AESTHETIC OVERVIEW - Wander Over Yonder

Wander Over Yonder is a children's show that aired on the Disney channel and later Disney XD. It was created by Craig Mccracken. You may recognize him as the creator of Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.

The plot of this show revolves around a kind wandering soul aptly called Wander, who wanders around the galaxy with his travelling partner, Sylvia. Wander generally solves problems by being exceptionally friendly, while Sylvia is more partial to using her fists. In their travels, they frequently butt heads with intergalactic conqueror Lord Hater, who Wander wants to become friends with, but who hates Wander back.

the animation is bouncy and energetic, and the colours are vibrant! (original gif by wanderin-over-yonder.tumblr,com)

While the colours can vary according to the required scene or mood, Wander Over Yonder's colours are typically quite vibrant. This fits with it being a show aimed at children as well as with its optimistic bright and bouncy mood.

Speaking of being bouncy, Wander Over Yonder's animation definitely fits the bill! It is incredibly energetic. It seems like every second, something is moving in an interesting way.

What else would you expect from a show from Disney?

The held poses have strong lines of action and clear silhouettes, and everything also moves in a very bouncy manner with a strong sense of timing. Also, the characters tend to be quite squishy and stretchy, which allows for even more pushed poses. The show also uses smears (the animated equivalent of motion blur, basically) quite liberally. These all contribute to its lively animation.

Wander Over Yonder has strong poses.

This show's writing is rapid-fire, which the animation style matches perfectly. you can watch this show and even miss a few jokes because sometimes it moves so fast.

The character designs are simple and round, to lend with making the animation more smooth. Round and squishy shapes make the springy animation look better. Complex character designs are also more difficult to animate, so simple tends to be better, especially for a TV show that moves as much as this one. The cartoony designs also serve to make it more, well, cartoony, which again works with the whole, "being aimed at children" thing.

A fun thing to note about the designs is that Wander compliments Sylvia perfectly. They've got complimentary colours; Sylvia is bottom-heavy while Wander is top-heavy; and they literally fit together like puzzle pieces when they hug,

And don't think that they don't hug often - they hug a lot!

The animation and colour design both fit this show well, as if you took a picture book and brought it to life. I think it would be a pretty different show if it had a different aesthetic.

I really enjoy the visual style of this show, especially the animation and how bouncy it all is. The colours and poses and character designs are fantastic, in my opinion. I didn't even cover everything in this post! For example, it does experimental things too - one episode, The Breakfast - features a split-screen the entire way through! Seriously, I'd recommend watching it for the fact that it's basically an eye-candy factory alone,

Anyhow, thank you for reading! Until next time.