Star Fox was created
by Shigeru Miyamoto. Like most of his
games, it was influenced by Miyamoto’s own life experience. Ever since he was a child he would visit Fushimi
Inari Taisha, a shrine that follows a trail made up of torii (arches), and that
is filled with fox sculptures. That
shrine inspired him to make a game with a fox protagonist hero, and thanks to
the Super FX chip, Miyamoto could also create arches and gates in which a
player could fly through in a 3D world.
Another element from
Miyamoto’s childhood that heavily inspired the look of Star Fox was Miyamoto’s
adoration for the 1960’s TV show, the Thunderbirds; a science-fiction TV show
that featured marionette puppets as the main characters. Just by looking at the cover of the first
Star Fox game, you can observe Fox McCloud as a marionette puppet. Ever since then, Nintendo has continued with
this puppetry art style for the franchise, rather than going for realism (even
using puppets in their E3 2015 digital event).
I’m glad that
Nintendo has kept this unique art style for their characters, because Jakks
Pacific released a Fox McCloud toy figure in this style. The toy is well made with lots of articulation
and a clean paint job. Although I would
have preferred articulation that was a little more practical, in being able to
move his head up and down, it’s still a nice figure. A bonus of this World of Nintendo toy line is
the mystery accessory which includes Fox’s Arwing. Jakks Pacific has made another excellent Nintendo
toy and I hope to see other Star Fox characters from them.
Fox
McCloud Wiki:
Jakks
Pacific:
YouTube:
