What's with the 'Tom Holland Face'...? | A Video Essay
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ต.ค. 2023
- TOM HOLLAND. He's around. Maybe a bit too much? It seems to be a running theme in recent animated history where all of our male main protagonist all have the same kinda... format? They're always small, they're thin, unconfident, sometimes dainty. It's big ears, big noses, brownish hair and a nervous disposition. It's Tom Holland. Every animated main protagonist looks like Tom Holland. But why? What does this mean about the animation industry, and where does the future go from here? Come join us as we digest the strange phenomena that has lead a lot of us to ask... What's with the Tom Holland Face...?
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...Turns out, it had nothing to do with Tom Holland, and all to do with laziness, baby! Welcome to the executive format of the animation industry, baby!! - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
Are you going to talk about the "Elsa face" too? It's not spread as much outside Disney, but that they chose to use the same face time and time again is worrying.
You mean Rapunzel face. Or Ms Incredible face.
Lol
Oh that’s an interesting video idea. I’d say the fact it’s self-contained to Disney makes ot even more intriguing.
I thought it was a style they have maintained since Tangled
At least finally Encanto put more noses for women out there, not just button ones. Otherwise yeah, huge round alien eyes with thick lashes and eyebrows on fleek, cat looking face with small bottom features like nose and mouth. There is a good video about the "adorkable" heroine problem, which is female Tom Holland version, I guess. Which is not as much about looks as it is about demeanor of heroines in modern movies. They're acting too much like comic reliefs even in serious moments and their childishness and lack of social intelligence is supposed to be endearing. There is also complete opposite archetype of cold blooded overpowered female protagonist who never faces any threat or challenges as she is so above everything without training, which is also boring, unrealistic and dehumanizing.
This takes "you look easy to draw" insult to a whole new level
"You look easy to draw & animate multiple times" lol
“You look easy to genetically copy in order to have a legion of clones that look exactly like you.”
"you look easy to draw" is an insult??
@@fakename1137always has been
@@DerangedGuiltyGearFan damn i never thought it was lmao
@@fakename1137 Yeah because it can mean that you don't have any distinctive or defining features. Basically why Emmit was made fun of in "THE LEGO MOVIE"
Most if not all of these characters are non threatening looking boys or young men with a lot of anxiety and some non masculine tendencies, like Tom Holland It makes sense his face would become the archetype for underdog protagonists who the audience can relate to.
You have a point.
Plus, he is cute/good looking.
What do you mean “relate to"
they've been trying to destroy traditional masculinity for a long time so it makes sense this is the model
Yeah, no, we're tired of this..where's the variety 🙄
this actually also applied to (more specifically disney) female protagonists too! its about how a lot of recent female protagonists are that quirky, clumsy, sarcastic, cheeky type of girl, modelled after Rapunzel. someone made a video about that too lol
Modergurlz just came out with a video of the adorkable personality
ADORK-ABLE
It works well with Rapunzel, though. Anna, as well. It only became a problem when they started using it for literally every protagonist they had and now it's just the basic "Disney MC personality" layout. They shy away from showing "real" weird girls, too, like Lilo.
@@R3FL3CTI0NS.Lilo really resonated with me.
Theory: it's not the "Tom Holland face", it's the "Peter Parker face". He's the blueprint for the smart, socially awkward, approachable, relatable hero. He embodies the every man. Since the 60s he's been a source of inspiration for lots of (nerdy, non-athletic, young, often male) artists, directors, writers. Tom Holland just so happens to have a Peter Parker face.
Peter Parker wasn’t even like that if you read his comics, but whatever.
I don't see the resemblance to Tom Holland at all. I get more Dustin Diamond or Adam Sandler, Steve Guttenburg, or Jerry Seinfeld.
Peter was pretty bubbly and reckless in the old comics only since the 2010s he became this version
Is it really fair to call Linguini "Tom Holland Face"? Ratatouille literally predates Tom Holland's acting career.
