Interestingly, the early Disney full length cartoons (Snow White etc) often had that problem; the animators said they had trouble drawing male characters. Which is why you don't see them much in the story.
Good luck on both of your art pieces, guys!
I'm so happy, hehe, last night I went to a Paley Center event on how opera has been used in popular culture (commercials, TV shows etc). At one point they showed Rene Fleming singing on Sesame Street. So during the Q&A session, I asked if the panelists were familiar with the Sesame Street character Placido Flamingo, which of course was designed to introduce kids to opera. They did seem to have heard of him and were pleased I brought it up!
A few minutes later another audience member, who seemed to be a teacher, asked the panelists if they approved of character like Placido Flamingo or if they thought teachers should instead just take their kids to see an actual opera. The panelists said both were great ideas and anything to get kids interested should be encouraged. I hope Richard was proud of me, hehe.
It's great then that Placido is featured a couple times on SesameStreet.org!