Hickory Dickory Dock
Hickory Dickory Dock was one of my first animation assignments for Murray State University .
Design Phase
When i first started the design work for Hickory Dickory Dock, I already had a specific ideal in mind, that being a rat running up a clock shaped mountain. I wanted to give myself an easier time animating, and so I designed my rat out of very simplistic shapes.
Initially, my character wasn’t going to be wearing anything, more of a cylinder with a muzzle. However, I needed an easier way to bisect the head for the angular shape I gave it, and thought it would be best for a jogging mouse running up a snowy mountain, to be wearing at least some warm clothing. So I added his jacket.
I started out by breaking my character down into core pieces that needed to move independently, as well as my various background elements.
Iterations
Early test animations were fairly straight forward. Looping running animations are a simple process to get down, and i didn’t need very much expression on my character. Most assets of my rat running were made from several layers of nested animations to make the squash and stretch features easier to implement, and ensure less strenuous work was necessary for the movement on screen
Final Version
The final animated video was comical, well thought out, and not bad considering its simplistic style. It utilizes a little squash and stretch, anticipation and humor. Movements and actions were animated to perfectly sync with the music, to mimic then style of online animated children’s nursery rhymes, and
