Journal Entry – Week 12

I would say that a good example of this would be “The Smurfs” (2011), where the Smurfs come to New York to escape Gargamel. The actors seem to interact with the CGI animated characters throughout the film, and even Asriel, the cat, is an actor and is also animated to make it seem more real. It was a very cool movie, and it exemplifies the blurred line between live action and animation because of how they adapted cartoon characters into a realistic setting so smoothly.

Prompt 1


Because the company thought it would make more money by focusing on the latest animation technology, specifically 3D animation. However, Disney started with 2D animation and had some of the best animators in the world. This decision to shift away from 2D was a mistake. They tried to cut costs by firing talented 2D animators. Unfortunately, the recent 3D movies did poorly at the box office, and their quality was disappointing.

Despite this, 2D animation and motion graphics are still valuable today. Many companies use animation to create helpful visual booklets for their employees, and marketing firms use it for brand promotion and TV ads.

Disney and other major studios began closing their 2D animation divisions in the late 1990s and early 2000s largely due to shifting audience tastes and the success of 3D animation. The turning point came with Pixar’s Toy Story (1995), the first fully computer-animated feature film, which was both a critical and commercial success. Following, 3D films like Shrek (2001) and Finding Nemo (2003) dominated box offices, while traditionally animated films like Treasure Planet (2002) and Home on the Range (2004) were box-offices bombs. Studios saw 3D as more modern, cost-effective in the long term, and easier to market to global audiences and and audiences made it clear that that is what they wanted to see. From a business perspective, the move made sense at the time. 3D films were consistently more profitable and perceived as cutting-edge. But from an artistic and cultural standpoint, many argue it was a loss. The closure of 2D departments meant fewer opportunities for hand-drawn animators and a narrowing of visual storytelling styles. It also sent the message that traditional animation was “obsolete,” which discouraged its growth in mainstream cinema, but it really hard to gauge what casual audiences really want to see Despite this, 2D animation has not died it still used heavily behind the scenes at Disney, with storyboard and concept art, Japan has remained a global leader in 2D animation through anime and indie and international films like Klaus and Wolfwalkers use hand-drawn techniques with modern tools to stunning effect.

Robert Zemeckis’s 1988 film “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” stands as perhaps the definitive example of the blurred boundary between animation and live-action cinema. The film seamlessly it integrates the animated characters physically interacting with live actors and real-world objects, they cast shadows, move three-dimensionally through physical spaces, manipulate props, and create consequences.