In honor of Jeff Fowler making his feature debut with SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, I’m doing a thread of animators-turned-live-action directors. One of the earliest is Frank Tashlin, who went from making Looney Tunes cartoons to eye-popping live-action satires. Side-by-side comparison:
Possibly the first animator to direct live-action films was Charley Bowers, who made Chaplin-esque comedy shorts loaded with visual invention and incredible stop-motion effects all the way back in the 1920s. This guy’s mind-blowing stuff is begging for rediscovery.
The first animator to become a Hollywood movie director was Gregory La Cava, who helped to establish the screwball comedy genre in the 1930s. Here’s a comparison of his cartoon animals and an animalistic performance in his classic satire of the idle rich: MY MAN GODFREY.
Puppetoons legend George Pal directed several visually dazzling sci-fi and fantasy features in the ‘50s and ‘60s, which often incorporated stop-motion animation. Pal earned a special effects Oscar for his sci-fi classic THE TIME MACHINE.
Disney animator David Swift directed many of the studio’s most beloved live-action films (POLLYANNA, THE PARENT TRAP), but his masterpiece is the musical HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, with colorful mid-century art direction by fellow Disney alum Mary Blair.
Terry Gilliam brings the surrealistic humor of his cutout animation for Monty Python into his live-action work, producing bizarre classics like TIME BANDITS and BRAZIL. Here’s one of his best cartoon gags and Johnny Depp tripping out on acid in FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS.
Czech animator Jan Švankmajer is a genius at beautifully nightmarish imagery. His live-action features are always full of stop-motion visual splendor, especially his brilliant Lewis Carroll adaptation ALICE from 1988.
The most famous animator-turned-live-action-filmmaker is master of the macabre Tim Burton. He has continued to use stop-motion animation throughout his career, his 2012 feature FRANKENWEENIE being a great recent example.
Savage Steve Holland’s movies and cartoons are as wild as his name. His best work has to be the ‘80s teen classic BETTER OFF DEAD, which is full of cartoon jokes and has the endlessly quotable “two dollars” running gag (if you don’t know what that is, you have to watch it).
I didn’t realize how much I loved the Chiodo Brothers; they did stop-motion effects in PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE and ELF, and they directed the amazingly bonkers cult movie KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE. They’re currently making the stop-motion special ALIEN XMAS for Netflix.
I really need to dive into the works of French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Before he made quirk-tastic cult favorites like Amélie, he made weird stop-motion shorts. The intricate visuals and offbeat humor of his movies are said to reflect the sensibilities of an animator.
Whether making animated shows like BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD or movies like IDIOCRACY, Mike Judge has always been one of our best chroniclers of human stupidity.
Trey Parker & Matt Stone are of course best known for SOUTH PARK, but they’ve made similarly satirical live-action movies, broadway musicals and the hilarious puppet feature TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE. Hollywood - give us more puppet movies.
Rob Minkoff is best known as the director of THE LION KING (the good one), but he has made a lot of successful live-action films as well. Here’s a comparison between a fast-paced Roger Rabbit scene and a similarly action-packed kung fu battle, both directed by @RobMinkoff.
@RobMinkoff Kevin Lima is a major talent who has directed both animated movies and live-action features for Disney. He is best known for A GOOFY MOVIE, TARZAN, and the charming Disney self-parody ENCHANTED.
@RobMinkoff Michel Gondry got his start making animated music videos for artists like the White Stripes and Beck, and went on to direct similarly creative live-action films. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND with Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet is one of the best movies ever made.
@RobMinkoff Iranian-French artist Marjane Satrapi made her film debut the great autobiographical animated feature PERSEPOLIS, and went on to direct the talking animal / serial killer black comedy THE VOICES with Ryan Reynolds! I’ve never seen it, but this clip looks wild.
@RobMinkoff The amazing Brad Bird is one of the best directors of action in the business, whether in animation or live-action. Here are two vertigo-inducing scenes from THE INCREDIBLES and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL. @BradBirdA113
@RobMinkoff @BradBirdA113 Phil Lord & Chris Miller, the men behind THE LEGO MOVIE, gave their 21 JUMP STREET movies a delightfully cartoonish sensibility. Excited to see what @philiplord and Chris Miller come up with next.
@RobMinkoff @BradBirdA113 @philiplord Tim Miller - the director of DEADPOOL - started out as an animator, which adds up given Deadpool’s penchant for Bugs Bunny-style fourth wall-breaking. Here’s Miller’s animated test footage for Deadpool vs. the final product.
@RobMinkoff @BradBirdA113 @philiplord Thanks for reading, all! As always, a plug for my own cartoon at the end here: youtube.com/watch?v=jdtzQy…