That’s what I’m thinking. Ratatouille came out in 2007, I was a teen at that time and I’m guessing Tom would have been a kid.
this is more just the white twink look than just Tom Holland
Hence 9:33
Over half of these characters were before his career
I think you didn't watch the video before commenting because he talked about it .
The reason Hollywood likes Tom Holland so much is because he has the perfect, normal, average face. Many young actors can be physically placed into the "interchangable look" category.
Perfect??? Hold on... hold on...
I feel this is more just the white twink look than just Tom Holland
He just happens to be a famous person with that look.
Petition to de-twink-ify more protagonists
(Maybe more bears?)
iconic though
@@SketchUT I actually think we should go further and make femboy protagonists
@@s7robin105 why not both? Two protagonists, a femboy and a bear. what will they do
Jack Frost is too pretty to be compared to Tom Holland.
He and Hiccup are too solid to be Tom Holland. HE would hurt himself if he punched guys who look like them in the stomach
how is he even pretty i don't get it
@@ShainaCilimbergngl Tom Holland isn’t even that feminine.
He has a more ‘handsome’ face structure than ‘pretty’,like he face has a square-like structure compared to majority of the characters here who have pointy faces.
@@Mialikesthings agree he is not feminine
A pretty fascinating observation. All our animated protagonists need more diversity than this gangly, round-ish, fluffy-haired guys! Give some credit to reality that ANYONE can exhibit ANY mental framework and nature!
Eh, the issue here is that stylised animations are always a visual medium that uses symbols and icons over pure realism. This means that shape and colour will inevitably be imbued with meaning.
Diversity was a lie.
Character design is all about what you're trying to get across and how believable it is. You believe someone scrawny who looks like Linguini gets easily picked on, but you're unlikely to believe the very same thing about a character who looks just as tall and ripped like Arnold Schwarzenegger. In _Monsters Inc_ you can easily infer what a character's personality is just by looking at them.
Can we not call it the Tom Holland face since it existed before Tom Holland became famous, and just call it "The Elf Face" or something.
Or the Drake face?
also because most of these look nothing like Tom Holland
Someone didn't make it to 9:34
@@killerbouquet3220or it's just not a well-made point?
@@Wailingllama I'm not so sure it's the point as opposed to the name attached to the point..? Tom Holland is definitely not the best title for this one though
My guess is because not only they're more easier to animate, they're also more relatable to the audience, shy, socially awkward, nice, nerdy, friendly. As well as potential to become someone great.
Most people who say they relate to that tend to be the opposite
I am the physical manifestation of the Tom Holland trope, fluffy brown hair, twink-ish body type, awkwardness and all, and I agree that we need more variety. People don't need to have the same personality of a character to find them relatable or even enjoyable. Heck, Puss in Boots is one of my favorite characters of all time, and I don't relate to him at all.
And miles looks like tom holland
Yeah, you're definitely pushing it with Hiro.
I can both see it and not at the same time..!
With Hiro, it's definitely more his personality than his looks. He's still awkward and stuttery, and young.
@@smolexfundie6458 Although he is less naive than usual for this type, he's more sneaky, mischievous and pushing people away. Unlike your usual doe-eyed fluffy boy being social outcast by others' choice and just wanting everyone who ousted him to be happy. Hiro is more vengeful and not above programming something destructive. Healing from that state was his arc.
HIs brother feels more like Tom Holland to me
@@smolexfundie6458miles looks like tom holland
It’s not just Tom Holland it’s also jay baruchel, it’s the American version of the generic Japanese isekai anime protagonist, character design
That’s exactly what I was thinking! Isekai protagonists tend to be really generic, but it’s so that the reader can easily insert themselves into the story
I think this is literally just the western equivalent of the 'Kirito face'.
Tbh a lot of these.. dont really look alike. They're just young skinny white men, they dont even all have similar face shapes or hairstyles.
Yeah I kinda feel the same. Also, I feel like using Tom Holland's name was probably to increase clicks/make the algorithm pick him up more. Idk maybe I'm wrong.
