Chasing the Rabbit 1: Character Design Exercise

The White Rabbit from Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is one of the great examples of iconic characters that have crossed over from literature into other media… from Jefferson Airplane’s psychadelic anthem, to Walt Disney’s kid-friendly animation, to a (none-too-subtle) reference in the Matrix, to American McGee’s video game, and Tim Burton’s recent CGI-filled film… for a character who wasn’t the main antagonist, nor main protagonist – and who appears in relatively little of the original story – the White Rabbit just captures folks’ imaginations… including mine.

With some encouragement from a friend, I’ve decided to try and craft my own version of the White Rabbit character, and to post various drafts as I work to tune in on the end result… this is the first edition.

Self-critique:  I think this White Rabbit is too angry, in a grumpy way… and also too dirty looking.  In my next round with this character design, I’m planning to push in a more subtley-sinister, and well-heeled direction.  I’d like my white rabbit to be dangerously charming.

More soon…