Animation character design is the soul of animation creation. Excellent animation character design can promote the development of the plot, reflect the value of the work itself, and lay a good foundation for the success of the film. The paper takes the domestic animation movie I Am What I Am as an example, and studies the characteristics of a credible, respectable and lovely Chinese animation character image from the relationship between animation character design and animation film, the spiritual image design of animation character, and the styling design of animation character. The Chinese animated film I Am What I Am is created with realistic themes, and tells the story of the main character’s struggle for his dream, creating a credible, respectable and lovely Chinese spiritual image. However, the character’s features and shape are overly exaggerated, lacking in beauty, and not unified with the purely realistic style of scenes and props. Therefore, domestic animation creators need to pay attention to the all-round beauty and style characteristics of the character, and design a credible, lovely and respectable Chinese animation character image.