Have you noticed the power of colour theory in animated movies? Do you like articles about animated characters? What Colour Type do you believe Princess Kaguya from Studio Ghibli could be? What other animated character shall I analyse next? Please leave your comments below. Swap the colours of their clothes and suddenly neither will look as authentic as before. Swap the colour of their lips and the overall image is out of balance.
Swap the colour of their hair, and it will be off with regards to their skin tones and eyes. There is greater contrast between the darkest and the lightest value on Elsa’s face and lover difference in value on Anna's face and it it in perfect harmony with both of their Colour Types. Anna has lower value contrast than Elsa which is also reflected in the way the creators did their makeup. Her blush will be warm coral red, her lipgloss will be warm peach and her eye liner is warm brown. Anna, on the other hand, will choose a foundation that is warm and peachy. If they go shopping together for makeup for instance, Elsa will choose a pink based foundation, pink blush, deep & bright blue-based fuchsia lipstick, sparkly pink & deep purple eye shadow duo and a black eye liner. While the geometry of their features is nearly identical, you can clearly see the difference in their colouring. After her transformation, Elsa looks happy, energised, independent, powerful, brilliant, self-sufficient and free. This is the same effect with any person on the planet and an effect my clients experience in front of the mirror during the colour analysis session. The moment she wears HER colours, she lites up. We suddenly see her strength, her authentic self and her beauty come to life. The moment she starts singing “Let it go”, she lets go of her Deep/Dark Winter clothes and wears a bright, icy and sparkly dress that is in perfect balance with her natural beauty and her natural colouring. She comes across as cold, distant and serious while carrying lots of sadness in her heart. In the story, Elsa feels stressed, depressed and to some degree imprisoned by the heavy secret she tries to hide from the world. And that is precisely what the film creators were aiming for. This heaviness in colour drags down her natural beauty, her energy, her true potential and her authentic self. She needs more brightness in chroma and less darkness in value. Those are a bit too deep and heavy for her Colour Type. In terms of Colour Types, Elsa is either a Cool/True Winter or a Bright/Clear Winter and Anna is either a Warm/True Autumn or a Warm/True Spring.Īt the beginning of Frozen, right before and after the coronation, Elsa wears Deep/Dark Winter colours. The story is about two sisters, two princesses Elsa and Anna. Let’s have a look at Frozen (2013), the very popular animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Colours are often used to inform the viewer about characters’ personalities as well as character’ development. The studios use colour psychology and colour (dis)harmony in story telling. Can this happen in real life? Definitely ( link)!Īnimation studios such as Disney, Pixar and Studio Ghibli are experts in colour theory, the Munsell colour system (the three dimensions of colour) and colour (dis)harmony. Two sisters who are (most probably) the same Image Archetype but are vastly different Colour Types. Both have blue eyes yet Elsa’s eyes are cool blue and Anna’s are warm turquoise. Two sisters with similar features but vastly different skin undertones: one is cool and the other one is warm.