Avian's
With birds in their quest for companionship, all tend to follow a similar theme, put on an amazing to get the girls attention. In this list all the birds are males which is surprising, but I can totally see why it is the way it is.
Greater Sage Grouse
The Greater Sage Grouse has the innate ability to puff up its chest to a massive size in order to attract a mate, creating two almost like breasts. It also makes a very distinct puffing, slapping noise which almost sounds like a whistle and bongos.
I don't know why, but whenever I look at this thing I'm immediately reminded of a drag queen for some reason? So I might have something to play with there.
Bird of Paradise
Birds of paradise come in a variety of shapes and colors in order to attract a mate, like the rest of the birds, the whole idea is to attract as much attention as possible in order to woo the right gal.
This bird I could definitely have a lot of fun with in terms of design, the different colors, shapes and the general silliness of the bird.
Frigate Bird
The frigate bird has the ability (Like the Greater Sage Grouse) to puff up its chest, only this bird can puff its chest up to huge sizes in order to attract attention.
Red Capped Manakin
The Red Capped Manakin is unique in a sense that it has the ability to jump so small and fast that it appears that it isn't even moving at all, but performs a sort of Micheal Jackson style performance.
This bird can literally jump so fast that it only appears to be sliding rather than moving, so from that I've got an idea that this little bird is always being very angry because he can't attract a mate because he doesn't have any flashy moves, so he jumps up and down in anger, until he discovers his superpower!
Peacock
Peacocks come in a variety of colors and sizes in order to attract attention, once again, the whole idea of this is to attract attention of a female peacock, or ward off predators.
Insects
Peacock Spider
The Peacock spider is quite interesting, being someone who is deathly terrified of spider I did find this little guy to be very cute, however how he goes about his journey to 'Love' (To put the term lightly), is a very interesting one.
He follows a trail of silk laid out by a female, once the spider has reached the end of this silky road, he comes face to face with the female spider. Now you would think the two spiders would do a little dance and make a little love right? Nope, the male spider first has to woo the female with dance moves like no other.
If he fails to do so the female kills him, so it's a literal, 'Dance to the Death'.
Aquatics
Goblin Shark
Goblins Sharks are known for having huge snouts, having them not exactly the most beautiful creatures. Due to the Goblin Sharks appearance, it would have difficulty fitting in with all of the other cool sharks, until it finds a blind shark and they become friends.
Angler Fish
Angler fish is absolutely terrifying, not even in appearance but by what it does when i falls in love, it literally joins with the fish it loves. This could be an interesting theme to work with but it would definitely need some work.
Sexy Shrimp
The "Sexy Shrimp" (Unbelievably that is its real name), the the equivalent of an underwater peacock, making itself look as amazing as possible in order to find a mate. Basically I would make this Shrimp look as amazing as possible to show off animation techniques, as well as rendering techniques.
Vampire Squid
Right, this last one seems like its deviating away from the research but hear me out. Squids don't generally get notice for their "Mating Rituals" or good looks, What is apparent about squids is that they are very lonely creatures, so a little vampire squid all on its own at the bottom of the ocean, where the world lights up not from the sky, but by its neighbors. The little squid gets so lonely that he swims around until he finds his partner, then they spend the rest of their time together.
Also if I did do this idea I would love to make the squid half heart shaped, so when the two squids find each other they make a full heart.
Personal Thoughts
Personally, My favorite animals to work with here would have to be the Red Capped Manakin because its not only a well know bird for its use in culture, but the theme of the bird would be very fun to animate with. The Peacock Spider is almost like a heroes journey in order to get the girl, so i would have a very simple story to work with.
But my personal favorite would be the vampire squid, there would be a lot I could do with a cute little squid and it would give me a lot of opportunity to show off some of my more cartoony animation skills.
Okay - I've got some thoughts of my own on this, but in the meantime, I want you to look at the animal illustrations by Charley Harper for inspiration in regards to how you might think about simplifying a range of creatures, if, for example, you had an idea where you were to showcase a bunch of creatures doing their crazy best to attract a mate as a sort of one-after-the-other sequence... you wouldn't even need 'a story' in this sense, just a punchline. It could be a series of stylised animals on a simple white background, lit beautifully, doing their thing... an animation showcase.
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Its easy to see how this set of showcasing creatures could fit into your interest of martial arts Tom, as both serve as some kind of display, as thats one of your personal interests viewing it from that perspective could help you create some really interesting designs and animations :)
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