Anthropomorphism.

"The attribution of human like characteristics or behaviors to objects, animals, plants and non-human entities."

Some notable examples of this can be seen in Dr Seuss's work, Winnie the Pooh, Spongebob Squarepants, Finding Nemo, Alice in Wonderland, Looney Tunes, Mickey Mouse, Peter Rabbit etc.

One thing that all of these examples have in common is the fact that these designs and use of anthropomorphism are all centered around media for a younger audience. This is probably because different characteristics or traits can be associated with animals easier than they can with different humans. For example, a child can perhaps associate a fox with being sly and cunning faster than understanding a human having those qualities. As humans are less easily distinguishable from being good or bad at face value, many cartoons have instead linked these qualities to a more recognisable animal instead.

For the same reasoning, different shapes can be used in character design to create a sharper more evil figure, or a rounded friendly personality at a first glance.

Following this concept gave me the idea of possibly transposing 'The Birds' into a show that could be suitable for at least more understandable to a younger audience. Seeing as the play already has the potential for a lot of anthropomorphic characters, the designs could be a lot of fun to design and create. I would also have to look into what different body/ face shapes convey at first glance, as well as what colour palettes could be used for different kinds of characters, and what that says about them.

Transposing the play instead from a different time line to a different audience will be a challenge and I will be looking deeply into the narrative in order to translate this into something child friendly and easily understandable. However, as a very old comedic piece of Greek writing, this could prove difficult, but not impossible! To assist me in this, I could look into examples of literature that have been adapted into children's shows/ films/ books already, noting the attributes that make it suitable for children, e.g. colours, shapes, what kind of language used, what kind of humor etc.
I quite like this concept already as it's steering clear of the gothic, skeletal sterotypical idea that came to me when starting this project: I feel that this idea is a much more unique take on 'The Birds'.

Currently, this is just one concept that I've naturally arrived at through research and considering the kind of things I'd like to design and make. My next step will be further research into this to decide whether or not this is achievable within this project as well as tutorials to confirm ideas.