Animated eyes come in a large anatomical variety that may be divided according to an increasing degree of abstraction. The design that is closest to actual human eyes, both physiologically and functionally, is the combination of a sclera, iris, and pupil (Figure 1a) found in most Disney characters, modern computer-animation, and in many Japanese anime. Further abstraction is a white sclera with a small, central black dot, which is by far the most popular design (e.g., Garfield, The Simpsons, South Park, Doraemon...; Figure 1b). Although these dots may depict the iris, they are often relatively small and may change size depending on emotional state, suggesting that the dot must be the pupil. Consequently, characters with this type of ocular anatomy are likely to have extremely light irises. Characters could also have very dark irises, micro-cornea, sub-total sclerocornea, wear white contact lenses or have received a corneal prosthesis in stories in which the central dot never changes size. The simplest eyes depict only the pupil (e.g., Tintin; Figure 1c). In humans, this situation is only found in highly pathological eyes, such as when the cornea is severely conjunctivalised, after an osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis or type 2 Boston keratoprosthesis. Alternatively, this could mean that the eye is based on a pinhole, as can be seen in sea creatures like a nautilus. Finally, in masked characters the eyes are often shown as empty white, grey or black holes in the mask where the eyes would be (Figure 1d). When these holes are white, as seen in e.g., Batman, this may suggest conjunctivalization, sclerocornea. or stromal haze, resulting in blindness (not unexpected in a bat). It is more likely, however, that the eye holes in their masks are covered by a coloured, transparent material.

Figure 1.

Different ocular animation styles: a) Realistic; b) sclera and black dot; c) dots; d) masked.

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A cursory analysis of 100 randomly selected animated characters (44 males, 56 females) of varying ethnic backgrounds (56 Caucasian, 38 non-Caucasian, 1 god, 2 humanoid aliens, and 3 androids; data and calculations in Supplement), estimated using full frontal illustrations combined with body length estimates obtained from the Internet, showed that nearly every character has a head that is larger than expected based on normal proportions. Consequently, animated neck muscles ought to be stronger as well, especially since necks are often drawn thinner than reality as well. Meanwhile, most characters have pupil sizes and palpebral fissure lengths, used here as a measure for eye size, that are 2–3 times larger than normal reference values and the pupil sizes of female characters tend to be twice that of male characters. While generally considered to be attractive, large pupils are known to substantially reduce visual quality1 due to the induction of higher order aberrations.2 Animated women are, therefore, likely to have poorer vision than their male counterparts. Disney princesses, a group often targeted for their unrealistic depiction of young women, generally remain close to normal head sizes. While their eyes would be between 1.5 to 2.5 times larger than those of real humans, these dimensions still remain at the centre of what is normal in animated characters. Hence, as far as these young women's ocular anatomy is concerned, the criticism directed at them appears to be unfounded.

Although Japan is seeing a record high myopia prevalence,5 this is not reflected in the animated world where glasses seem to be reserved for either intellectual or clumsy characters. Anime students must therefore either be emmetropic, have collectively undergone refractive surgery, or wear contact lenses that are larger even than scleral lenses, with a diameter of over 20 mm (Figure 5a). Animated spectacles are generally very large, making them heavy for the wearer. Meanwhile, they are often flat in profile and their removal does not result in a change in apparent eye size. Consequently, the refraction of characters must be low, almost to the point where spectacles become a fashion statement or a clever disguise (e.g., Clark Kent). Specular reflections on anime spectacles can sometimes completely obscure the eyes, suggesting that anti-reflective coatings are not available (Figure 5b).

Figure 5.

Ocular issues with Japanese anime: a) contact lenses 2–3 times the normal size; b) sudden, overpowering reflection on spectacles; c) excessive number of corneal reflections.

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Some cartoons display bilateral transient enlargement, deformation, or duplication of the eye globes to express an acute state of surprise or shock. We have failed to reproduce this effect in real humans, even after careful observation of family members watching recent news broadcasts. This suggests that emotion-induced ocular duplication may represent an exaggeration on the part of the artists.

Female characters often display a large number of bright corneal reflections that may increase in states of extreme happiness or sadness (Figure 5c). As the number of reflections depends directly on the number of light sources present, this may point to corneal surface or tear film irregularities. Meanwhile, corneal reflections of a scene usually resemble flat mirror reflections, rather than that of a convex surface. This confirms that characters have very flat corneas to match their oversized eyes.

Artists who want to design a character must balance recognisability, practicality (e.g., amount of effort required to draw the character, ability to convey emotions, etc.) and the artist's own inspiration and creativity. These aspects almost automatically lead to depicting oversized heads and eyes; as such, characters are generally considered to be more attractive,6 sympathetic,7 and recognisable by audiences of any ages. They also convey a degree of cuteness, especially when combined with very large pupils (e.g., Puss in Boots). This can also have some real-life repercussions, given that exposure to large-eyed characters can shift observers’ preferences towards people with larger eyes.7 This cuteness almost invariably comes at the expense of good eyesight, however (Figure 4). This also depends on gender, as women likely experience worse visual quality due to their larger eyes, and animation style, as characters with realistically proportioned eyes are expected to have a visual quality close to that of real humans, whereas more cartoonesque characters likely have reduced visual acuity due to a range of pathologies.

While this is the first study addressing the ocular health of cartoon characters, to the best of our knowledge, it does have a limitation in that it was only able to perform an internal analysis in one single case. The fact that characters are not bothered by their presumed bad vision suggests that there may be corrective mechanisms in place. For example, should the refractive index of Homer's crystalline lens be lowered to slightly more than that of the cornea, then his eye would be emmetropic. The Powerpuff girls’ photophobia could be reduced by assuming that their crystalline lenses are tinted like sunglasses. Higher order aberrations could also be reduced if the lens can adapt to compensate, something seen in humans.8 Similarly, Asterix's astigmatism could be corrected by an equally (but opposite) lens astigmatism, as seen in young adults.9 These examples suggest that their compensation mechanisms could be similar to those known to exist in real humans, even though they would function much more effectively.