Look, we all know the meme this conversation comes from, so I won’t belabor the point. But let’s all agree that Pixar moms are stacked.
Turns out, there’s a logical reason for it, and it’s not pilates. It’s a strategy used by animators.
Check out this video from fullcomma where it’s explained why Pixar moms look Like That. Then let’s talk after.
It turns out at the end of the day, the choice to thicken body parts is to differentiate age. That’s really it.
It’s called Hartman’s hips, named after animator Butch Hartman. Basically, if you give a cartoon woman big breasts, they’re not considered family-friendly by a code from back in the day. So hips became the standard substitute to denote a mature adult woman.
This hourglass figure, with a tiny waist and large hips, became the standard across the animation. And still is today.
As TV Tropes points out, we may call them Hartman’s Hips solely due to alliteration, because that female shape may be better associated with other artists such as Genndy Tartakovsky or character designer Stephen Silver.
Yes, they’re all male animators. As the field gets diverse, maybe we’ll see a change in the portrayal on-screen.
Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: fullcomma
Author: Jason Hellerman
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
