Character project - initial character thumbnails

Just as a reminder, the cards I picked out for the character project were:

The idea I have for the project is a video game (or possibly an App) set in a child's scrapbook. I wanted my main character to be non-human and appealing to all ages. Thoughts for my 'bad guy' are to have a human child who is adding to the scrapbook as the game is being played. So, for instance, the character is about to reach the top of the page and complete the level when a chubby arm comes into view and sprinkles glitter all over him which makes him fall down to the bottom. I was wondering whether to have a 2nd 'villain' in the form of a cat which pounces on the character as he climbs, but I'm thinking along the lines of a sidekick for the main character instead now who can aid him.

So these are a few of the very first thumbnails I came up with for the main character. He is still in development, but I'm looking towards something like number 17, with number 23 possibly being a variant. 

The sketch below shows how the book would be opened. As the character works his way from the bottom to the top, and therefore the end of the level, the page would turn and he would be on the next page or 'world'. Also on this page are possible different costumes for the character to enable him to complete the level.

Initial sketches for the 'bad guy' are below, though I've since been looking into more traditional illustrations of children from the 40s and 50s, as seen in the influence map underneath. I like the idea that the 'bad guy' is only seen in the form of chubby hands and sound effects throughout the game and is finally fully revealed at the end of a number of levels as a 'boss'. I'd like the child to be cute but also a little creepy and psychotic like the picture of the child looking at the sandwich in the influence map and the Teletubbies sun baby.

A little bit more info on the environments: As I'm setting this to be like a child's scrapbook or 'messy book' I see it looking similar to Charlie and Lola - like paper cut-outs of different textures. It would need to be quite colourful but not overly busy. I also like the Mary Blair type illustrations from the 40s and 50s, with the sharp edges and flat colours. I like the whole feel of children's illustrations from the era and it has a real cute, charming and slightly sinister feel about it which is exactly how I want my game to feel! Onwards!