In the old days it was pretty easy to do the coloring on a cartoon because everything was in black and white. There was no coloring! But with the advent of color, a creative stream and completely new way to tell a story opened up. Not only could you create dialogue that meant the world to the viewer, but a reaction, gesture, or emotion could be amplified by the use of color. Color itself became an integral “character” if you will.
However, something strange brewed out of the advent of color in cartoons. As many options as animators have, it turns out many turn to the same color over and over when creating characters. Have you ever noticed this?
SpongeBob SquarePants, Pikachu, Jake the Dog, The Simpsons and countless others all have one thing in common… they’re all the color yellow Why are so many popular cartoon characters yellow? There must be a reason for this, right? Channel Frederator and Tooned Up had to dig deeper into this cartoon mystery and answer the question… Why are popular cartoon characters yellow? As it turns out, the answer lies at the intersection of psychology, color theory, and, of course, aesthetics.
Check out the full answer below:
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