- *Important: Please do NOT steal, re-create or use the character Strawbella Mouro. She is only meant for this demonstration, but will be released soon (With many others.) Thank you and I hope this helps your understanding.
So, I have seen many original characters on this wiki. Some are good and some are just . . . ok, but others don't make sense at all. I am only here to demonstrate how the Disney animators came up with the designs and names for their racers. After a little research, I figured out how to create a Sugar Rush racer - the RIGHT way.
Name Creation & Design
Alright we are going to start with the most known and popular racer, Vanellope von Schweetz . As you already know, Vanellope is a mix of the word 'vanilla' and the name Penelope. What Disney basically did was test out this name, and possibly had many other names for her before sticking with Vanellope. After that they added the word von' meaning 'of' and/or 'from' in German. Lastly, they added the word 'sweets' to which they added a German touch and accent creating Schweetz. So . . .
Vanellope von Schweetz - - - > Vanellope of Sweets (All types of confectionaries)
Vanellope basically has every theme in her, but the most known being vanilla. And as you all know, not ALL sweets come from Germany or Greece. I actually really liked how Disney added these touches, making the name more interesting and not uncreative. What I mean is, if they just used Vanellope von Sweets or Penelope von Sweets/Schweetz, it still wouldn't be the same and just plain lazy and uninteresting.
Now we are going to break down Taffyta's full name because I honestly thought that her name was the most creative next to Vanellope, Crumbelina and Gloyd. Okay, I believe we all know that Taffyta's name is a mix of the word 'taffy' and the name Tabitha. I remember seeing people say that they didn't know why Taffyta's last name is Muttonfudge if it has nothing to do with her lollipop theme right?
Wrong. Here is why. Mutton is a type of lamb meat, mostly being the leg, in which you have to actually bite into hardly to be able to eat. (They sell mutton at Disney theme parks.) So, this means that the last name Muttonfudge, actually means Hardfudge. But how does this still match Taffyta's theme? Well, if I remember correctly, lollipops are a type of hard candy that you can only lick until completely gone, or at least weak so you can bite into it without damaging your teeth. Again . . .
Taffyta Muttonfudge - - - > Taffyta Hardfudge (Fudge is an american sweet which can resemble Taffyta's american stereotype.) Also if you look at her early concept art, there is a sketch of her wearing a Hershey's kisses hat before it is replaced with a strawberry one.
Disney used synonyms as they got ideas for the names. Another example can be Gloyd's name. I will now break down his name for you.
I can assure you that Gloyd's name is a mix of the Welsh name Lloyd and the word 'good' as in flavor. Now onto his last name Orangboar. Many people asked why his last name contained the word boar if it means a male pig? No . . .why don't we go a little deeper? Another word for a boar or male pig is swine, which also means a 'very bad person.' As we look into Gloyd's personality and canon history, we can see that he is a prankster which makes him bad because he annoys the crap out of all the racers, by pranking them! And of course the word 'orange' came from his two themes of halloween candy. (The themes being candy corn and mellowcreme pumpkins.) So one last time . . .
Gloyd Orangeboar - - -> Gloyd Orangeswine (Orange person; Very bad)
There we go, now we can see how deep Disney went with MINOR characters. Going back to Taffyta, it is possible that Disney created their designs FIRST, then named them. When they named them they used some words that weren't eally candy related, which made them more realistic but still a fantasy. (*NOTE: Do not over exaggerate with 'real' names. You want to keep the real and fantasy balanced.) Or else it will just not make sense at all.
Original Character Example
For this demonstration, I will be using my Sugar Rush Character Strawbella Mouro (She is to be released soon on a new account.) She is actually a character I came up with back in early 2013, around the time Wreck-it Ralph came out on DVD and Blu-ray, and I have been working on her since, even thought she is one of my MINOR characters. After this, I will be showing you how to create a racer, the right way. (Disney's way)
So, Strawbella. You can already tell that her name is a mix of 'strawberry' and the name Bella. (NO not Bella from Twilight damnit!) - What I did was replace the 'berry' part of strawberry with a real name with the SAME starting letter. I chose Bella, (Also betty and bonnie could've worked too.)
