot on to the character designers” led by Victoria Evans, but pineapple and pony The executive producer also greatly appreciates Beaton’s book for inspiring his broadly inclusive approach to the show. This includes creating a pony character, a horse’s best friend with a round body.
Beaton said his discussion of pony design started in 2008 when he wrote it. Listen carefully! Homeless webcomic and 2015 when he published his children’s book. After being affectionately dubbed the “fat little pony”, Beaton expressed concern about how the book could indicate the size of a pony before the princess initially rejected it (because “it’s not the warrior horse of her dreams”) to cater to the young. readers.
“I have no problem with the word fat. I just didn’t want it to have a negative connotation. I didn’t want the kids to read it and think, “I don’t want this pony Why “He’s fat,” he explained.
This good faith was later applied to all characters in the book and, eventually, to the show. Beaton drew inspiration for Gladys from bodybuilders who saw the truth about the bodies of older American gladiators, including the development of a “small belly”. The writer also cited the treatment of Pinocchio’s father, Arlo, as another example of how the series thought about its representative messages and responsibilities.
“I really don’t want him to be a boomerang father; Gifted Dad – Pig Dad pepa pig Or the Homer Simpson type, because he has a bigger body type. “There are a lot of them on television, and I feel like if you start attributing certain characteristics to them, you can easily fall into stereotypes that we’re not going to do,” Beaton said. “Arlo is a talented father. He is a loving father. He is quick in love and very comfortable in his masculinity. ”
“Pineapple and Pony”
Courtesy of Apple TV+
The desire for a positive representation of the body also affected Sturdiston residents, with possibly the youngest viewers most identified: the show’s children. For both Wiz Kids and Lil Rumblers, the creative team came up with personality contours but didn’t offer body notes, which helped make the show. A series of first season episodes that feel refreshing and representative of the effort of all their characters.
Among them was a Wiz Kid named Celestia, who wears canes on her forearms and whose real-world fantasy design was informed by Evans, consultant Kirsten Sharp, and Chris Ohter, who designed it.
“We tried to find a mix where you could see his crutches, which look like lightning legs,” Kaliner said. “We wanted it to be cool and fantastic, but we also wanted it to be functional. So Kirsten helped us show where the prop would go and also uploaded videos to share with Celestia’s animation team moving and throwing them seated. We wanted the child to feel so real.
And otherwise, the show worked to break and anticipate expectations, to sustain the body’s message of diversity; pineapple and pony The creatives told you THR They were able to fulfill their character-oriented comedy vision, but never made fun of any of the characters’ bodies.
“I grew up in comedy and one of the things I learned is that hitting is not fun,” said Stotts. “To me, it makes the show stronger when you don’t trust old jokes and old narratives and old tropes about someone’s body. There are many other things available to make someone laugh, especially a child. You just need to be more demanding with the help you give to other people.
Source: Hollywood Reporter

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