675 Thomas

I was talking with my colleague about the Christmas present to his 9-years old son. I had no idea what kind of present the kids at that age today want, so I asked if his son would play with toy train, as it just came up to my mind. The answer was 9-years old boy would have already moved on to something more complicated, but we kept on talking about toy trains for a while. The interesting discussion over it was what kind of personification would be childish and what's not. According to his story there was a theory to distinguish the two was the way to put a face on. If we put a face on almost independently from the structure of the thing, like Thomas The Tank Engine, or Pixar's Cars movie, it would not be childish so much. Meanwhile if you put a face integrating with the original shape, for example modifying the headlights of the car into eyes, it would make a bit more childish. I have no idea what's behind this theory, but I guess the former way allows the face to be far more expressive and flexible than the latter. In any case Cars or Thomas are definitely worth being appreciated not only by children.