Not the same matter but casting Tom Holland as Nathan Drake beyond the scene where they’re kids was an absolute travesty and I’ll take this rage to my grave.
THANK GOODNESS I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS OPINION THANK YOU
I think it's a pretty popular opinion@@DuckyDoesSmth9517
Tommy was... ok in the Uncharted movie, but I agree with your sentiment; Nathan Fillion 10-20 years ago would've been a better Nathan Drake, bar none.
@@monkemonkerson5620 Agreed, I was intentionally a bit hyperbolic lol.
Nah, he did so well in the movie. I am so glad they chose him.
I think you need to call this trend something else, Tom only voiced two of these characters and they don’t even look like him. He has a more square chiseled jawline, muscular build and small nose irl. The personality maybe but some of these are quite a stretch
You are comparing apples to oranges when you compare current animated movies for kids, to 80's live action movies for adults.
It’s the same thing you see in a lot of anime. A bland, yet unconventionally attractive blank slate that the viewer can project themselves onto. It’s less about telling a story of a character and more about allowing the general audience a conduit that they can project themselves onto and escape real life for a bit. But, still pleasant to look at and charming enough for those who don’t relate to at least admire. Basically, the safest character design possible with the intent of reaching the largest audience to rake in the most amount of money. Movies, shows, and games have been doing this off and on for awhile, it just usually takes a different shape each time depending on what media corporations think is happening in society
I consider it more "Jay Baruchel" face than Tom Holland face, as it's been going on way longer than tom holland has been around. if anything Tom is Jay's understudy in the world of geeky unconfident protagonists with distinctive faces (take a look at Jay in The Sorceror's Apprentice and then his character in the HTTYD movies, it's basically a direct translation)
I'd say Jesper from Klaus has that same design. Fluffy hair, noodle arms, large nose, wimpy, etc.
He has more cunning and mischief, reminds of Raoul from Monster in Paris. They have big noses, lanky figures and some hair fluff, but their faces are longer and they're more fussy and sassy individuals.
similar but not the same imo. the key thing about all these characters is that their awkwardness is lovable, but jesper is deliberately written to be an annoying spoiled brat at first lmao
@@thatpeskyrat yea
A decade ago these characters would have been Michael Cera adjacent.
This is the Western version ofthe anime protagonist with straight black hair and the same face that are usually quite similar
Drink a shot anytime he says "Tom Holland"
I have an idea to make this more fun. Anyone who owns a car, grab your car keys.
Every time he says "fluffy," take a shot
By the end of the video: "Mr Stark... I don't feel so good..."
With the 80's, you even had characters like Luke Skywalker exemplifying these tropes
Luke was never "quriky" or anything like that. He was just young and inexperienced, but he wasn't a clumsy doofus
True but Luke was almost a proto-twink. Luke was blonde too. Most of the tom Holland twink characters are brunette for some reason with a few exceptions like linguini. Or jack frost from guardians
@@TheDCbizmiles has that tom holland personality
@@estelalopez3563 true just afro-latino version. But that's expected since they both are spiderman. But for non-spiderman characters it's odd or rather interesting
I bet this is gonna be like why alot of characters look like michael cera
This video and the recent ModernGurlz video on quirky disney princesses are spiritual siblings
I call the male characters that have seemingly the same personality,story,archetype the "Underdogs" Because most of the time male characters are in these underdog movies..They don't have to look great or good looking,they have to have that nerd or geek aspect to them atleast or have a quirky personality to boot as well as anxiety and bad at talking to others or has no friends or is legit a outcast for some reason and by the end of the movie they are the most popular,has the girl of their dreams,and is usually the hero of the story. That's the main storyline most male cartoon characters follow from what i've seen..female charaters aren't any better though..
disney used to reuse the virtual skeletons (rigs) but since onward it became obvious they're straight up reusing whole character files and changing the colors.
I almost feel like we should call the "Tom Holland" face, the "hiccup" face or the "shrimp" face!
