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Littlenobody FABLES is a series of creature armature builds created as practical character references for SORA 2, with the aim of producing a handcrafted 2½-minute animated short exploring fables, morality tales and emotion. Rather than relying solely on concept art, each character is physically built first, allowing real-world materials, proportions and imperfections to influence the final digital animation.
From Sketchbook to Skeleton
Every character starts life with a few simple drawings.
For Pip, the focus wasn’t fine art—it was solving problems. The sketches established the overall silhouette, body proportions and where the armature needed strength, flexibility and weight. Notes around the page became a working blueprint for materials: Milliput for joints, wire gauges for fingers, foam volumes and fur placement.
Once the design felt balanced on paper, construction began.
Building the Armature
Pip’s armature is deliberately lightweight but expressive.
The twisted wire frame creates the spine and limbs, while epoxy forms rigid anchor points around the shoulders, pelvis, wrists and ankles. Extra strands are left extending from the hands and feet so every finger and toe can be individually posed during animation.
Although the character is only small, these tiny details make an enormous difference when creating believable performances later on.
At this stage Pip already begins to show his personality—not through facial features, but through posture and proportion.
First Clay Pass
With the body established, attention turned to the head.
The initial sculpt focused almost entirely on establishing the large squirrel silhouette rather than surface detail. The oversized eye sockets, elongated muzzle and broad cranial shape were blocked in first, creating a simple form that could be judged from every angle before committing to finer work.
It’s much easier to adjust large shapes now than after hours of detailed sculpting.
Refining the Character
The second sculpting pass concentrated on giving Pip his identity.
The muzzle was reshaped and softened, cheeks were built up, the nose refined and the mouth subtly defined. Small whisker pads and fur direction lines were introduced, helping the face feel more alive without becoming overly realistic.
Temporary foam ears were added to test scale and silhouette before committing to the final version. Likewise, sections of fur were loosely draped over the body to check how much of the underlying armature would disappear once fully dressed.
These quick mock-ups are invaluable—they often reveal proportion issues that aren’t obvious from the clay sculpt alone.
Looking Ahead
At this point Pip has moved beyond a collection of materials and is beginning to become a character.
The next stage will focus on refining the sculpt further, building the foam body, creating the permanent ears and fitting the full fur suit before final detailing.
Like every character in Littlenobody FABLES, the aim isn’t perfect realism. It’s to create a handmade puppet with enough personality and expression to carry the emotional weight of the stories that will eventually be brought to life through SORA 2.
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