I don’t want a single animated animal movie to use the term alpha. I don’t care if its wolves, dragons, trolls, dinosaurs whatever can we just fucking stop using this term please for the love of all that is scientific and good.

This post got a lot of attention with some of you guys being like “but I like *insert movie here*”. First off, being critical of the terms and animal behavior theories used in animated media, which is often CHILDREN’S media, does not mean we have to automatically dislike said media, you can still enjoy things! But it doesn’t mean that things can’t improve going forward.

The term “Alpha” and the theory of hierarchal dominance in dogs and wolves was made popular by a few people. First, in 1910, in “Training Dogs” by Colonel Konrad Most, which is mostly about training military and police dogs, describes punishment based methods and dominance over dogs. Second, in the 1930s and 1940s Rudolph Schenkel, a Swiss animal behaviorist, conducted a behavior study on captive wolves in which he incorrectly concluded that wolves fight to gain dominance and the winner is the “Alpha”. 

Schenkel’s findings were problematic because instead of replicating how wolves live in the wild (A related family group with parents and puppies) he brought together many unrelated wolves that were not a family and thus they naturally did not have family bonds and fought for territory as wolves often do in the wild. Naturally, wolves are a bonded mating pair and their offspring. That’s it. There is no alpha, no fighting for dominance. this or that. Once a pup reaches adulthood and is ready for a mate of its own they simply leave the pack to start their own, sometimes other related wolves stick around their family pack. 

Schenkel’s findings and the spread of his inaccurate information has done a lot of damage in the dog world. From the Monks of New Skete to Cesar Millan to the people today that still think they need to be the boss of their dog even when training dogs with positivity and reward has been documented well before the theories of dominance or ‘alpha’ came to be (Around 1848 we have descriptions of training with gentleness and rewards for gun dogs) that damage continues to be a harmful way of training our dogs and people still believe that they need to treat their dogs in this (unscientific) way. 

David Mech, who studied wolves in the wild and consolidated his findings in a study in 2000 said this: “Attempting to apply information about the behavior of assemblages of unrelated captive wolves to the familial structure of natural packs has resulted in considerable confusion. Such an approach is analogous to trying to draw inferences about human family dynamics by studying humans in refugee camps. The concept of the alpha wolf as a “top dog” ruling a group of similar-aged compatriots is particularly misleading.”

and where does this lead us with animation where I so often see this term still thrown around? Well it’s lazy storytelling. Instead of doing further research to bring their characters depth, nuance, and uniqueness studios, writers, etc. slap the alpha theory and its labels around like it means something, like it’s relevant and this only perpetuates the myth that these animals, incredibly family oriented animals, are like this. And yes, the term ‘alpha’ is still sometimes thrown around when discussing the breeding pairs of wolf packs, but for the general public they don’t think Parent and Babies, they think Alpha Fighting for Dominance.

Instead of exploring the deep and complex cultural ways your character might have been raised, the hierarchy of their society and their relationship and feelings about such cultural family hierarchy, all excellent topics for an animated property both in children’s and adult realms, slapping the ‘alpha’ terms and theories into your property cheapens it. “hur dur he’s aggressive so he’s the alpha/leader!”. LAZY. Explore the leader of your family group as a kind, but tough individual trying to raise her offspring for a difficult life ahead, or a soft and gentle leader who nurtures his offspring but finds it difficult to let them go (*cough cough finding nemo*). There are so many ways you could go with this without perpetuating outdating science the peer of eugenics and other theories we KNOW are crude, poorly researched and unscientific. You don’t need to use the term alpha, your audience, yes even children, are smart enough to understand who the leader is (given your writing is decent). 

As somebody with a deeply rooted interest in canine behavioral science as WELL as somebody that has a BFA in Animation, adding the ‘Alpha’ terms to animals that are supposed to be protagonists completely takes me out of the movie/tv show. In How to Train Your Dragon 2 I loved the contrast between Hiccup’s relationship with Toothless, whose relationship and training built on trust and reward, and Drago who uses punishment based training methods. But at the end of the movie when Toothless gains a power up and becomes the ‘Alpha’ by defeating the Bewilderbeast I was sitting in the theater like….