Lmao yeah Hiccup is another one
Well, they can't all be built like linebackers, or Jojos. For some people, it's the difference between Superman and Spider-Man, or Kamina and Simon from Gurren Lagann. One can have a well-defined face and commonly masculine traits, while the other can be relatively generic-looking and not too built or unkempt. However, they can coexist.
I forgot Danny Gonzales name, so I looked up "the kid from spies in disgue" and he came up
Danny Gonzales, Tom Holland. there is no difference.
Thats one way to make it work 😂
It's a canon event
What are you even talking about 💀
People don't understand the new Spiderverse. It's a thing now.@@Unbekannt
I respect every single Spider-Man here.@@sacrificiallamb4568
@@sacrificiallamb4568 I know it has something to do with Spiderverse, but how tf does this comment make sense for the video?
Makes sense....
The amount of "fluffy" directed to young guys in this video was interesting to witness. But yeah, there is a similarity there, although I don't call it the "Tom Holland" similarity, I just call it the "nice nerdy guy".
i feel like you are overinterpreting this. If part of the archetype you explained is the shape of the face and tehn Linguini, a lego guy and the Robot whos name i forgot are part of it your defenition cant be right. As one of the topcomments here by DanGaningFan2846 already explained we see a lot of protagonists wiht features to make them look unthreatening. The fact this makes them look similar (i guess, i mean there are still lots of differences) just happens to be a thing becuase they all try to rerachthe same goal.
But none of this is bad. You cant tell me you watched httyd, Lego movie or Elemental and thought Arnold Schwarzenegger would fit the story better. This is not an issue, this a random pattern you found that will probably loose popularity anyways if the stories that are beeing told demand it.
again, you had some good points but i think you are making this out to be a bigger issue than it is.
I usually hear when making a protagonist, they usually fit in the general look of the audience watching them, similar to how Isekai anime has boring looking pro tags so people can self insert themselves into them. So by that standard, the usual kids character who are either whimsical, very peppy or socially awkward or nerdy are kinda stand-ins for the audience themselves.
That’s usually how I see it since family movies or kid movies would usually have kids or generally cutesy appealing looking characters to be someone we see most of the time to really get into the story. You could even say the same thing for the female archetype for this ‘tom holland’ sequel of characters with Rapunzel, Anna, Elsa, that new chick from the new Disney movie about wish iirc? But yeah it is generally for more audience engagement from what I gather. The ‘immasculent’ part as you call it well, they are kids and young boys tend to have more feminine features to them before their teenage and adult age. It could also make the character seem more ‘androgynous’ so both boys and girls can relate to the character.
Just my take on this whole main character current ‘style’
Omg haven't even started the video yet but I love that the thumbnail implied Linguini had Tom Holland face before Tom Holland was relevant 🤣
One thing’s for certain, Animation LOVES big noses
Unless it's a girl character.
@@InternetNonsense Yup. It's tragic.
@js66613 There should be more female characters with big noses imo
oi
vey
@@InternetNonsense what about mirabel hmmmm????🤨😂
Tom Holland: Into the Tom-Verse
I've been noticing the Linguini face a lot more in newer Disney/Pixar movies that I just refer to any character with that face as Linguini.
Back in the ye Olde 90s, every character stood with their arms crossed and a smug look on their face. In the effort to make a character as relatable and interesting as possible, they sacrifice artistic integrity.
I've never once seen Tom Holland in Wade's design, even with you comparing the features, I genuinely don't see the similarities at all 😅😅😅
Try snapping Tom Holland in half, fr. The dude is jacked. And I honestly think Flint is kind of a reach. I totally get the idea of the “Tom Holland face” but just like “CalArts Animation” I feel is a little too far-fetched to just call it that.
all ove the characters you showed, have distinct differences. honestly not sure what your talking about. i think your just nitpicking the idea of a main character in 3d art as a whole. most common hair color is brown, if they are trying to make relatable main characters , it just makes sense, like bruh.
a lot of these feel like stretches to me, but i do have prosopagnosia, so idk
So the Tom Holland Face is the Western equivalent to the Generic Isekai Protagonist? Gotcha.
