The Time Machine: The Eloi

While still refining my sketches for THE TIME MACHINE project, I wasn't happy with the look of the characters other than the Morlocks and maybe Filby. So, when in doubt, ask yourself "What Would Disney Do?"

So after looking at some Disney animation (actually, line art coloring book drawings for TANGLED), I started to refine some of the look for Weena and the Eloi. Here, we have the basic Eloi. I pictured them being blonde, looking athletic but being somewhat frail in strength to the Morlocks and the Time Traveller. Their surroundings are like the Garden of Eden. The Time Traveller will start in England but, over the centuries, climate and continental shift will happen. Perhaps the British Isles will be part of continental Europe and now warmer.

The first image shows a blonde Eloi with a Caucasian skin color. But I wanted to play with skin color since the human species in the novel has split and evolved into the Morlocks and the Eloi. The Morlocks have some series changes so why not the Eloi?

The 2002 movie did get it right with the Eloi being a lighter brown in skin color. It's been said the future of the human species will be a combination of all today's current races. Who knows what the extreme future holds but what if the Eloi had a bronze or orange skin color? So I played with the color choices in Photoshop.

Above is the black and white art before color. The Eloi are not a very advanced race. They won't have the knowledge to work metal. So why the metal belt and bands? Well, some of what they receive from "the gods" are these metal bands. In reality, they are from the Morlocks and serve a purpose (to be revealed in a later post). Of course, this wasn't in the novel but will be part of my version of the story.

Another addition is a domesticated pet called a Perrogato. Every Disney-esque animation has to have sidekicks, right? And for those of you that know your Spanish, yes this creature is a combination of a Dog and a Cat. While the Human Species will have split, some animal species will have merged in my version. The Perrogato also serve a purpose to the Morlocks like the Eloi. (No, not as appetizers!)