Disability/Prosthetics in Animation

Characters that have either a physical or mental disability or a missing appendage are far and in-between, being even rarer in the animated format, particularly those with a mental disability or a physical disability that isn't a missing limb. There are many more who have a missing limb, and with a complex and compelling prosthetic. The thing about these characters is that to find a character that is missing a limb and has a prosthetic, but that the missing limb isn't their defining characteristic. It's way too common to find a character where their only characterization is said missing appendage or, like beforehand, their disability.

The prosthetic that a character with a missing limb uses vary widely, with varying levels of technical prowess and complexity. Since it's animation, the animators have free rein to do whatever they may please with the fake limb, whether that means doing tasks that today's technology can't do, or having the limb shapeshift. Heck, maybe the prosthetic won't even be a limb! Some animated characters, particularly within games, have weapons like swords or firearms in place of an actual 'limb'.

Perhaps the simplest fake appendage is the classic hook for a hand, popularized by Captain Hook (what a name) in Peter Pan. The most widely seen is probably a robotic arm, which is worn by many anime characters and cartoon characters. If that same character has another missing appendage or an eyepatch, you know that character has been through a lot. The most realistic, or probable, fake appendage(s), that I've seen is automail, from the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise. Handmade of high-quality steel and surgically grafted onto the patient, these fake limbs are controlled telepathically by a connection between the nerves of the patient and the wiring of the automail limb. Since this is technology that is just being explored into, it wouldn't be surprising if an automail like limb is engineered soon.

Easily the most complex fake limb I've seen in an animated context is Captain John Silver's arm from Treasure Planet. This limb is absolutely fascinating, with a Swiss army knife list of functions and appearances that trump even the most advanced of today's technology.

In terms of other disabilities, there are a number of blind animated characters or wheelchair-bound characters. Finding mentally disabled characters is more difficult, though. I can think of one major, well-known character that has a mental disability, and that is Dory, from Finding Nemo (see below).

Rarely does one find a movie or show where there is more than one character with a physical or mental disability. Therefore, there are two movie franchises that I would like to bring attention to- How to Train Your Dragon and Finding Nemo. The former revolves around helping a disabled dragon fly again, and is particularly moving for the obvious and intended parallel between Toothless's tail and Hiccup's leg. A similar parallel is explored between Hiccup and Drago in the second film- Hiccup uses kindness, and mutual respect to train dragons, and a touch of his hand: Drago is missing his arm. Drago uses forcefulness, fear, and tyranny to step on a dragon, training it to fear him: Hiccup is missing his leg. That second parallel is extremely subtle, but effective.

The latter, Finding Nemo, as aforementioned, includes a great representation of short-term memory loss with the character Dory. It also explores the relationship between Nemo and Gill through their  shared disabled right fins, forming a tight and father-figure type bond between the young clownfish and battered moorish idol.

So while these characters are hard to find, they are compelling and memorable characters that try to not let their disability define them.