Mammoths and Emotional Recognition

[singingmollusk]

Manny the Mammoth :: "Soooo... You really think she's the girl for me??"
Sid the Sloth :: "Absolutely! - She's tons of fun, and you're no fun at all. She completes you."

I'm watching Ice Age 2: The Meltdown on HBO, and it got me thinking

Comments

[pheobecat7]

Do you believe that people can talk to animals?

In general I tend to not but I swear that this one cat I had, I could understand her. Now I didn't hear a voice in my head but I could just tell what she was thinking, sometimes with out even looking at her.

And although dogs have more expressive eyes, my dog I have now has no expressions, her eyes are so vacant because she really is a dumb shit.

But that one cat she was all full of emotions, they just oozed from her.

[evilcoyote]

Well, for the animated films the artists will sit down with the actors to get an idea of the facial expresions to incorporate into the animals.

That being said... if you spend a lot of time around any kind of animal you start to pick up on what tones/body language signifies. For instance cats will do a sharp huff through their nose if they get irritated.

[tanechigai]

I think it's my empathy that makes me a better animator and not being an animator than makes me more empathetic. But it took me a while to think about your question :) An animator does have to be a good observer and cultivate a certain level of understanding about how a character might act.

I do manage to make friends with animals quickly. And I'm a sucker for books and movies with animals as main characters. I think animal characters are a safe way for people to talk about human characteristics and emotions...like Aesop's fables.