Kline, C. and Blumberg, B., 1999. The art and science of synthetic character design. In Proceedings of the AISB 1999 Symposium on AI and Creativity in Entertainment and Visual Art (pp. 1-6).
To suggest a way of creating synthetic characters, Kline and Blumberg offer a notion that “draws inspiration from conventional animation and modern philosophy.” Because 3D animated figures are more lifelike, viewers are more likely to feel sympathy for them. After the audience empathises with the character, the behaviours of the character can be regarded as satisfying a need. A character in a movie realises actions that are not or cannot be taken in real life, and this can resonate with them.
van Rooij, M., 2019. Carefully constructed yet curiously real: How major American animation studios generate empathy through a shared style of character design. Animation, 14(3), pp.191-206.
In this article about “Zootopia,” Rooij makes the argument that Pixar movies are defying the “Valley of Fear theory” of cinema. Digital sets, virtual cameras, and perceptual cues are used by the creators to build a convincing three-dimensional world in which the characters “live,” anthropomorphic animals with both bestial and human emotions. This realism allows the characters to be accepted by the audience, to strike a chord with them, and even to create the illusion of immersion.
Instead of the audience reacting with rejection and terror, Pixar’s animators have made the characters more realistic, causing the audience to enjoy the characters and even find common ground in them.