AA’s story started with a freshman year final project (yup, the one made with Protopie). At the time, I had zero ideas for the assignment, and honestly, I was kinda down—being in the U.S. meant being away from my pet, and I found myself constantly hanging out at NYC’s cat cafés and dog cafés to fill the void. Then it hit me—why not create an interactive cartoon story about pets? I needed two mischievous little animal characters to spice up my life a bit. That’s how AA was born… and soon after came Doggy.

In the first sketches, AA didn’t look nearly as round and potato-like as now. Back then, they looked more like a weird abstract creature, be like:
       
But as the project moved along, AA evolved into the evil potato they are today—with a W-shaped mustache and a short, round tail. (Fun fact: AA doesn’t have a butt or a gender, so no worries about them doing their business on your pillow.)

Doggy also changed a bit—mainly, he just got chunkier. He’s always looked trustworthy but is secretly a menace who bites when you least expect it.

AA! The Motion Portrait
This little animation is something I made in After Effects—a reimagined version of the original interactive story. I really wanted to give AA and Doggy a fuller storyline. This “no-dialogue mini movie” follows a simple plot: AA wakes up early one morning, gets Doggy up too, and together they travel through hills and forests to wake up Uncle Bear Bear from hibernation… just so they can all hang out. (Uncle Bear Bear wasn’t amused.)

Making this wasn’t easy—I had to dig deeper into AE, figure out how to recompose vertical drawings into wide scenes, and still make everything look cute and cinematic. But in the end, I pulled it off and made something I’m super proud of. Just like AA—a little evil, a little round, and completely lovable.