How George Clooney and Brad Pitt found their way into FarmVille 2

A lot of blood, sweat and tears likely went into FarmVille 2, social game giant Zynga's first direct sequel for its most iconic game. But it looks like quite a bit inspiration fueled this sequel--not that kind of inspiration. FarmVille 2 art director Daryl Anselmo told Entertainment Weekly that George Clooney and Brad Pitt influenced the animation of Gus, one of the game's main characters.

"We've got a character named Gus, and when we were designing Gus we were looking at leading men, and a couple that come to mind are George Clooney and Brad Pitt," Anselmo told EW. "They've got that "'loveable guy who's attractive in a way he doesn't really understand' [vibe] and we sort of looked at Pitt and Clooney and tried to carry that in his personality."

There you have it: That studly dude pictured above is Gus, but we see more Pitt in him than Clooney. The celebrity inspiration doesn't stop there, as Aselmo goes on to admit that comedy legends Don Knotts and Rodney Dangerfield inspired the chickens of FarmVille 2, of all characters. Now we know why the game looks so full of life.

"Don Knotts and Rodney Dangerfield had a charming, quirky personality and I could recall their eye movements and the way that they would quickly–their body language had sort of quick step movements to it," Aselmo added. "They were masters at sort-of comedic timing with their body language, so a lot of that was built into the chickens."

[Image Credit: EW]

Are you surprised to learn that these celebs inspired characters in FarmVille 2? What other inspirations can you see? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.