One Piece‘s creator opened up about his work on the new season of Netflix’s live-action series, and revealed that Tony Tony Chopper’s design went through some very crucial changes before landing on this final version we got in the show. When it was first announced that the live-action One Piece series would be continuing with a second season, series creator Eiichiro Oda teased that it would fully introduce Chopper to the Straw Hat crew. Naturally, fans were immediately concerned about how the fan favorite talking reindeer would actually make the jump to the new medium.
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It turns out that this was a concern that Oda himself had shared during production as well. Speaking during One Piece: Into the Grand Line – The Official Podcast that was released on Netflix following the debut of the second season, Oda opened up about how much Chopper’s design had changed before the final version. Originally aiming to be much more realistic in form, Oda revealed what he told the team about what needed to be changed Chopper’s design, “I suggested they think of him as a stuffed toy. If you make him too realistic, it’ll go into uncanny valley.”
One Piece Creator Explains Tony Tony Chopper’s Live-Action Design
“I was worried, but I was shared materials from the early stages,” Oda explained as he revealed that the live-action One Piece team originally went for a much more grounded take on the design. “They did tend to see Chopper as this living creature at first, concerned about being true to the animal bone structure, for instance, and bringing some realism to his look. So I suggested they think of him as a stuffed toy. If you make him too realistic, it’ll go into uncanny valley. So think of him as a cute plushie.” This also went into the performance as well.
“Chopper’s voice was something we discussed a lot to get right too,” Oda continued when mentioning how Chopper would actually sound in this new adaptation. “When I think of cute characters in live action Hollywood films, their cuteness feels a bit tongue-in-cheek to make them more palatable to adults. And quippy.” This is where Oda emphasized how Chopper’s cuteness needs to be different than what you’d usually think, “But Chopper needs to look and sound cute. I think it’s a cuteness that’s unique to Japan. I felt like Chopper needs that more than Hollywood’s cuteness so that’s something I strongly emphasized.”
Why This Change to Chopper Makes Sense
Tony Tony Chopper really was the make or break character for the live-action One Piece series. If the show really was going to work, it needed to craft a tone where everything about its world makes as much sense to the audience that it does for the characters. Thanks to this balance of a more realistic take on Chopper, without losing what made his mascot appeal so special, One Piece’s live-action series is able to play on that border of what works in live-action.
As we already see in Season 2 with the likes of the Unluckies, Chopper is far from the only animal with personality that we’ll see in motion in One Piece’s future. Season 3 of the live-action series is now in production with even wilder animals and characters in play, and now that Chopper has been pulled off so well fans can rest easy knowing the other wild designs are likely going to be fine.
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