Bored Panda reached out to Lisa Yaszek, a Regents Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech where she researches and teaches science fiction as a global language crossing centuries, continents, and cultures, who shared some very interesting insights into why Disney characters are universally cute, and what it is about their eyes that captivates us.
“Disney animal characters are universally appealing because they are anthropomorphic, familiar, and depicted as naturally helpful,” Lisa said.
She explained further: “Humans have told stories about animals and other nonhuman beings with human characteristics since the beginning of recorded civilization, often to promote some kind of sympathetic identification with something that otherwise seems truly alien and unknowable, so it's no surprise Disney artists would do this as well.”
#3 He Is Not A Cat Or Dog, But I Think He Belongs Here, Too! (Not Mine Btw, But So Cute!)
Moreover, according to Lisa, it makes sense that Disney animals often have big eyes and chubby cheeks, but smaller ears and button noses. “That way they remind us of babies and make us want to care for them!”
“Of course, Disney artists also hedge their bets by generally filling their worlds with animals we already know from our daily experiences—household animals such as chipmunks, mice, and puppies; garden animals including rabbits and lizards, even some common forest and zoo animals, such as deer and bears,” Lisa explained.
However, while many Disney animals look like babies, they are not nearly as helpless! “Instead, their attractive features are outward expressions of their natural morality and their natural willingness to assist the Disney protagonist on their journey.”
We also asked why characters with prominent eyes look so captivating, and Lisa said there are two reasons. “First, of course, there is the biological response: most mammals seem to be hardwired to respond to small creatures with big eyes because they look like babies and prompt our innate caretaking responses.”
“Second, and perhaps more poetically, people across cultures tend to think of eyes as the windows to the soul! Creatures with large eyes seem to invite us to peer into souls that will be equally beautiful; maybe we even hope that their eyes will reflect back the beauty of our own souls as well,” the professor concluded.
For most people, the cutest thing you have ever seen involves a baby, a puppy, or any other adorable animal. The chances are they have big captivating eyes that make them forever ingrained in your memory. This phenomenon has been observed for years, and scientists research this powerful attractive force that makes things appear intensely cute.
Morten L. Kringelbach, an associate professor and senior research fellow in neuroscience, together with colleagues Marc Bornstein from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Catherine Alexander from the University of Oxford, assert that cuteness is a purely visual thing.
“It works by involving all the senses and strongly attracting our attention by sparking rapid brain activity. In fact, cuteness may be one of the strongest forces that shape our behavior – potentially making us more compassionate,” the authors explain in their article for The Conversation.
Scientists believe that cuteness facilitates well-being and complex social relationships by activating brain networks associated with emotion and pleasure and triggering empathy and compassion.
“When we encounter something cute, it ignites fast brain activity in regions such as the orbitofrontal cortex, which are linked to emotion and pleasure. It also attracts our attention in a biased way: babies have privileged access to entering conscious awareness in our brains.”
#15 Ohh... ...oh My! Aren’t You The Most Adorable Thing That’s Just About To Eviscerate That Tree?!?
Meanwhile, Eloise Stark from the psychiatry department at the University of Oxford argues that from the research scientists have so far, cuteness response is inclusive of everyone, regardless of whether you are a parent or not. The same goes for cute animals.
"This is why people are able to capitalize on cuteness in marketing, selling 'cute' toys like Hello Kitty. The cuteness activates the same brain mechanisms, regardless of whether the object is a baby, a puppy, or an object."
"We know that [when we see a young animal or child] there is a really fast burst of activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, an area of the brain involved in reward," Eloise says. "We think this early activity biases the brain towards processing the cute stimulus – for example, by making sure we give it our full attention. The effect of this may be to approach the infant or cute animal, wanting to pick it up or look after it."
We also reached out to the founder and moderator of the Disney Eyes community on Reddit, who told us that the idea for the subreddit came after someone simply commented on a post with “Disney Eyes.” “I then used that post’s image as r/DisneyEyes’ first post, crediting the OP. Here’s that first post,” the founder recounted.
The founder explained that the community is “dedicated to eyes that would fit well into Disney's (or other similar animators) visual styling”. “These animation studios tend to exaggerate the size of their characters’ eyes to invoke and convey more emotion. Some cute animals out there naturally have eyes that would fit into a Disney movie.”