I wouldn't put Jack and Hiccup in the Tom Holland category
It is funny that the thumbnail has two characters who were voiced by Tom Holland
You could also add in Hogarth from the Iron Giant as a "Tom Holland" character.
After a while, these archetypes of male leads have gotten... moldy. Not stale, we're past that. There's actual mold growing on this trope. Time to throw it out or at least switch it up.
Continue these video essays, they’re great!
You should do one where it’s like side characters with a face looking like launchpad mcquack in the OG ducktales there’s a lot and I meant a lot of characters that look like him
y'all are just now discovering that tom holland isn't the only skinny young looking dude in the world?
I believe another factor could also be that younger features can be relatable (presumably) to many of the movies' target audience, which is for the most part children or just youth in general.
Ehhh i don't really agree with Jack Frost.. you could maaaaybe make the argument for Luca, but he's pretty baby faced. I'm on board for the other ones though
I had always though many of these characters' faces looks like Linguini from Pixar's Ratatouille and often call them the 'Linguini face'. I don't think many of the characters in the video look that similar.
I don't call them the Tom Holland face, I call them the Daniel Gonzalez face
Damn you commented it first!
i called this kind of character a linguinoid because of linguini. i noted that roger from 101 dalmation was a “proto linguinoid” since he had similar features. big nose, lanky, the biggest difference is that he has a massive chin.
I think often it's a self-insert. The people making the movies see themselves as that kind of Tom Holland character.
You know what, I would say early 20s was the Michael J Fox affect was going on
I was on board until you put Jack Frost and Hiro into the category...
And Hiccup. At the same age as Tom Holland they look nothing alike.
I think what's actually happening in regards to the character's faces looking like Tom Holland is determined by the character's personality type. As you mentioned about movies from the 80's and 90's, the sterotypical huge muscular strong man normally had a personality of being confident, brave, intimadating or violent. This makes sense from a character design point as people who are bigger are often seen as imposing. All of the more modern animated characters that you mention all have something in common: Their character traits are shy and sweet. These characters aren't designed to be huge and imposing, instead they're trying to design the least intimadating look possible to match the personality. We typically think of things that are small, round, and fluffy as being cute rather than scary so it makes sense as to why the faces are looking similar. I think Tom's face just so happens to meet the criteria for these things.
I wanna see an animated movie with a Tim Lockwood type main character
That's a very cartoony-looking middle aged man. You tell me what stories you're trying to tell with a main protagonist who looks like that? Characters design and appearance have to make sense.
Name one great story that doesn't revolve around a very cartoony-looking middle aged man?
We also need a video for Danny Gonzalez face lmao.
It's all in people's head tom Holland has been the main character in alot of his projects like he's always in the poster at the center so people know that face very well
Nah, this is a big stretch. You're seeing something because you want to.
I know people will disagree but I personally like this type of main character. I just love it when unassuming guys end up being great. So hopefully there will be many more movies with guys like this. I wouldn’t even mind, if Tom Holland voiced some of them lol.
He does voice one. The blue guy I can’t remember the name right now but I’m sure you know who I mean.
I don’t mind it but I also don’t need it constantly, I like some diversity.
My OC got that Tom Holland face before I even knew who Tom Holland was. Call that the Gerard Way face
Maybe it was never about the Tom Holland, what if it was about the friends we made along the way
The first one minute and twenty seconds of this video is just Dazz nonstop roasting Tom Holland and I love it! This was way more savage than I expected!
Thank you! I couldn’t quite put my finger on where I’ve seen all these samey-looking characters everywhere lol. They DO have that Tom Holland face 😂
I'm so glad I was watched this to the end because I was gonna leave a comment about how most of these examples existed before Tom Holland was a Household Name, and calling this "Tom Holland Face" wasn't really fair, but you already did that so now I don't have to.
