I don’t get out much, therefore the existence of Hasbro’s The Littlest Pet Shop had thus far escaped me. Last night my wonderful friend Louisa left this in my mailbox:
Now I’m at the mercy of my own biology, reluctantly infatuated with these creatures who manage to exploit maternal instinct to the hilt. I KNOW I’m being manipulated, hypnotized by their big shiny eyes and wobbly heads…yet I can’t look away. I went so far as to seek Flickr pools.
Someone may be getting dragged to the toy store this weekend.
Animators and designers must possess a bit of scientific savvy these days, considering the ways in which the human brain responds to certain physical characteristics. NY times article highlights:
The greater the number of cute cues that an animal or object happens to possess, or the more exaggerated the signals may be, the louder and more italicized are the squeals provoked.
Cuteness is distinct from beauty, researchers say, emphasizing rounded over sculptured, soft over refined, clumsy over quick. Beauty attracts admiration and demands a pedestal; cuteness attracts affection and demands a lap. Beauty is rare and brutal, despoiled by a single pimple. Cuteness is commonplace and generous, content on occasion to cosegregate with homeliness.
Human babies have unusually large heads because humans have unusually large brains. Their heads are round because their brains continue to grow throughout the first months of life, and the plates of the skull stay flexible and unfused to accommodate the development. Baby eyes and ears are situated comparatively far down the face and skull, and only later migrate upward in proportion to the development of bones in the cheek and jaw areas. The cartilage tissue in an infant’s nose is comparatively soft and undeveloped, which is why most babies have button noses. Baby skin sits relatively loose on the body, rather than being taut, the better to stretch for growth spurts to come; that lax packaging accentuates the overall roundness of form.
As John K. has pointed out in his incredible blog, this formula is nothing new:
I’m excited to see this concept translate into robot animation. Can anyone resist this face? If so, report for psychiatric evaluation immediately.
Yep, this fellow actually makes me want to see a Disney Pixar film for the first time in…in…years? Resistance to *The Cute* is futile…at least for me.
SheWalksSoftly 
One response to “Cracking the Cute Code”
Awww…I’m glad you liked your gift and honored that you deemed it worthy of a blog post. Yes, it was definitely the huge eyes on the cover of the coloring book that hypnotized me to grab it from the shelf and purchase it for you. It was completely beyond my control, as you have learned.
The NY times article reminded me of something. Once I told my friend Mike that his baby daughter was so cute that I wanted to nibble her cheeks. He replied that “cute” could be defined as anything “bitesize”….hmmm.
Please be sure to see Wall-E with me! I’ve been waiting a long time for this next Pixar film because Ratatouille was lackluster. Especially after viewing the ammmmazing animation of Cars. (Yes, unfortunately Disney always gets my dollars with any Pixar production – it’s a geek thing)