Understanding Character Animation

I
would like to start off this blog with my theory of character
animation. Mind you that this is a theory in sense that it will most
likely be changing from week to week. This
week I believe that character animation is the process of bring
something into its own unique, interesting and cognitive existence.
Vague, I know, but the possibilities of a character are boundless. From
a sleeping ball to a vagrant monster with multiple personalities to
fungus under a toenail, they all must be brought into their own unique,
interesting, and cognitive existence. Now I use that term,
" it's own
unique, interesting, and cognitive existence" instead of "bring it to
life" because I feel that it is more appropriate for animation.
Typically when you are animating something you are doing it to entertain an audience. So
simply bring a character to life isn't enough. To explain let me ask
you a question. Is every living person you know interesting enough to
entertain an audience? No way, the characters that entertain us are
dynamic and unique. The do unexpected things that we can still relate
to. The are endearing and intelligent, or they are pittyable
and ignorant. Also they are never cliche. Cliches separate us from the
character. If they are a cliche they are no longer in there own unique
existence, but they are now a stereotype that we don't relate to at
all. I put "cognitive" in there because the THINKING part of animation
can never be emphasized too much. The audience needs to be able to see
the thoughts of this unique character so they perceive the characters
inner person. As
living breathing people, we all have inner struggles that make who we
are. The best characters have these too. The characters inner struggle
need to be apparent to the audience. So therefore character animation
means to bring something into it's own unique, interesting and
cognitive existence.

I just wish I could actually do this with my own work . . .

OK well this blogging thing is tiring so Ill expound more on
this later ......