Zelda takes action in animated YouTube short
Posted on July 31 2013 by Parker
Recently there has been a fair share of talk about the titular princess of The Legend of Zelda starring in her own game. Even Eiji Aonuma has said he might consider making Princess Zelda a main protagonist if enough people support the idea. What would it look like if Zelda took care of herself for once instead of letting Link do all the hard work? Watch this fan animation created by YouTube user Charles Hamwey to find out after the jump.
Employing a chibi art style with exaggerated facial expressions, “Mini Zelda” relies mostly on fast-paced humor and quirky charm. Its character designs are accurate, if slightly distorted, representations of the ones from A Link to the Past, right down to Link’s atrocious pink hair. It’s even set during his and Zelda’s iconic escape from Hyrule Castle and its hordes of guards in the game’s opening level.
Unlike in the SNES classic, however, Link ends up getting in way over his head when he attempts to protect Princess Zelda in this animated short. Thankfully, his hyperactive heroics aren’t quite as necessarily to assure the princess of Hyrule’s well being this time around. As you’ll see in the clip below, Zelda is more than capable of taking out a measly armored grunt by herself.
This tiny cartoon clearly isn’t trying to be a groundbreaking animated feature. Instead, it succeeds by keeping its plot simple and its animation fluid and fun. Although cut and paste sound effects have been overused by aspiring Zelda animators in the past, the use of them here is largely effective. Furthermore, the creator showed good taste by not making Link’s untimely decapitation overly graphic. The lack of blood and gore keeps the cartoon’s tone lighthearted and humorous. These traits are often what makes Zelda excel as a series, and this is no less true when talking about Zelda-inspired fan works.
Did you enjoy watching this animated short starring Princess Zelda? Would you look forward to it’s creator making another Zelda-themed animation, as he suggests he will in the video’s description? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: YouTube
