History Main / KneeHighPerspective

A work with Knee-High Perspective is an animated, graphical, or live action work that takes place in a realistic setting within the human world in which the most of the scenes and action take place ankle, knee, or waist high. The characters are often children, cats, or dogs, but any similar sized or smaller character (often animal, elf, or toy) can work.

-->--''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/07/22 7/22/1987]]

If the characters are animals they can be anywhere on the SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism from NearlyNormalAnimal to FunnyAnimal. Works with babies and very small children as the main characters are often shot from this perspective. This generally results in all the human characters except for babies and toddlers becoming TheFaceless.

Sister trope to MouseWorld. Compare with DutchAngle (the camera is sometimes aiming upwards, and must be canted/tilted to create an uneasy atmosphere), HitlerCam (the camera is aimed upwards to make one or more figures taller/physically imposing), and LowAngleEmptyWorldShot (the camera is angled upwards to hide nearby scenery).

* ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'': All that are ever seen of the humans are their feet and sometimes hands.

* Averted in the live action ''Film/PeterRabbit'': Unlike in the original stories and their various adaptations, the adult humans are very much seen in full.

* ''Series/LandOfTheGiants'' takes place on a world of 70 foot tall giants. [[http://shrinking.freehostia.com/Pic/LGShell.mp4 Often, camera shots look up at people and things to show the perspective of the "little people" from Earth.]]

** In cartoons starring Sylvester and Tweety, the setting is knee or waist high, but Granny's face still be seen fairly often.
** In "Terrier Stricken," starring Claude Cat and Frisky Puppy, the setting is knee or ankle high in a house. Creator/ChuckJones called cartoons shot with a knee or ankle high perspective "baseboard cartoons."

* ''WesternAnimation/PeterRabbit'': The antagonistic TokenHuman, Mr. [=McGregor=] is usually viewed waist- or knee-high and is viewed either shoulder-high or full back view at most. Never is his face shown.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Lincoln's parents are never seen above the waist in Season 1. Their faces are finally reveled in the episode "11 Louds a Leapin."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Lincoln's parents are never seen above the waist in season 1.

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' plays with this with Andy's mom. She's either seen as a pair of legs, or from a distance where she can't be easily made out. This is averted in the following films, in which adults are clearly seen along with the kids and toys.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Figaro}}'' cartoon, "Figaro and Cleo" take place in a house viewed knee or ankle high and have the housekeeper, who looks rather like {{Mammy}} [=TwoShoes=], be viewed from just above the knees down. You can also see her hands and lower arms at verious different points in the cartoon.

->'''Lady at the zoo:''' Are you lost? What does your mom look like?
'''Calvin:''' From the knees down he looks just like you.

* ''Series/TheChristmasToy'' utilizes this, but only regarding the parents - we see the younger children (Jessie and Jamie, respectively) in full appearance throughout the special, but both of the parents are rarely seen above their necks; particularly from the toys' point of view, where they're usually only seen from the waist down.

* "Land of the Giants" takes place on a world of 70 foot tall giants. [[http://shrinking.freehostia.com/Pic/LGShell.mp4 Often, camera shots look up at people and things to show the perspective of the "little people" from Earth.]]

* In ''Comics/CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin once got lost during a trip to the zoo with his parents because he followed another lady who looked like his mom from the knees down.

* "Land of the Giants" takes place on a world of 70 foot tall giants. [[ http://shrinking.freehostia.com/Pic/LGShell.mp4 Often, camera shots look up at people and things to show the perspective of the "little people" from Earth.]]

* "Land of the Giants" takes place on a world of 70 foot tall giants. Often camera shots look up at people and things to show the perspective of the "little people" from Earth http://shrinking.freehostia.com/Pic/LGShell.mp4

* ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp'' has a setting like this, where most human characters with the exception of the baby are viewed knee down most of the time. The two main exceptions among the adult human characters are the restaurant owner Tony and his sidekick Joe.

* Averted in the various ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' television series, specials, and movies where the adults are usually [[TheVoice completely unseen]] and even their voices aren't comprehensive, with only a "wah wah wah" sound being heard. In some of the specials, such as the Mayflower episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThisIsAmericaCharlieBrown'' and ''WesternAnimation/ShesAGoodSkateCharlieBrown'', the adults are in full view and/or [[SuddenlyVoiced speak intelligibly]] however.

* ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'' uses this perspective, with the nanny character being the TheFaceless.

Sister trope to MouseWorld. Compare with DutchAngle (the camera is sometimes aiming upwards, and must be canted/tilted to create an uneasy atmosphere), HitlerCam (the camera is aimed upwards to make one or more figures taller/physically imposing), KneeHighPerspective (where the camera isn't angled, but is still close to the ground, creating the impression of a small perspective), and LowAngleEmptyWorldShot (the camera is angled upwards to hide nearby scenery).

Sister trope to MouseWorld.

* "Something's Cookin'", the opening cartoon of ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', uses this knee-high kind of perspective to pay homage to classic cartoons that take place in this setting.

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* Averted in the various ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' television series, specials, and movies where the adults are usually [[TheVoice completely unseen]] and even their voices aren't comprehensive, with only a "wah wah wah" sound being heard. In some of the specials, such as the Mayflower episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThisIsAmericaCharlieBrown'' and ''WesternAnimation/ShesAGoodSkateCharlieBrown'', the adults are in full view and/or [[SuddenlyVoiced speak intelligibly]] however.

* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' parodied this. The perspective of Mom and Dad was only up to their hips (even their arms are never shown, they use their legs for ''everything''), though other adults are seen normally. The pilot reveals Mom and Dad are really nothing more than a pair of disembodied legs. There ''is'' an episode where they're seen rifling through a closet and come across Mom and Dad's upper halves, however.

* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' parodied this. The perspective of Mom and Dad was only up to their hips (even their arms are never shown, they use their legs for ''everything''), though other adults are seen normally. The pilot reveals Mom and Dad are really nothing more than a pair of disembodied legs.

A work with Knee High Perspective is an animated, graphical, or live action work that takes place in a realistic setting within the human world in which the most of the scenes and action take place ankle, knee, or waist high. The characters are often children, cats, or dogs, but any similar sized or smaller character (often animal, elf, or toy) can work.

This is not the same as MouseWorld, which is about a parallel society largely hidden from the human world. Knee High Perspective describes a setting where the characters are living well within the human world, albeit with a camera view no higher than adult humans' waists. The characters are smaller than an adult human, so there's a slight scale difference, but not enough to classify as a MouseWorld. Also in Knee High Perspective, the characters are accepted in the human world, whereas in a Mouse World, they are not.

* ''WesternAnimation/PeterRabbit'': The antagonistic TokenHuman, Mr. [=McGregor=] is usually viewed waist or knee high and is viewed either shoulder-high or full back view at most. Never is his face shown.

* ''CowAndChicken'' parodied this. The perspective of Mom and Dad was only up to their hips (even their arms are never shown, they use their legs for ''everything''), though other adults are seen normally. The pilot reveals Mom and Dad are really nothing more than a pair of disembodied legs.

This is not the same as MouseWorld, which is about a parallel society largely hidden from the human world. Knee High Perspective describes a setting where the characters are living well within the human world, albeit with a camera view no higher than adult humans' waists. The characters are smaller than an adult human, so there's a slight scale difference, but not enough to classify as a MouseWorld. Also in Knee High Perspective the characters are accepted in the human world, whereas in a MouseWorld, they are not.

This type of shot is also known as "Japanese angle" or "Japanese shot," because it mimics the waist high perspective of someone kneeling in traditional Japanese style. In Latin America it is often referred to by those terms.

* This was a SignatureShot of Japanese director Creator/YasujiroOzu. His films tended to have many shots from a camera set about three feet off the ground, to mimic the perspective of someone kneeling in traditional Japanese style. This shot is found in his films ''Film/GoodMorning'' and ''Film/TokyoStory''.

* ''Series/TheChristmasToy'' utilizes this, but only regarding the parents - we see the younger children (Jessie and Jamie, respectively) in full appearance throughout the special, but both of the parents are rarely seen above their necks; particularly from the toys' point-of-view, where they're usually only seen from the waist down.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'', which follows a boy named Charlie Brown and his friends around the same age, also starring his dog Snoopy and a bird name Woodstock. In the comic strips, adults are only shown with their legs in some panels. Notably, you rarely see adults above the waist ([[InvisibleParents or adults at all]]) and you rarely hear them talk in words, either, just "blah blah blah" sounds, especially in the TV Specials.

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* ''WebComic/TwoLumps'': "Mom" is drawn as a pair of legs if standing (sometimes with an arm reaching down to feed one of the cats), shoulder-down if seated, and whole-body if laying on the couch.

* Most ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' cartoons take place in a house viewed knee, waist, or ankle high. Jerry's mousehole, which has furniture inside it, is MouseWorld, but the cartoons take place in the human world with a low camera view otherwise.
* The ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies'' cartoons, "WesternAnimation/ThreeOrphanKittens" and "More Kittens," take place in a house viewed knee or ankle high and have the housekeeper, who looks rather like {{Mammy}} [=TwoShoes=], be viewed from just above the knees down. The face of the girl that make an appearance in the first cartoon is seen however.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Lincoln's parents are never seen above the waist.

This is not the same as MouseWorld, which is about a parallel society largely hidden from the human world. Knee High Perspective describes a setting where the characters are living well within the human world, albeit with a camera view no higher than adult humans' waists. The characters are smaller than a adult human, so there's a slight scale difference, but not enough to classify as a MouseWorld. Also in Knee High Perspective the characters are accepted in the human world, whereas in a MouseWorld, they are not.

* The ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies'' cartoons, "WesternAnimation/ThreOrphanKittens" and "More Kittens," take place in a house viewed knee or ankle high and have the housekeeper, who looks rather like {{Mammy}} [=TwoShoes=], be viewed from just above the knees down. The face of the girl that make an appearance in the first cartoon is seen however.

* The ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies'' cartoons, "Three Orphan Kittens" and "More Kittens," take place in a house viewed knee or ankle high and have the housekeeper, who looks rather like {{Mammy}} [=TwoShoes=], be viewed from just above the knees down. The face of the girl that make an appearance in the first cartoon is seen however.

* ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'' uses this perspective, with the nanny character being the TheUnseen.