What was the teacher hoping for the students to do? Create new characters? Maybe this is an issue of the teacher's directions being unclear or poorly matched to the output she is seeking. As a follow on, did your daughter interpret the instructions in a reasonable way?
Personally, I think it shows ingenuity for a child to take an existing framework (i.e. the characters) and make it her own. Isn't that called "innovation" for adults?
Do you feel that the teacher's opinion on this one assignment is being used to label your daughter more broadly without basis?
