Bendy
"Ha, I ain't even done half in months! Oh, but they won't fire me. No sir! Place this big, no one knows what everyone else is doing." - Angus Newman
- This article is about a cartoon character. For other uses, see Bendy (disambiguation).
Bendy is a cartoon demon character originally created by Henry Stein as Joey Drew Studios' first character in the very late 1920s and soon became the animation studio's official mascot. He starred in a multimedia of cartoons and comic strips, often alongside the studio's other characters such as Boris the Wolf and Alice Angel, and was also hired by Briar Label as a spokestoon for their Bacon Soup.
Overview
Creation
Bendy was originally created in the very late 1920s by Henry Stein as the studio's first cartoon character.
Physical appearance
Bendy is a small demon-like imp creature colored entirely in black apart from his face, which is white while bearing a large toothy grin and large pie-cut eyes as his only facial features. He wears shiny black shoes, a white bowtie, and a pair of large white gloves, each with two black dots. Bendy's head is shaped like an oval, with the top of it being curved inwards to create the appearance of horns, which are always present in his silhouette regardless of which direction he is looking. Bendy lacks a neck, meaning that he is usually depicted with a floating head. However, this detail is inconsistent, and his head will occasionally be attached to his body.
Bendy is the shortest of the three main characters of the studios' cartoons, being only about half the height of Boris and Alice.
Personality
Bendy is a mischievous troublemaker, as one would expect from a little devil. Bendy can be greedy at times, often being seen attempting to steal, such as in Tasty Trio Troubles where Bendy outright refuses to pay for the burger he orders from Charley. Bendy also didn't pay Gaskette for his ride. Despite this, while Bendy can be playful, he is never mean-spirited, and he shows care for his friends.
Cartoon appearances
Bendy, as Joey Drew Studios' mascot, appeared in all cartoons except for few cases such as Alice Angel's Siren Serenade cartoon.
- Little Devil Darlin' - Assumed to be Bendy's first official cartoon debut.
- Sheep Songs! - Bendy's cartoon where Boris first appeared.
- Tombstone Picnic (1929) - Bendy walks out to the graveyard for a picnic. At the end of the cartoon's first half, he sees the shadow of an unknown character. With the second half seemingly lost, what happens next is currently unknown.
- The Dancing Demon - Full plot yet to be revealed, but it involves Bendy coming out as a dancer and includes a scene of him dancing in a hula skirt
- Haunted Hijinx (1931) - Bendy goes out for trick-or-treating and visits Boris' house for candies.
- Cookie Cookin (1931) - Bendy bakes a gingerbread man, which later ends up eaten by Boris under mysterious circumstances.
- Sent From Above - Bendy's role in Alice's first cartoon is not revealed.
- Hellfire Fighter (1933) - Bendy works at a firehouse with Boris.
- Snow Sillies (1934) - Bendy builds a snowman. However, the completed snowman melts at the end of the cartoon, much to Bendy's sorrow.
- The Butcher Gang - Bendy meets the villainous Butcher Gang members at a restaurant.
- Tasty Trio Troubles (1935) - Bendy visits the restaurant now owned by the Butcher Gang, where he will later fight over a hamburger with Charley. The cartoon ends up with Bendy getting chased by the gang out of their anger.
- Nightmare Faire - Bendy performs his talent in the circus.
Behind the scenes
Bendy is the titular main character of the Bendy franchise (both in-universe and real-world), being its namesake. Merchandise, props, and other assets dedicated to him are found in all games, including Bendy and the Ink Machine, Boris and the Dark Survival, and Bendy and the Dark Revival. He also appears in Nightmare Run as one of the playable characters.
Development
Bendy was initially created by game developer theMeatly during early production of the first game Bendy and the Ink Machine, with his cutout design took theMeatly over 20 minutes to finish it.[1]
His name comes from a typo file named "bendy.blend" while theMeatly is making the character with the model engine Blender; the developer says that a few mistype keys later, "horror.blend" became "horror.bendy".[2]
When Bendy's design is revealed in the first game's prototype demo, his gloves originally featured three darts similar to those of Mickey Mouse, while index fingers have a different shape. Throughout the prototype, it was seen in cutouts, posters, and the early version of the projection room's cartoon clip. In the more recent versions of the game since the initial release of Chapter 2, the darts are replaced with a pair of buttons while tweaking the index fingers' shape. This is to make Bendy more unique when set against those other characters.[3] Despite being a demon, it was revealed by Mike Mood[4] and theMeatly in his Q&A video that Bendy does not actually feature a tail.
Inspirations
Bendy's design appears to be either a homage or based on an amalgamation of several mascot cartoon characters from the early 20th century, such as Disney's Mickey Mouse, Sullivan and Messmer's Felix the Cat, and Max Fleischer's Bimbo. Similar to Mickey Mouse's ears, Bendy's horns are drawn to always appear in the same position no matter which way he is facing. Bendy's whistle, which was heard from the first and second Bendy and the Ink Machine chapter, also seems to be a reminiscent to Mickey Mouse's from his 1928 cartoon Steamboat Willie.
Gallery
- Main article: Category:Images of Bendy
In other languages
"Look pal, if you think I'm doing my job AND yours, I'm outta here!" - Wally Franks
See also
- Bendy (real-life franchise), the character's dedicated franchise in general.
- Bendy (in-universe franchise), the character's dedicated franchise from the fictional universe.
- Ink Demon, the demonic entity based on the character.
- Bendy (ink realm), the Ink Demon's alternate form that bears the closest resemblance to the original character.
References
- ↑ theMeatly. June 29, 2019. "Fun fact: Bendy, the character, was designed in about 20 minutes. There were no sketches or other designs." Twitter.
- ↑ Con Safos Magazine - Ink Demons & the Indie Canadian Game Scene: An Interview with ‘Bendy and the Ink Machine’ Programmer, Mike Mood
- ↑ Mike Mood. August 16, 2017. "No, this was a design choice so that it could be uniquely identifiable :)" Twitter. (Web Machine archive link needed)
- ↑ Mike Mood. July 10, 2017. "Fun fact: Bendy doesn't have a tail. Other fun fact: it's totally fine if your fan art has a tail. ;)" Twitter. (Web Machine archive link needed)