While I was Christmas shopping yesterday, instead of spending a lot of money, I spent time people-watching. Christmas at the mall is the best time of year to study people, how they move, how they act, and how they react. For a student of animation or human motion, or just as a fellow citizen, this kind of observation can be very educational. I have a lot of fodder for my sketchbook.
Top of the list goes to a little boy and his mother. Both looked affluent and perhaps too upper-class to be in my mall, but there they were. The mother was tall and handsome, and in equal parts she seemed annoyed with her shopping duties as well as by the persistence of her smart phone. She paid no attention to her boy, whose expensive-looking shirt was fully untucked. Clearly he was bored and upset with his experience at the shopping centre. The little urchin was amusing himself by kicking the tar out of his Sheriff Woody Doll.
Just like in Pixar's "Toy Story" movies, the Sheriff Woody doll had a string on his back. You're supposed to pull the string, and Woody will say one of his lines. The boy was using the string as a tether so that Woody wouldn't fly off to Mars every time he was kicked.
I've taken some artistic license. For instance, the hat never came off. I suspect Mom or the butler may have glued it on. I researched the doll on the Internet just now. A Sheriff Woody will set his buyer back fifty dollars, which I think is steep for just a doll. Unfortunately, the talking Woody does not actually say "Thar's a snake in mah boots", and the mall was too clamorous for me to hear if poor punted Woody was capable of speech anymore. Also according to the Internet, the entire head has a tendency to break off at the neck. That did not happen when I was watching, although if it did, it would have been pretty awesome.
Here's a child who either has never seen a Toy Story movie (doubtful), or who has completely missed the point of Toy Story altogether. That's not very surprising; I thought Toy Story 3 did so as well.
Posts
