Thomas Nast’s Boss Tweed, Uncle Sam, Denslow’s Wizard of Oz, Archie Andrews, Mickey Mouse, Godzilla, Mr. Peanut, Superman, the Ohio State Buckeye, Herbie the car, Hello Kitty. Not exactly (real) persons, but characters that are like persons to various degrees and in various ways. And all created by artists, all animated — given the breath of life — by visual artists of one sort or another.
In later postings I’ll get to two characters that have recently caught my attention: Percy the Platypus, transformed into a CD player; and Cony the Japanese virtual-sticker bunny, now working in short romantic videos with Brown the bear. First, some musings on characters.