Because while it wasn’t something that most people notice or care about, for me it was like “well we did all this research on animal behavior/how they move etc. and have built up this wonderful contrast between the protagonists methods (ultimately positive reinforcement) and the villain’s methods (dominance theory) but when it came to hierarchal structures we kinda just stopped the research there.”

For me, a more interesting take on Dragon Society Hierarchy would have been to take it more from existing reptilian social structure since the dragons already seem to widely tolerate each other even if they aren’t family, like alligators who live in large groups called congregations. Would it have made for as direct a concept as “Toothless defeats the big bad and now HE’S the leader of ALL the dragons?” No, but sometimes the easy path, the direct path, is not the best path. Let DIFFERENT concepts take hold for once and take your story somewhere new and exciting. Make animal behaviorists and scientists excited while teaching resonating lessons and telling good stories. Please. I beg you. 

hey look at this

NeZha (2019)

In light of the new Raya and the Last Dragon trailer, I’d like to bring this back.

Look at this. This is the caliber of art we could have gotten, but no. Pretty backwards how the small animation studios such as Cartoon Saloon, SPA, and countless others are the ones taking risks and putting their fucking all into the movies and TV shows they create, meanwhile the biggest film company in history; the one with the most ability to do something great, is not.

Look up there again, and now look at what we got. Two years later!

I’m not going to sit here and pretend like it’s the worst character design of all time, but it is obviously very sanded down and ‘Elsa-fied’ for marketability and… It’s just boring. It looks like something you’d see in a barbie playset rather than in a movie with a multimillion dollar budget run by one of the biggest companies on Earth.

Disney as a corporation does enough horrible shit as is, but on top of that they are clearly making art for money’s sake, and not for art’s sake, despite already having won the game a hundred times over.

It’s honestly a slap in the face how much they clearly didn’t try here. I’m not faulting the artists and animators who worked on this movie, but rather the execs and bigwigs up the ladder who obviously melted it down to the perfect, focus tested stuffed animal——

Oh look it’s already happened

There does appear to be a “this isn’t even my final form” type deal happening with her, which looks a biiiit better? But it’s still got that disney googly eyed doll thing going on, and fuck—the face. Again; not the worst ever—a little better than the primary design—but it’s still not great.

And saying “muhh it’s for kids why are you melting down over the pretty dragon you’re way too spun up about this,” no. Stop. This is the kind of shit that can change an entire industry. That can affect many real people and their careers. Hell, it could affect my career in the future.

And the excuse of being made for kids also holds no water. Kids aren’t stupid; there is some damn outstanding children’s media out there that doesn’t rely on being as watered down and pandering as possible—that takes itself seriously and commits to telling not just a targeted, appealing story, but a quality one with a true vision.

Kind of like, oh—what Disney used to fucking excel at.

There is a difference between something being made for kids and something being marketed to them.

And yes, Disney has always marketed the everliving shit out of everything they make, but for God’s sake it feels like now the order of operations is backwards. As if their recent movies have the marketability woven into their structure from the start rather than simply being strong enough to… Be something people want to financially support.

This Illumination-style trend of being as safe and widely-pandering as possible at the cost of artistry, risk, and pioneering is a disease that’s permeated big animation studios. And no one is a bigger perpetrator of this than the Mouse, who—ironically—is the one with infinite resources to do whatever the hell they want.

And this is what they did instead, all in the name of filling their own pockets even more. I hate this corporation and I hate this stupid cotton candy Joan Rivers dragon.

Maybe I’ll be wrong; please let me be wrong! this movie could come out and be great and I want that. But this character design, the generic-looking plot, and the subpar and lmao #relatable trailer are seriously making me doubt it’ll be anything more than another super safe cash cow.

Support small studios. Screw Disney. What a disappointment.

I am so mad at everything about this dragons’ design. What the hell compelled these people to give it Elsa’s face??? I am disturbed and upset at this human faced, bastardization of a dragon that clearly takes influence from Chinese/Japanese dragons. Just because the face mold is easy to make toys and money, does not mean you should when you could do so much better than this. What the HELL Disney.

this is SO fucking funny. @ Disney: YES girl give us NOTHING

-Mod Spiral

Dragonheart design process

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oh WOW this is fascinating! thank you so much for sending this in, I LOVE reading abt character designs processes, esp for a character as complex and dynamic as Draco!

