Ideas of how to create my 2D shapes in Maya

My Idea:
I wondered if I could create my shapes in a similar way to my character for certain scenes. Like when the Mountain King is surrounded by shapes:

The shapes could be made as planes with a texture projection, meaning that the background of the planes will be transparent so you can just see the shapes. However, this wont be the case for all scenes as the Mountain King will need to land and walk on some shapes.

Texture Projection like this:

The Mountain King - Part 6: Skeleton (Right Side View) Improvements

Part 6: Skeleton (Right Side View) Improvements:
Since speaking with Alan I have made some adjustments and additions to my character's skeleton. I have added more joints to the neck and another joint in the middle of the hands. Doing this will create more bending movements. I have also added a rig to the hat and beard, this will hopefully give these features some nice and subtle movements.

Up until around Christmas I will be working on only one side of my character. Once I've completed one side, the other sides should be easier to work out and understand.

Here is my new improvements:

Image 1 - Right Side

Image 2 - Right Side

Image 3 - Right Side

Image 4 - Right Side

Image 5 - Right Side

Image 6 - Right Side

Image 7 - Right Side