The External Appearance of Evil Cartoon Characters in Children's Programs: A Critical Study of the Image in Light of Literary Models

Résumé

This research examines the external appearances of the evil cartoon characters in children's programs and studies them with the aim of determining their formal features, analyzing their civilizational and cultural connotations, while exploring their relevance to literary paradigms.

The research applies an analytical approach to the images of the most famous evil cartoon characters in children's programs, and the study raises the following questions: What features are used to portray evil characters in children's literature? To what extent are these features related to literary models? Are there cultural and civilizational connotations that link these features to evil and its people?

The study concluded with several results, which are: Painters and producers focus on drawing the eyes and the area around them. They have a clear interest in illustrating a protruding chin, raised eyebrows, and traces of wounds and torture on faces and bodies. The mythical global influence is also portrayed in some of them. In addition, the aesthetic feature emerged in a number of them for purposes other than deception and camouflage, and innate evil features taken from the animal world were revealed as well. Colors, clothing and their accessories were also employed to denote evil. Moreover, an animal, a tool, or a machine that accompanies and supports the evil person has been detected.

The study recommends drawing inspiration from the Arab and Islamic heritage in illustrating the sinister features that reinforce the Arab and Islamic identity. The paper further recommends examining the pagan influences that contradict the fundamentals of Arab and Islamic society, and restraining when depicting evil figures, as there is no need for exaggeration, nor for despising, which causes the child to disdain the figures, but rather it is better to depict reality.