On another Note, I feel bad for Tom Holland as he's basically been type casts into what feels like the same role over again, I hope his agent can get him a role that doesn't revolve around his non-threatening appearance.
I like how two of the characters on the thumbnail actually are Tom Holland
Thank goodness someone noticed this!! Its the same character just tweeked a bit
I find it funny how Tom Holland is type casted as stringy underdog type when he is ripped and does his own Spider-Man stunts
as a person that has a celebrity crush on tom holland, i see this as an absolute W
same
0:32 - 1:16
You have also just described the _entirety_ of the *Generic Anime MC.*
I think of it as the Jay Baruchel face (and often voice)
The "Tom Holland valley" cracked me up
8:40 uh thats alex turner actually 🤓
It's in the same genre of the disney quirky princess, defining traits shared among all of the characters that made them fit into the category of Tom Holland or quirky princess.
Tom Holland and Elsa faces, I assume, are modeled after Proboscis monkeys. Just look at them and you'll see it. (Fun fact, the females dont have the large nose, theirs are more upturned and smaller)
here in latin america we call that face "cara de argentino" or argentinian face, due to the stereotype related to argentinian male facial characteristics, but as you can imagine, that expression could be kinda offensive some times
best comment
I think it's because they communicate a relatable underdog. It's cheap but it works.
This feels like I was just taken on a wild ride where you intended the final destination to smack us into a brick wall built of truths we weren't ready or willing to face. 10 / 10, would be liquidized against my own unexamined pronceptions again if I had survived the first round.
What is it called, Archetype??
You didn't talk about Bruno.
Funnily enough, one of the characters for my _Adele_ comic, named Rozy, is basically a female version of this character model.
Pixar's current chief officer Pete Doctor pulled out his Tom Holland face when he was the supervising animator on Toy Story.
In Anime we had "Kirito Face". 😂
Poor Tom Holland...🫣 It's one of my biggest fears as an actor to be stuck with type-casting
I see Tom in Miles Morales...
Nice perspective and topic 🙂👍
And here I thought they were based on me, though my nose is more button than doorknob.
They also call this the Linguini face, due to the resemblance to the character from Ratatouille.
I'll be honest, this seems like a stretch. Like I see the character archetype for sure but I feel like the designs themselves are different enough and saying they're all the same seems a bit much to me. Like other people have pointed out Disney has the rapunzel face. A lot of characters have that same face but that's different than the adorkable character archetype. A character can be adorkable without the rapunzel face. I think a big reason a lot of these characters are similar is; these are mosty kids movies with kid protagonist (not all but still) and well I don't know how long it's been since you've been in high school, but like a lot of boys look like that, 2 the people writing and designing these characters probably are similar in a way. Now this is some big stereotyping I'm about to do but a lot of aspiring artists and writers I knew were all pretty similar to this kind of underdog protagonist, and at least for me, though I am not a writer, I tend to make main characters of things kinda like me. Finally, corporate probably has their hand in stuff like this, this character archetype has proven profitable so why not keep doing it. The market is definitely oversaturated with this protagonist and tho we shoukd not get rid of the character, again know a lot of people who are or were like this, I think it's time with give the spotlight to different kinds of people in animation.
I was about to talk about wanting different confidence levels and body types and stuff but the video was replaying in the background and like some of the b-roll was showing main characters that are different and I'm thinking this video is even more of a stretch. Like I am still all fir different types of characters but some of the characters that you are putting under this umbrella is bs. This is like when people say blank character looks like markiplier and said character looks nothing like him
I called this the twink face, but Tom Holland works too.
You are totally overthinking this. Its just a typical HUMAN look. BUT there is also the very real facts that there are scientifically objective broadly appealing features which the boyish and beautiful Mr. Holland does certainly posses. So of course animators will just so happen to "copy" his look either purposefully or not in order to create a widely appealing character aesthetic.
I remember when this face was called a baby face?