Pop culture has traditionally placed the art of animation firmly in the realm of children's entertainment. But the art form has much more to offer than creating colorful and simplistic stories for younger minds. The best storytellers know that animation can be a powerful way of conveying ideas for any age group.
That's why many filmmakers who make films for mature audiences use animation to add new dimensions to their stories. Let's take a look at times when key sequences in live action movies have been expressed through animation. Here are the 10 best animated sequences in otherwise completely live action movies.
10 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1
Warner Bros. Pictures
The Harry Potter franchise is mainly about a fantasy world of wizards and witches filled with all sorts of impossible things. The series makes good use of practical effects and CGI to tell its story. But there was a point Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 where the filmmakers decided to completely do away with the real world and instead use animation to tell a legend that exists in the world of Harry Potter.
When Harry and his allies try to understand the origin of the magical artifacts called "The Deathly Hallows", they are told the story of three old wizard brothers. The story unfolds on screen in animated form, inspired by shadow puppet theatre. This results in an eerie, gothic tone to the animation, making the story of the three brothers' encounter with death feel like a horror story rather than a children's fable.
9 Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has always been open about his love of animation and puppetry design. Both loves can be seen in full at the beginning of Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Before setting into motion the main plot, audiences are treated to an animated sequence that tells the story of a world that existed before humanity became the dominant species on Earth.
The story is told in the form of a children's fairy tale from the Middle Ages and the animation reinforces that feeling of old age. Instead of using modern cartoon styles, the characters in the animation are presented as rough wooden puppets pulled by invisible strings. The sequence allows the movie to unleash a visually spectacular battle between humans and fairies without spending a fortune on CGI or live-action movies.
8 Jurassic Park
Universal images
Today, the public considers the blockbuster nature of the Jurassic Park franchise. But when Steven Spielberg made the first movie in the series, Jurassic Parkthere was a lot of skepticism about whether you could make a story about dinosaurs running around in the modern world believable to the public.
Spielberg knew he had to get audiences on board with the movie's central conceit ASAP to really immerse them in the cinematic experience of watching dinosaurs rampage through an amusement park. To this end, the filmmaker used an animated sequence early in the film. The sequence unfolds like a traditional children's educational cartoon, explaining in the simplest terms how scientists were able to harvest dino DNA from nature to create modern day dinosaurs.
7 Black Panther
Amidst a sea of content in the MCU, the Black Panther series stands tall with a deep and extensive knowledge about the secret kingdom of Wakanda which is ruled and protected by the titular Black Panther. The main power source in Wakanda is the extraterrestrial metal vibranium, one of the most powerful substances in the universe.
At the beginning of Black Panther, an animated sequence tells the story of Wakanda's creation. The sequence plays out like a CGI cartoon, using mostly black and blue tones to explain how a vibranium-laden meteor crash-landed in Africa centuries ago, impacting all living organisms in the area and giving rise to the nation of Wakanda and his protector. Black Panther.
6 Aalavandhan
Hollywood isn't the only movie industry to use animation to tell adult stories. Aalavandhan is a 2001 Indian film that tells the story of a merciless killer named Nandhu and his twin brother Vijay. In one particularly gory sequence, Nandhu attacks a female character with a knife. The scene changes to animation, where Nandhu attacks his victim with excessive ferocity.
The scene caused a stir when the film was released in India. It was also noticed by Quentin Tarantino, who went on to use a similarly gory and violent animated sequence in his film. Kill Bill Vol. 1 to show the murder of the Yakuza boss Matsumoto by O-Ren. The scene borrows the animation style of Japanese anime in homage to the East Asian roots of the story Tarantino wanted to tell.
5 Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python was a world famous British comedy troupe that had been hugely popular since the 1970s. The crew of comedians used their increasing fame on television to create a number of cult classic films, the most memorable of which was 1975's. Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The film takes an absurdist approach to the story of King Arthur and his quest for the Holy Grail.
Of course, the movie's production budget wasn't big enough to warrant massive action sequences. At some point, King Arthur and his knights encounter a dragon-like creature called the Black Beast of Aaargh. The confrontation between the beast and Arthur's men takes place in animated form. The knights are helpless against the monster. Until the narrator announces that the animator has had a heart attack and can no longer draw the beast, leaving the heroes free to continue their epic quest.
4 enchanted
enchanted was intended as a stepping stone to classic fairy tale films along the lines of popular Disney animated films. To that end, the film opens with a cartoon montage in an animation style clearly modeled on Disney art. The montage reveals the story of Giselle, a beautiful young woman who lives in the fairytale kingdom of Andalasia and is betrothed to the dashing Prince Edward.
The story gets off to a good start when Giselle and her friends are thrown into New York's live-action world by magical shenanigans. After a series of real-world adventures, Giselle chooses to stay in the live-action world, while her friends return to the cartoon world with another animated climax montage.
3 Krampus
Animation is not always meant to bring joy and comfort. The 2015 Christmas horror movie Krampus uses an animated sequence to reveal the sinister origins of the play's villain, the dreaded monster known as the Krampus. The story unfolds in the form of a fable told by a grandmother to her family.
Through the animation, the grandmother tells how the people of her town once lost the spirit of Christmas due to great hardship. The lack of faith in the holiday caused the arrival of the demonic Krampus, who dragged all the townspeople to Hell. Only the grandmother was left with a talisman that could summon the demon again at a later date.
2 Annie Hall
Woody Allen's filmography is full of fanciful meditations on love and heartbreak in the modern age. Allen also has a habit of using pop culture markers in his stories to get his point across to the audience. For example, Anne Hal was a 1977 film starring Allen as a comedian trying to come to grips with his failed romance with the titular female character.
At one point, Allen's character Alvy admits that his choice of women has never been traditional. In an animated sequence, Alvy imagines Annie in the role of the Wicked Queen Snowwhite and the Seven Dwarfsarguing about their relationship and the reasons why the two don't get along.
1 Catch me if you can
Given his love of colorful filmmaking and his role as the producer of many memorable cartoon shows, it's quite surprising that Steven Spielberg has never directed a full-length animated film. But the esteemed author managed to sneak a tribute to his love of animation into the decidedly grown-up feature film Catch me if you can.
The film begins with an extended cartoon sequence before the credits. In keeping with the story's theme, the sequence depicts faceless animated characters living double lives and giving each other the slip, reflecting the cat-and-mouse life of Frank Abagnale Jr. on which the film is based.
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