Comingsoon.net is counting down the seven best films that try to combine animation and live-action. Do you have a personal favorite? Let us know in the comments, but be sure to check out our gallery below first!
Any movie that blends animation and live-action exists in defiance of the science of physics. It is no simple task to blend a three-dimensional plane with a two-dimensional character or vice-versa. These days, the line between animation and live-action becomes more and more blurred. Three-dimensional computer-generated characters are placed more seamlessly into a digital world. Debates rage on with films like Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book as well as his upcoming film The Lion King. Are they live-action? Are they animated? What if the latter is nominated for an Academy Award? Under which categories could it be eligible to be nominated?
With films like that of Favreau’s as well as the Rob Letterman-directed—best known for his work on Shark Tale or Monsters vs. Aliens—Detective Pikachu on the horizon, it seems as good a time as any to look back on a simpler time. An analog time, before the domination of digital film, when hand-drawn, two-dimensional, traditionally-animated movies walked the earth in high volume. These films surely helped inspire these new entries to classic animated franchises. Then we can revel in our own excitement for the newest and shiniest movies on the horizon. Here are seven of the best classic films that blend live-action and animation.
7 Best Movies That Blend Animation and Live Action
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'Cool World'
For better or worse, Cool World is best known for being a bit of a Who Framed Roger Rabbit? ripoff. But the film is grittier and markedly more adult. With a very young Brad Pitt doing the investigation, Cool World is something all its own.
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Space Jam'
Space Jam is a widely-beloved classic. You are nearly as likely to see a TuneSquad jersey on the street as any NBA jersey. It is exciting to look forward to the upcoming Space Jam 2, considering that. unlike Michael Jordan, LeBron James is actually a good actor.
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'Mary Poppins'
Who can forget the scene in Mary Poppins when Julie Andrews's titular character et al. jump into a chalk drawing? It is easily one of—if not the most—captivating sequences of the classic family film from Disney.
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'The Spongebob Squarepants Movie'
David Hasselhoff's cameo may very well be the most memorable part of The Spongebob Squarepants Movie. The former Baywatch star serves as the perfect deus ex machine to launch us into the film's final act.
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'The Three Cabelleros'
The Three Caballeros is one of the earliest examples of blending animation and live-action. The film sees everyone's second-favorite animated duck Donald on a trip through Latin America. With his two wingmen by his side—Jose Carioca, a parrot from Brazil and Panchito Pistoles, a rooster from Mexico—he sings and dances with celebrities from the area.
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'James and the Giant Peach'
We cannot imagine a better adaptation of Roald Dahl's whimsical novel. Time and time again, with films like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, Henry Selick has proven himself to be a skilled stop-motion animator.
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'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?'
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? remains the undefeated champ of the genre. From a technical standpoint it is nearly perfect and beautifully blends the classic noir genre with cartoonish madness. It is easily the best film of Robert Zemeckis's entire oeuvre.