I genuinely don’t remember if Draco’s teeth were retractable in the final film, it’s been such a long time since I’ve seen it. that’s such a funny way to reconcile Draco’s expressions tho, hm. maybe it’s just b/c I like monsters, but I don’t rly see why having visible teeth during certain non-aggressive expressions would be a problem, but I guess I wouldn’t know w/o seeing the exact planning process to get to that decision

as for Toothless, he actually *is* genuinely toothless in the HTTYD books, so the designers had to reconcile that w/ the completely new take on the character in the movies. the retractable teeth may still have been influenced by Draco, but either way, the designers would’ve had to justify the name “Toothless” somehow

but I do love the gorilla inspiration used for Draco’s face, it works SO damn well. too often, designers will simply try to mold human features to a nonhuman “look” and just get something so painfully uncanny and awkward. but using an animal that’s sort of a “transition” between long snouts and flat human faces is a RLY clever way to merge the two looks into something organic and believable

what I rly wanna know more about is the thing with the wing folding– how exactly did they design the wings, that they couldn’t make the folded wings match the actual anatomy of the open wings? I’m so curious about how the two models differ

I’m also VERY sad to see that an early design actually DID have rly good wings with a nice membrane that attached down the length of the torso

that looks SO much better than the membrane just attaching up near the armpit. and the feathery scales in that little area near the rump is *such* a lovely touch, I rly wish that would’ve stayed. I at least understand the need to cut a complicated detail like the feathery scales there, but I rly don’t understand the decision to cut the membrane itself down shorter…

it’s also rly nice to be able to see Draco’s full torso in the models, he’s got a rly nice torso shape

and look at that, his wing shoulders actually ARE kinda behind the front legs, now that I can see properly! still a little too close to the front legs, and sticking up out of the top of the spine in a very detached, unstable fashion, but still better than a lot of mainstream wings I’ve seen!

also not sure if the hand/foot designs in that particular model made it to the final film, but they’re sooo nicely shaped, with strong bases but kinda gangly toes/fingers, it’s a real nice look

I think the best part of that article is just seeing how enthusiastic everyone is abt Draco, and their dedication to making him feel authentic. obviously you can see the effort in the final film, but to see the ppl behind it talk abt Draco with such affection and enthusiasm…. rly warms me heart…

-Mod Spiral

Draco is a magnificent creation. I still think all dragons in the setting were meant to look like him, before the sequels.

However, his wings sadly don’t connect to his body.

Also, while a gif is hard to find, Draco doesn’t have fully retractile teeth in the film, but does have a longer pair of canines pop outas he’s prepping his jaws to widen and get Bowen. Sort of like a snake’s fangs, but with no suggestion he’s poisonous.

https://makeagif.com/amp/l4tfXT

god I wish

yeah, Draco’s wings are easily the worst part of his design. but if I could fix his wings, give his legs more substantial connections to the torso, and maybe tweak his spine a bit, I’d honestly call him perfect

the snake fang thing is baffling.... I wonder if some scene involving his venom was cut? I’m surprised that was just left in tho

-Mod Spiral

Vertebrate Wings, PART 4: Positions

Keep reading

Woohoo, awesome look at vertebrate flight!

Some notes on Pterosaurs and how well they could fold their wings.

Pterosaur wings were stiffened with unique fibers called “actinofibrals”. These fibers can be thought of as being like the wooden battens of a paper fan, or the quills of bird’s feathers. They allowed the wing to spread out to full span, or to fold up tightly against the body, while keeping the membrane stiff enough for flight. These fibers became shorter and less regular closer to the body, so that the membrane closer to the body of the animal had more flexibility compared to the parts out at the wingtip. The fibers start out perpendicular to the arm, and shift to parallel with the wing finger out at the wingtip.

The most flexible joint in a pterosaur’s wing was where the wing finger (Digit 4) met the “hand” (Note that the other joints in digit 4 could not bend like the fingers of bat wings). I’m not entirely sure how flexible the wrist and elbow were in comparison. But the wing finger could fold almost completely against the “palm”, deflecting slightly to the outside

Please accept my doodled attempts to explain pterosaur wing design for fantasy humanoids. 

(On actinofibrils and wingtips)

thanks for the info! it def helps visualize the overall flexibility of a ptero wing, in comparison to other wings. also those are fun notes abt anthro wings!

-Mod Spiral