That New Show Smell

You may like them. You may love them. You draw them, doodle them, and maybe even make your own finger puppets out of them. You envision them on sleeping bags, key chains, and sugar cereal boxes. Little sticky-handed kids will be unable to part with their plush, adorable likenesses.

They’re your characters. And as much as we all adore them, chances are there may be too many of them to cram into a seven minute short.

One of the most common critiques we give here on Development Row is that many shorts that are pitched simply have too many characters. We lose sight of who our lead is. Too many secondary characters can outshine your lead, and take precious time away from getting to know your star character (seven minutes goes quickly!) Remember, these are not pilot episodes, they’re stand alone pieces. Try focusing on one or two main characters and the dynamics between them. It makes for a much stronger cartoon.

Kyle Carrozza, creator of “MooBeard the Cow Pirate” graciously lent me his initial character sheet (above) taken from when he pitched MooBeard for the first time (check it out, and see if you can figure out which ones made it to his final board!) Says Carrozza, “It wasn’t too difficult to cut some of these characters because when I went to get rid of them, it instantly made the cartooon stronger. The weasel shall have his sweet revenge, though.”