One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda reveals the suggestions Netflix took on-board for the live-action Chopper – including thinking of the fan favorite reindeer as a “cute plushie.”
“I was worried, because I was shared material from the early stages,” Oda admitted on the first episode of One Piece: Into the Grand Line: Official Podcast. “They did tend to see Chopper as this living creature at first, concerned about being true to animal bone structure, for instance, and bringing some realism to his look.”
To help the creative team nail the look and feel of Chopper, who plays a crucial role in One Piece season 2 as the Straw Hats’ doctor, Oda gave some much-needed pointers.
“So I suggested they think of him as a stuffed toy. If you make him too realistic, it’ll go into uncanny valley [territory]. So think of him as a cute plushie.”
That advice even extended to Chopper’s voice, performed in the Netflix series by Mikaela Hoover. For Oda, there had to be a sincerity to its cuteness, so as not to mimic the “tongue-in-cheek” nature of Hollywood’s take on cuddly characters that make their way into the live-action space.
“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,” Oda lamented. “But Chopper needs to look and sound cute. I think it’s a cuteness that’s unique to Japan. I feel like Chopper needs that more than Hollywood’s cuteness, so that’s something I strongly emphasized.”
Even with Oda’s guidance, the character of Chopper could have ended up very differently. Mikaela Hoover, who also embodied the character through performance capture on set, recently revealed that she initially turned down an audition due to believing it was a voice-only role.
For more, check out our guide to the One Piece season 2 ending. Then, treasure this look ahead at One Piece season 3.