The Relationship between the Personality Changes and Costume Colors of Characters in Disney Animations and Live Action Films

Background Disney reached its prime as ‘over the world, and the large and small personality changes and costume color changes of the characters in its live action films became subjects of attention. To observe how the personalities of characters changed and how this was reflected visually, this study conducts a comparative analysis on personality types and compares abstract associations of costume colors to verify how costume colors changed to fit personality changes in order to present the changes that Disney is attempting through live action films. Methods Research methods were conducted by selecting a total of four films out of twelve animations and remade live action films, excluding films with severe character distortions and films difficult to conduct costume color analysis on. Before the analysis, the selected films were watched and five main characters were selected for each film. First, character types were established by applying ‘ The Seven Character Types of Vladimir Propp ’. Afterwards, character personality types were deduced through the MBTI. Simultaneously, DISC was used to collect character behavior patterns and character personality changes were organized into an analysis frame so they could be seen visually. Comparisons were then conducted. Second, character costumes within movie scenes were captured and corrected with Photoshop with moderate editing to shadows and sunlight to compare abstract associations of the costume colors. Third, RGB values were extracted and Munsell conversion was used. The converted Munsell values were placed into the color ranges of the Korean Industrial Standard, and colors that apply modification adjectives (tones) were deduced. Fourth, abstract associations were collected using the tone association table surveyed by the Japanese Color Research Institute and the basic color image association table produced by Moon Eun Bae. Fifth, Change elements of personality types and abstract associations of costume colors were organized and confirmations regarding whether character personality changes were applied to costume colors. Results Analysis of the research results showed that the gender roles of protagonists and princesses have changed. Also, villains who had been egocentric were expressed to be careful and humane and assistants became leading characters. Fathers who had cheerful personalities became conservative characters, which conflicted with the princesses. The costume color analysis showed that colors that apply abstract associations and fit the personality types of the characters were used. Personality change elements were also applied to the costume colors. Conclusions This study looked into the relationship between the personality changes and costume colors of characters in Disney animations and live action films. Through this study, it could be seen that Disney is attempting to change the characters of classic animations in order to be in accord with the human characters that the current age desires.