Mii Spotlight: Pop culture goes Mii
The best sort of Miis seem to be made from those people who already look like walking caricatures -- the kind of people who have such distinctive features that you could guess their identity from seeing only their left eye, perhaps, or their signature grin. So it follows, of course, that iconic characters also tend to make for good Mii material, though not always, as we here at the Fanboy learned ourselves to our great chagrin ....
The Miis you guys have been sending in are inspirational -- it makes us want to settle in front of the television, Wii remote clutched in one hand, and get down to creating some Miis from various characters in pop culture. One thing we haven't seen a lot of are Miis from the cult classic Joss Whedon shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. We thought that was just a travesty, and set off to remedy this extreme hole in the fabric of Mii culture, but about ten minutes in, we realized something we should have already learned: not just anyone can be a good Mii. While there are plenty of actors who do have distinctive features that translate well to cartoonish caricatures, there are just as many who don't ... and apparently, Whedon likes to cast the latter. We prefer that reason to the other possibility, which is that we might suck at making Miis.
Still, this set of Buffy Miis from MiiPlaza.net showed us that a good representation of Xander was at least possible (sans eyepatch, though; we're digging that look all over again with the season eight comics), and so we set out to make some Buffy Miis. And failed. Horribly. We salvaged one, the Slayer herself, circa season six. Maybe someone out there can do a better job! If you haven't figured it out, Whedonverse Miis are pretty much gonna guarantee you a moment in the Mii Spotlight. We all have our weaknesses. Send 'em in!
With our first project failed, we decided to turn to something that had to be a little easier -- one of those aforementioned folks with a very distinctive look. Even better, we've already seen this particular person as a Mii, so there was a great template, if only we were willing to re-watch a video (and we so were). Yes, it's Stephen Colbert!
That's one giant talking head right there. But enough of our stuff -- let's get to your Miis! First up from reader Mike is a character that's definitely recognizable, and like the Cheshire Cat of Alice in Wonderland, easy to caricature due to a very exaggerated grin. Though after The Dark Knight comes out, there may be a rush to make all new Bat Miis. Frankly, we can't wait!
With the next Harry Potter film (and the last book!) coming out soon, we figured it might be a good time to feature these two Potter-themed Miis, as well. We're certain that Severus Snape doesn't actually play tennis; it's much more likely that he's about to smack someone with that racket. Probably poor Harry. Snape was sent in by Adam, and inset is Harry (minus his scar, but what can you do?) by reader Dave.
Finally this week, we have a pair of iconic older fellows we thought a few of you out there might recognize. First up is a fantastic Mii of character actor Michael Ironsides (talk about a perfect fact for caricature!) by Ali420 and Locke from Lost, played by actor Terry O'Quinn. Locke comes to us courtesy of Spoonatron (anyone else want to know how that name came about?).
That's it for this week's edition of the Mii Spotlight! Don't forget to send us the best of your Miis! While we'll take whatever you've got, we've always got special requests. Last week, reader Captain_Casey suggested we do an "ugliest Miis" edition, and we think that is a hilarious idea. Just toss features on some Miis like a mashup of Mr. Potatohead and Katamari and see what you get! We would also still like to see reader Miis, but we'll relent -- you don't have to send us a picture of yourself -- just the Miis. Take pictures and send them to mii at nintendowiifanboy dot com.
