Encanto, Flee Artists on How They Designed Their Animated Characters

June 21, 2024

LUCA

Luca (Disney/Pixar)

Character art director Deanna Marsigliese describes the title character as “direct, playful and expressive,” citing as examples the “[bold shapes] and exaggerated proportions, much like those found in children’s drawings.” She adds that Luca represents curiosity, and so his eyes are the largest of any character in the film. Additionally, Japanese block prints, antique maps and mosaics, scientific illustration, puppets and folk art were textures that inspired the looks. “You won’t find any perfectly straight lines or regularly spaced patterns in our character designs. Even our sea monster scales were organized with great care to have rhythmic irregularity in size and placement.”

MIRABEL MADRIGAL

Encanto (Disney)

In the Colombia-set Encanto, protagonist Mirabel, voiced by Stephanie Beatriz, is the only member of the Madrigal family without a magical gift. Of her look, associate production designer Lorelay Bové relates, “We started with a traditional Colombian-inspired skirt and covered it in embroidery designed to look imperfect and handmade. Similar to what you may find in a 15-year-old girl’s scrapbook, we created different icons [for the skirt] to represent each member of her family, reflecting her love for each of them.” Mirabel also wears glasses, which was an important aspect of her look. Says Bové: “One of the film’s main themes is perspective — how different points of view can affect a relationship — and having our main character wear glasses was an intentional choice to reinforce that theme.”

KATIE MITCHELL

The Mitchells Vs. The Machines (Netflix)

Teen film student Katie “had to be as bold and interesting on the outside as she was on the inside,” notes director and co-writer Mike Rianda. The animators used her clothing as a way to signify her creativity. “Katie is trying to connect with people and be seen … so her clothes are this homing beacon attracting people like her — whether that’s with film Easter eggs, like her socks that share the pattern from the rug in The Shining, or her rainbow button signaling to others that she’s LGBTQ+,” says Rianda. He adds that production designer Lindsey Olivares “nailed the specificity of what it’s like to be a creative teenager who is searching for both her artistic voice and connection to others.”

RAYA

Raya and the Last Dragon (Disney)

Set in a Southeast Asia-inspired fantasy world called Kumandra, Raya and the Last Dragon follows Raya, a young warrior princess whose costume needed to be functional while also authentic. Research included the formation of a Southeast Asia Story Trust of consultants and research trips to Laos, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia. “The team was inspired by the breathable draping styles in clothes of the region, landing on a combination of the sabai top and dhoti pants, allowing her to move in a believable way,” explains production designer Paul Felix. Raya’s costume design included input from Lao visual anthropologist Steve Arounsack, who led the story trust.

JONAS POHER RASMUSSEN

Flee (Neon/Participant)

Flee‘s writer-director appears in his animated documentary as he interviews Afghan refugee Amin. “I really wanted to create contrast between Amin and me,” Rasmussen says of the decision to make his onscreen persona blond. “Flee is Amin’s story, and I wanted that to be clear from the very beginning. Another thing was Amin wanting to be anonymous. As I’m the one representing the film in public, I thought me being blond would be a nice, subtle way to show that people in the film don’t look exactly like they do in real life.”

RON

Ron’s Gone Wrong (20th Century Studios)

Director Jean-Philippe Vine says the design of the personal robots was meant to evoke the “iconic feel of products made by an Apple or a Google,” but the bots also had to be a child’s best friend. “We landed on the idea that the entire bot is a screen that could be ‘skinned’ with beautiful animated skins.” The malfunctioning Ron was “stripped down to utter basics to really sell his lack of software. That gave us tons of opportunity to use his glitchy pixels and erratic movement to make him a real clown.” Of Ron’s attitude, the helmer admits, “We couldn’t help referring to the old ‘Clippy’ character in Microsoft Word that tried to be cheerfully — and annoyingly — helpful all the time.”

BELLE/SUZU

Belle (GKIDS)

Oscar-nominated writer-director Mamoru Hosoda’s Belle follows Suzu, a shy 17-year-old from a rural village who becomes international singing sensation Belle when she enters a virtual world known as “U.” Explains Hosoda of Belle’s costume: “The goal was to depict a more global perspective of ‘beauty,’ hence the rather unrealistic dress and pink hair. The dress was designed by different artists and a fashion designer who has designed clothes for the Paris collections in the past [Kunihiko Morinaga and the brand Anrealage]. It’s these unrealistic designs that portray a strong and empowered sense of beauty.”

This story first appeared in the Jan. 5 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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