[Live-Action] Anthropomorphic Animals: Hybrid Animation

In honor of the upcoming Zootopia, and the new Film of the Week series, let's look at the anthropomorphic animals that made it in live-action films. Anthropomorphic animals are a common way to bridge the gap between animal and human, making the character more relatable for the audience. A short list, with a lot of Disney, check out three classic live-action hybrid films:

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, 1988

Taking a page from Looney Tunes in style, Roger Rabbit tells a story of live-action humans vs cartoon citizens, featuring a very anthropomorphic rabbit. Similar to Bugs Bunny, Roger has all the classic talents of animated characters - slapstick, gags, immortality, and those circling objects when he's hit on the head. It's the classic cartoon character juxtaposed with grumpy, live-action people, and that pretty much sums up the appeal of the film.

James and the Giant Peach, 1996

A stop-motion/live-action hybrid directed by Henry Selick, this was my introduction to stop-motion claymation, followed swiftly by The Nightmare Before Christmas. Based on the novel by Roald Dahl, the film follows the story of a young boy turned into a claymation puppet along with five human-sized bugs. At the end of the film, we see the animated bugs with live-action James, and a crowd of other people. It's very cool to see the possibility of enormous, claymation bugs.

Mary Poppins, 1964

A classic and one of the first films to overlay traditional animation on live-action film, Mary Poppins featured several traditionally animated animals near-anthropomorphic. The penguins, especially, are adorable, dancing along with spritely Dick Van Dyke, and somehow not getting stepped on.

Stay tuned for a new Film of the Week series featuring anthropomorphic animals, a movie adventure, and trailer talk!