Chibi styles in western media

Chibis come from Japan, meaning “tiny“ or “little“. Heads are bigger than the body (sometimes the entire head can fit into the rest of the body). Everyone basically looks like a baby or a child. Supposed to be cute, kept rather simplistic.

While it is mostly popular in Anime, western cartoons also have chibi-like art styles. Here are some examples, sorted alphabetically. (If you know any more, please comment, and I’ll add them to the list!)

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Animal Crossing

Technically this can count as anime, as Nintendo is a japanese company, but I’m leaving it here as it’s not typically associated with Anime. The game is mainly known for the cutesy animals, though it also features humans, designed very similarly to the animals, making them both chibi.

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Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom

Also shortened to just “Ben & Holly” in some countries, it’s a tv series about the fairies and elves and their daily adventures in the kingdom.

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Bubble Guppies

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Chibi Tiny Tales

Well, as the title suggests. It’s a sort of promo bonus that Disney does where chibi versions of the main characters tell about their story, sort of like a trailer.

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Chloe’s Closet

One of my childhood shows that are very dear to my heart and has inspired me on my art journey. I just love the concept with the magical closet. (The children are all chibi but the adults not.)

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Cookie Run

The franchise has multiple games, with Cookie Run Kingdom being the most popular. As it comes from Korea, technically also an anime and not a western cartoon, but let’s leave it here.

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Gacha

The franchise has a few games, such as Gacha Life and Gacha Club. I haven’t played either of them, so I’m not sure where the difference is, but they’re dress-up games in the very typical anime chibi style. You can then play mini games with your customized characters and even create animated scenes. (You’ll find a bunch of short films up to full-length movies of these on Youtube. The fandom is huge.)

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Jake and the Neverland Pirates

At least, the children are in a chibi style. The adults too are drawn quite cutesy, but not so chibi anymore.

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LEGO: Elves

Not all of the series is in chibi, but it has a chibi version with a few episodes.

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Lulu’s Islands

A french tv series for kids. Original title: “Les Mistigris” or “Lulu la peste”. I’ve seen a few episodes and don’t remember much, but I think the boy in the image was the only human, who shipwrecked on the island where only animals live (anthropomorphic and feral).

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Matt’s Monsters

A french-dutch-italian animated series, broadcasted on Disney XD and Disney channel. While the adults are relatively normal-sized, their heads are still in the same chibi style as the children.

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Mia and Me

Mia and Me is a series that has both live-action and animation. I’ve mentioned my love for this already in my article about merfolk characters. Neither of those styles are in chibi, actually, but the live-action version has a few pop-ups where the characters in their animated forms appear and react to the scene. These are in a chibi-like style.

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Peg + Cat

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Sea Princesses

Kind of chibi, although borderline.

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Snorks

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Super why!

A children’s tv series that answers question that children often ask when growing up. Haven’t seen it myself, though I do like the concept and the style mixes.

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The Fairly Odd Parents

Only the children and fairies seem to be in chibi.

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Total Drama Rama

Never seen it personally, but seems here too that only the children/teens are chibi, whereas the adults are normal-sized.

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Xavier Riddle and the secret museum

Haven’t seen it personally, but it’s been on my list ever since Youtube recommended me a trailer to this series. Looks cute. (I especially love the fact that females don’t have eyelashes, as it usually is in pretty much every children’s media.)