Carlos Baena:

Character development:(Reference: CGChar)

Definitely. This why you should really get to know your character. If it's for someone else's film, then go to whoever has been dealing with the character, supervisors, directors, and get to know the character. If it's for your own film, same thing...start making a list of things that will make you learn more about this character. Things like these. I found these somewhere, and learned so much from it, that I bring them everywhere. If anyone knows who wrote these lists, I would love to know to give the person them credit:

Story:
o Do you care about the characters?
o Is there Conflict?
Personality:
o How does the character feel about himself?
o His/Her Strengths and Weaknesses.
o What does he/she want in life?
o Goals, desires and hopes.
History:
o Little history about him.
o What events shaped him into what he is?
Environment:
o Hostile, friendly, oppressive, country, farm, college, poor, rich…
Music:
o What style of music reflects the heart and attitude of your character?
Design:
o Character design says a lot.


I also found these other notes on character development:

-AGE.
-Physical Traits.
-What makes him a distinctive individual.
-Picture these in your head to make him ALIVE.
-NEVER make movements/gestre without a reason.
-Analyze every movement or gesture until you are satisfied that it is the most truthful, effective and direct way to present your character.
-Make only one gesture/movement at a time = one IDEA.
Primary ACTION (even if there are Secondary actions)
-Is the Character INTERESTING? ALIVE? Do you become emotionally involved with it?
-Does the ACTION help DELINEATE the character?
-Does he have the charisma you desire?

It makes more than sense to me. I mean, if your character for example is 80 years old, it's definitely going to dictate how this guy moves, what are his/her personality traits. If he's on a thinking pose, that pose will be considerably different than if it's a 10 year old kid thinking. Anything we do with these characters should be there for a reason.

I try to read these as much as I can, and realize what the hell it is that I am animating. I forget constantly, and these are good reminders.
At Pixar, we have constant talks about who is the main character, what's he like?...where is he at at this particular moment in the story?...is he/she learning from what just happened?