The Review Stuffed Creature Quiz

The first ten posts of this blog established the fundamental principles of good stuffed creature design.  You have had time to read, absorb, and digest.  Now you can test your knowledge with The Review Stuffed Creature Quiz.  Correct answers will follow the questions.

1. If your first reaction to this stuffed monkey was, “oh, how cute,” you automatically fail.  The Review assumes you realize something is wrong.  Circle all the true statements about this monkey (there can be more than one).

a). He violates the Corollary of Balance

b). He is a good example of Over-Abstraction

c). He perfectly illustrates the Axiom of Essential Detail

2. Circle all the true statements about this monkey (there can be more than one):

a). He violates the Corollary of Balance

b). The coconut attached to his paws, and the straw attached to his mouth, are major liabilities.

c). His Hawaiian shirt is an asset.

3. Circle all the true statements about this giraffe (there can be more than one):

a). He violates the Axiom of Essential Detail

b). He has Furrier’s Disease

c). This is an inspired stuffed creature

Answers

1. A & B.  Ty went horribly wrong when they made this monkey.  His inflated face mocks the Corollary of Balance and, therefore, the Axiom of Proper Abstraction.  Real monkeys do not have 2:1 head-bottom ratios.  Real monkeys do not look like their craniums have been inflated with a bicycle pump. 

The giant eyes make this monkey look like an alien creature come to destroy humankind, but they perfectly exemplify Over-Abstraction.  Exaggeration can go too far. 

2. B.  Mr. Vacation Monkey is a well-proportioned creature, and would be appealing if not for the attached accessories.  It is impossible to properly animate this monkey.  His paws are permanently clamped around a coconut daiquiri, which he is permanently sipping through a straw.  He cannot do anything else. 

And no, that Hawaiian shirt is not an asset.  It completes the vacation-coconut daiquiri image, but makes this monkey too much like an American tourist. 

3. A & B. This giraffe violates the Axiom of Essential Detail.  Essential features of a real-life giraffe are ignored: a very long neck and very long, spindly legs.  The designers do not exaggerate neck or legs, but simply riff on a giraffe’s spotted skin.  He looks like a spotted horse, which slides him into the “ok” category: not brilliant or inspired, but not disturbing or utterly banal. 

And beware of Furrier’s Disease on this stuffed creature.  Note the shaggy appearance, and for those careful observers, you caught the tell-tale tufts of fur on top of his head just waiting to be plucked.

Next Saturday The Review ruminates on what many take to be a casual process: shopping for a stuffed creature.