Character Development

I have been thinking about our main character -- the child.

I think that there are two realistic options for a character who goes through this sequence of events; innocent and naive or cheeky and mischievous.

If the character were simply naive, his curiosity would be of a childlike innocence, his separation from his parents accidental -- and his ultimate disappearance truly tragic and sad.

If he were cheeky and mischievous, he would e deliberately 'escaping' from his parents, and all the bad things that happen to him would be a lot easier to swallow. It would fit nicer with the 'Achilles' story model of his fatal flaw, and better with the 'curiosity killed the cat' message.

There is also a history of darkly moral fables within the realm of the traditional faerie tale -- a genre I am particularly interested in, and would like to somehow conform to as we are dealing with a moral tale and a young character. In this context, his disappearance at the end of the story is just punishment for his breaking with the niceties of socially accepted and responsible behaviour for a child. It is the classic Hansel and Gretel tale retold.

Of course, in the time of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, these were cautionary tales based around an understanding of a dangerous world, and designed to inform from a young age of the perils of wandering from your zone of safety.

This becomes different with new cultural implications. Danger is somewhat lessened, and almost forgotten by comparison. Children are taught of very specific dangers, and not taught to fear the world as a whole, so the moral shifts. Here, I think our story is more a warning that children will be punished if they disobey their parents. A subtle difference, but an important one when it comes to the use of the parents as supporting characters in this film. I believe this makes their part more important, and it occurs to me that it would be a nice touch to start and end the film with them. This makes it their punishment too, for not taking better care of their charge.

In order to make the child likeable, however, and not instantly turn the audience against him, I see him as a 'cheeky scamp' -- a 'Just William' kind of lovable rogue initially... who ultimately gets his comeuppance.