Animation was the format of choice for children’s television in the 1960s, a decade in which children’s programming became almost entirely animated. Growing up in that period, I tended to take for granted the distortions and strange bodies of these entities.
These Icons are usually grotesquely distorted from the human form from which they derive. I decided to take a select few of these popular characters and render their skeletal systems as I imagine they might resemble if one truly had eye sockets half the size of its head, or fingerless-hands, or feet comprising 60% of its body mass.
These characters have become conventions that are set, defined, and well-known personas in our culture and taken by most for granted through endless exposure. Being that they are so commonplace and accepted as existing I thought I would dissect them like science does to all living objects – trying to come to an understanding as to their origins and true physiological make up. Possibly to better understand them and see them in a new light for what they are in the most basic of terms.
Michael Paulus

Betty Boop (2004) ©Michael Paulus

Marvin (2004) ©Michael Paulus

Charlie (2004) ©Michael Paulus

Dexter (2008) ©Michael Paulus

Bubbles (2004) ©Michael Paulus

Lucy (2004) ©Michael Paulus

Mad Scientist (2004) ©Michael Paulus

Fred (2004) ©Michael Paulus

Linus (2004) ©Michael Paulus

Eggbert (2004) ©Michael Paulus
BIO
Michael paulus is an interdisciplinary artist currently living in portland, oregon working in video, graphic, and installation. Videos and artwork have screened at various film festivals and group shows nationally and internationally. Work has appeared in publications throughout the united states and internationally.