I have animal characters I making for an animated pilot, but I have a dilemma. I don't know whether to choose obscure species or well known species. Some say I should use popular species, while a few others have said I should use obscure species to be unique. Which would you recommend?
Depends on what you’re going for. Neither are bad choices on their own. Popular species tend to have more symbolism and stereotypes attached that people are going to expect and be more likely to interpret the characters through. This can be good or bad depending on what you’re going for. Visual shorthands, symbolism, and tropes can make it easier to communicate certain ideas faster. There’s also opportunity to actively incorporate them into the story, Zootopia stands out as an example.
Uncommon species don’t have as much baggage attached (though many will still have some meaning, it just won’t be as well known) and there’s less opportunity to try to interpret them through the lens of ‘how does this character fit the archetype of its species’. Some people will see that as a benefit or that it gives them more freedom, others will see is as a negative since they’re not communicating anything about the character with the species choice.













