Manny is the main character and prtagonist of the children's animated film series called Ice Age. At first glance, he does not necessarily resemble any sort of fairlytale hero, but by the end of the movie, the visual characteristics that set him apart from most heroes will be the ones that define him and make a connection to such a role. Manny is one of the largest creatures on the planet, let alone during the ice age. He is a mammoth and for a large part of the film, he is the only mammoth we ever see, which causes an even greater juxtaposition for the audience to comprehend and deal with. He has big tusks and is clumsy. He is not the most majestic of all animals, although one of his friends definitley helps him seem a little bit more normalized. Manny does not have the figure of a hero; instead, he is a character I would be inclined to view as either irrelevnat or scary if I were to go off of my first glance impressions. Luckily, larger-than-life protagonists...are indicative of the "superhuman feats needed to master the natural world and put it into a consumable form" (Diffrient 518). This makes Manny's size much more understandably necessary throughout the course of the film.

Setting aside first impressions, based soley off of appearnce, Manny is far from menacing, which is how I initially saw him. He is actually one of the most caring characters in any animated film. But interestingly enough, he has a hard exterior that matches many first impressions of a mammoth being the main protagonist and hero of a story. Other visual characteristics that do not match those of the typical fairytale hero are that he is quite clumsy and awkward. His bulky stature and elephant-like movements seem cumbersome and too slow to be associated with someone who can swoop in and save the day. Manny is also an animal, which makes it less obvious that he would be smart enough or agile enough to be the hero.