Looking at these old Mung Daals makes me shudder. I'm so much happier with this new version. Like the Chowders in the previous post, I can't believe how stiff, even, and cluttered he looked. To me the real difference is in the front view. That's the angle I struggled with the most in the previous versions. This time it flowed naturally. I guess that's a good sign.
My original concept of Mung was that he was the love-child of Don Knotts and Yoda. With the pilot version, he's got crap jutting off his head in all different directions. Nothing takes visual precedence or helps gives a line of action.
In the next version, I removed the eyeglass temple from the outside of his face and more importantly, I tried to emphasisze his nose as his most prominent feature. His shoes and hands got slightly bigger, his ears became much smaller. But it was incremental. Too subtle. His features still didn't read well. He didn't bend well. And now with a season behind me, I can see those faults.
So with the new version, the first thing I tackled was proportions. He's all head and neck now; the weight is in his nose. His body is smaller. He's not so stiff, but forms a nice "S" cruve with his head and body. His moustache extends farther than his ears, giving his face a balance point. The bump on his nose has always been a vexing issue. I originally put it there to give space between nose and his eyes. In the footage we've gotten back, his eye and nose often tangent anyways, and the stinking bump blocks his eye! So it's created more problems for me rather than solving them. I've made his eyes bigger, flattened the bump and moved it so the eyes are no longer covered. His eyebrows are clearer too. Now his expressions should read a lot better. There's no extra line defining the side of glasses. And I've removed his far ear in the 3/4; it keeps the curve of his head consistent now. His hands are bigger. His shoes have been simplified and extended, giving him a floppier look.
Now he feels like he has gesture, direction, and balance. And he feels overall sillier. Which is good. I really want this show to be cartoony, and I'm realizing it's time to start pushing the crew to make it that way, starting with myself. For now, I'm really happy with this new design. But maybe in a season or two, I'll think he looks like garbage and he'll get another revamping.
Next to tackle: Truffles!
