The great thing about the movie industry is that, with technology constantly advancing, filmmakers are able to bring their wild imaginations to life more than ever before. The most recent experiment that combines animation and live-action is Space Jam 2: A New Legacy, but that isn’t exactly a new trend.
Whether it’s hand-drawn, computer-generated, or even in the form of stop-motion, cartoons have been creatively implemented into live-action movies, and vice versa, for decades. Between Sonic the Hedgehog finding his way on to Earth, and humans and toons sharing Hollywood in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, there’s a long lineage of movies that influenced Space Jam 2.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
Director Robert Zemeckis is a frontier and is constantly experimenting with the advancements in animation, whether it’s the live-action motion capture in The Polar Express or the digital effects in A Christmas Carol. But long before that, the filmmaker directed Who Framed Roger Rabbit? - a movie set in 1940s Hollywood, where humans and cartoons co-exist. The movie is both an entertaining period comedy and a genius experiment in cinema and given that it features rather mature themes for a kids’ movie, it’s one of the best movies for guys’ night.
It led the way for animation today and even though it was a huge experiment, it doesn’t come off that way, as it remains one of the best of its kind. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is a lot like The Beatles, as it influenced a whole genre of movies but it’s still yet to be beaten.
Mary Poppins (1964)
There are all sorts of surreal moments in Mary Poppins, whether it’s her bag that’s essentially like Doctor Who’s Tardis, or being able to fly with the help of her umbrella.
But it’s the moment when Mary Poppins and the Banks children jump into the chalk drawing in the park that’s one of the most imaginative sequences of all time. It sees the characters wander around a cartoon farm, and it culminates in Dick Van Dyke’s iconic penguin dance.
Pete’s Dragon (1977)
Before it was remade in 2016, Pete’s Dragon was a tentpole movie when it came to mixing cartoons and live-action. It’s one of the most energetic and fast-paced Disney movies there is, and it was praised for its effects, even though viewers were less enthused about the live-action scenes.
Though Pete’s Dragon might not measure up to how adored Mary Poppins is, the mix between the live-action and animation was way more effective than the 1964 movie. They’re comparable because they both used the same techniques for the effects, as they were two of the first movies to use green screen compositing.
The LEGO Movie (2014)
Live-action and animation weren’t just mixed in The LEGO Movie, but it was the twist at the end of the movie. As The LEGO Movie is based on real-life toys, it was revealed that everything that had happened in the movie was in the imagination of a child playing with the toys.
Not only that, but the child had projected his childhood trauma into the narrative he was creating with the LEGO. However, though it was one of the most ingenious narratives that have ever unfolded in an animated movie, it was snubbed by the Academy and wasn’t nominated for "Best Animated Picture." Whether that was because of the amount of live-action in the movie or because it was simply snubbed is a mystery.
Small Soldiers (1998)
Toy Story isn’t the only 90s movie that sees toys come to life, but Small Soldiers does it too, only in a much more mature way. The movie sees a group of toy military soldiers and toy monsters go to battle with each other, and a small neighborhood gets caught in the crosshairs.
The original idea for the Small Soldiers was to use puppetry, but in the end, it worked out better for the studio to use CGI to create the toys. Even with the nostalgia goggles taken off, the CGI surprisingly holds up, despite being one of the earliest major uses of the technology, and it’s a forgotten 90s gem.
Tom & Jerry (2021)
Tom & Jerry movies were completely animated, but as the franchise had laid dormant for years, something different had to be done to properly to bring the characters into the 21st century.
The 2021 movie is the newest example of mixing animation and live-action, and it followed movies like Alvin and the Chipmunks and Sonic The Hedgehog by making an old cartoon fresh by implementing it in to the real world. It isn’t the most critically acclaimed movie in the world, as it was criticized for lacking the anarchy that made the previous cartoons and movies so exciting. But it’s fun to see the character again for the first time in ages, and Tom & Jerry is still charming, despite it being much more child friendly.
Scooby-Doo (2002)
As the morning show depicted the whole cast of Scooby-Doo as cartoons, the 2002 movie turns everything in to live-action except for the talking mutt himself, along with all of the monsters.
The movie not so meticulously blends the animation of Scoob, Scrappy, and all of the monsters on Spooky Island with the real, live-action world. The actors are clearly talking to an empty seat, as the eye lines continuously shift. But regardless, it’s such a fun movie, and all of the live-action character versions of Shaggy and the rest Mystery Inc. capture the magic of the cartoon perfectly.
Elf (2003)
Though Elf is largely live-action, the first 15 minutes or so mixes a whole variety of cartoons, be it CGI, hand drawn animation, or stop-motion animation. Buddy’s time spent on the North Pole is strange, nonsensical, and totally magical, as North Pole has never been depicted it such a bizarre way before.
Besides Will Ferrell’s irresistible improv and the Christmas charm, the animation is part of what makes Elf arguably the greatest Christmas movie ever.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water (2015)
The series has been known to bend the world’s reality on several occasions, as all three of the SpongeBob SquarePants movies have blended animation and live-action in some form or another. But none of them do it as well as Sponge Out Of Water.
In fact, Sponge Out Of Water is the most overtly live-action movie in the series, as it isn’t just an odd scene here and there. The film follows a live-action pirate named Burger Beard, who attempts to steal the secret Krabby Patty formula, and the final third of the movie is almost entirely live-action.
Sonic The Hedgehog (2020)
It was lucky that it barely escaped development hell, as the reception to Sonic The Hedgehog was nothing but praise. Though fans didn’t get to see all of the colorful different worlds found in the video games, the camaraderie the animated character had with the human characters was brilliant, and making Dr. Robotnik a real-life character was inventive.
As throwing classic animated characters in to live-action worlds is the current industry fad, whether it’s Tom & Jerry or Peter Rabbit, Sonic The Hedgehog is by far the creme de la creme.