Ok so Murdo's not only a tricky guy to draw, he's actually a little hard to get to know.

So i'm trying to get inside Murdo's head and understand well..who he is really.
What better way to do that than with...yes, more inspirations.

Obviously he's very adventurous, that's kind of the main characteristic we were trying to portray of him. He's naive but that could also be to his age (only being 11 and all).

For me, adventure and youth is never far away in a Studio Ghibli film. The character's in Ponyo portray childhood innocence with a bit of youthful determination. I see Murdo to be very much like that. It's Sosuke that reminds me more of  Murdo though with his more inquisitive but thoughtful nature.

Spiderwick Chronicles: young kids about Murdo's age who come across magical characters both good and bad. It's the protagonist in this that reminds me of Murdo the most due to his determination and almost need for adventure.

Again, as far as age goes, Ben 10's pretty close. He's another character that comes across unusual and inhuman characters and is never short of an adventure. However, Murdo's journey is a little more tragic.

Another Brave inspiration. Merida is undeniably adventurous, but it is as though she cannot resist the temptation to discover new places, to the point where she's a little blind sighted by it and ignores the danger. This is a characteristic which is important to be seen in Murdo. The reason he'd go out in the boat without concern and even as the weather changes, there's no consideration from him to go back until it is too late.

Elliott being around the same age as murdo and the fact he has an encounter with an inhuman character (albeit the out come of Elliott's encounter is actually good instead of Murdo's unfortunate encounter with the kelpies) reminded me of the kind of relationship in our film. 

Who love adventure more than Tin Tin? However, it's Tin Tin's relationship with his pet that reminds me of Murdo. At first, Murdo's almost in awe rather than shock when he first see's the Kelpies. It's his inquisitiveness and naivety that inevitably become his downfall however in his back story, Murdo's quite an animal lover and we wanted him to have a pet. It's this trust instead of fear of animals that allows him to have that moment of awe before the reality sinks in. It's this that mainly links the characters for me here.

Apres La Pluie by Gobelins. This character seems to be of the same age as murdo, and his water-filled adventure certainly sparked a resemblance to our story. Again he too has an encounter with a water spirit.

                                             Coraline: another young adventurer and this time the story has a dark tone,                         which definitely is a factor in our film.

                             The golden Compass: Again another film with a young adventurer who has many     encounters with dangerous and powerful creatures.                                        

                                         Kevin Mcallister from Home Alone 2: One of the few young characters who would end up in a huge city all by himself and embrace the adventure.

                                          This boy from The Pagemaster reminds me of Murdo in his good nature and innocence.

Christopher Robin is very much like Murdo. A little young, but the innocence and kindness in this character is almost unrealistically exaggerated. Murdo tends to have the same qualities.

Similarly to Christopher Robin, this character is like Murdo in his youthful naivety and kindness. He's a gentle character which too is mirrored in Murdo.

                                                  This character sums up Murdo for me in many ways. If our film had a happy ending, I could see it turning out a little like this. Murdo is definitely the type of character to embrace the unknown and try to understand it.