Finding a problem

For our thesis project, we were tasked with finding a problem that we could then pitch a solution to. The problem I identified was that children’s entertainment has little to no representation for kids with disabilities. So, I developed the idea for an animated kids’ show that featured a main character with a disability.

Group Picture.jpg
 

Tunnel Vision would be about two kids who
find themselves trapped in a mysterious underground world, where all of the residents are talking animals (nocturnal animals or ones that live underground). Throughout the series, they would be interacting with many strange and wacky characters, learning the secrets of this strange world, and trying to evade an
evil warlock that seems to have a special
interest in the boys, all while trying to find
their way back home.

Thesis - Main Character.jpg
 

Here we have Oscar. Oscar is an adventurous kid who idolizes the adventure heroes he reads about in comics or books or sees in movies. He’s drawn to genres that are all about imagination, like science fiction and fantasy. He is a bit of a troublemaker, but overall he is a good kid. He also happens to have spina bifida. When doing research for this project, I found out that 8 babies are born with spina bifida in the U.S. every day. It was because of this commonality that I thought that this was the disability the main character should have.

Zorgash serves as the secondary lead. His parents gave him this strange name after a character from their favorite sci-fi show, which embarrasses him to no end. Preferring to go by Ash, he is much less outgoing than Oscar, much more reserved and far more reluctant to get into the trouble Oscar causes. Despite this, he and Oscar are inseparable friends.

 
Zorgash.jpg
Thesis - Bat Friend.jpg
 

Roscoe is one of the first characters they meet in this new world. He is also a bit of a troublemaker, usually convincing Oscar to tag along with him in whatever scheme he has planned (to Ash’s dismay). He is a bit of a thief, always after shiny things, or just things that look cool. Not particularly bright, but he has the street smarts to make up for it.

Madame Gertrude is the boys sort of caretaker. She welcomes them into her home, and serves as a sort of safe haven for them. She is a bit on the crazy side, being rather unpredictable, and on top of that, she is a witch.

 
Supporting Characters.jpg
Large JPG-Aro Ha_0380.jpg
 

Archibald Von Boulderdash III is the mayor of the city that the boys find themselves in. He serves as a sort of secondary antagonist, though not really being a major threat. He doesn’t like the boys, and will do whatever he can to try and get rid of them. He has a very pompous attitude, and tends to flaunt his power whenever he can.

The villain is very mysterious. His name and motivations
are unknown, but like Madame Gertrude, he is able to
use magical abilities. He seems to be after the boys
for some reason, and you would slowly learn what
that reason is as the show progressed.

 
Thesis - Villain.jpg

Storyboards

Here are a few storyboard panels I made for the pilot episode. Nothing major,
but it gives you an idea to the how the episode would start out.

Pilot Episode Storyboard 1.png
Pilot Episode Storyboard 2.png
Pilot Episode Storyboard 3.png

These are just some animation layers showing the two main characters from various angles.

Oscar Animation Layers.jpg
 
Ash Animation Layers.jpg
 

Title Sequence

This is an (EXTREMELY) rough draft version of the opening title sequence that would play before each episode.