- Strawbella (Replace 'berry' with Bella; Make sure it has the SAME starting letter.
After doing this, I started to think of a way to use 'berry' to still match her theme. I named her after making her design, and she kind of reminded me of a Greek Goddess or a greek woman. So, that's where the last name Mouro came in, which means 'Berry' in Greek. The name Mouro is also a parody of the name Monroe, as in Marilyn Monroe.
- Her name and design came from the same origin (Greek). So I decided to make her a Greek character.
- I also kept her theme together, everything berry related but mostly strawberries. Strawberry related sweets and desserts (Strawberry swirl Cheescake, Jell-o, etc.) Yet her main theme is the strawberry cheescake
Now, I will show you some of her concept art:
As you can see, I remembered to keep everything with her theme and origin. Yet, cheesecake didn't originate in Greece, *Oh wait- *Google search* Okay nevermind, I lied. It did originate in Greece . . .
Anyway! I kept everything including her palatte (Which is sadly not included cause I am a noob!) similar. So let's see what I did.
- Strawberry Sourbelt - Which is a headband and/or ribbon, I don't really know yet. (This is just her first concept.)
- Her hair is more of a maroon, with platinum-blonde streaks which makes her full hair design resemble . . . Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake!
- It isn't shown here, but she has dark green eyes and her hair is in a ponytail (Seen in the lazy side view sketch and is in really big ringlets.)
This is just and early concept of Strawbella, so I am still working on her and possibly twenty other characters? Or more. So now onto how to create your own racer and again . . . THE RIGHT WAY.
*Reminder: Do not steal, re-create or use this character. She is to be released once I get a new account.
Creating your Own Racer
Alright so here, I am going to help you with the creation of your own racer. *Note: If there is a (#) in front of the given names, it means that they are REAL oc's and I reccomend not taking those names. If there are names in the okay and great section, those are allowed for use. I also wouldn't recommend the worst names . . .Trying to be real here!
Here are examples of Okay names (60 - 40%) (40 - 60%):
- Lolapop (Name Lola replacing 'Lolli' in the word Lollipop (This name can be used actually)
- (#) Pepper McMinty (A real oc - So I wouldn't recommend taking this name)
- (#) Carotte Frostcreme
- Almanda (Amanda + Almonds)
- (#) Angelberry
Now a List of the Worst names:
- Rasberry Delight (This is just a sentence . . . basically.)
- Gumball (Not a creative last name)
- Pocky (Not a creative last name)
- Also Star, Cream. (This is just bland and bitter)
And that is not what we want.
Now, a list of really amazing names: (They are all real oc's - Do not make them as your own)
- (#) Marzipanda Fondantine
- (#) Oreline
- (#) Lemona Bitterman
- (#) Nuthaniel
- (#) Samintha Sprinkletart
So we want to keep it semi-realistic so 50/50. I think it's fine to use a different translation as long as the name makes since, like how I did with berry. As you can tell it's not that easy to make a proffesional character, unless you just want to keep it bland and uninteresting then, that is your choice.
I am just helping you with understanding how long it took Disney to design and get deep with their characters even with their MINOR characters. Yeah, it took me a couple years to make my characters because I wanted them to be creative and actually MAKE SENSE.
So, thank you for reading and I hope this helped. There are some tips below, Bwuahahaha.
Tips
- Mix candy themes/names with real human names. Marzipanda's last name Fodantine can be an example. Her name is a mix of 'fondant' topping of a cake and a name with the suffix of -tine. More suffixes -ly, -ra, -ing, -in, -man, etc.
- Make sure the name of the character matches with their design (Theme)! Or else it will just be kaka.
- Don't use sentences like Raspberry delight or strawberry delight- Whatever! just don't . . .
If you have any other questions just ask me down below! I will try to get to your question as soon as possible! Thank you~
(Note) I will be moving to a new account later, so look out for me :3 And again I hoped this helped your understanding. Remember it wasn't that easy to create a racer, doing it the right way. (Alot of planning for Disney to do huh?)