Mayerson On Sympathy

One of the most intelligent blogs I've found on the subject of animation is Mayerson On Animation by a multi-hyphenate from Tornto, Mark Mayerson. He consistently writes thoughtfully and intelligently on the subject of animation from the perspective of a writer, director, teacher and Masters candidate.

My favorite of his posts is the first one I discovered called The Importance of Sympathy. It's an interesting look at character, in particular the the conventional expectations of a lead character, both then and now.

Here's an excerpt:

The conventional thinking these days about film scripts is that you need a main character to actively struggle against obstacles to achieve a goal. Thinking of characters, I found it interesting that some of the most successful early animated features starred passive characters.

Snow White is almost an entirely passive character. She yearns for her prince, but does nothing to win him. She is a victim of the evil Queen and is rescued by the prince. The only positive action that Snow White takes in the film is to befriend animals and to serve as a housekeeper for the dwarfs.

The Importance of Sympathy