Let the arguments begin! Twenty-some-odd years ago, the line between an animated film and a live-action one was well-defined. Sure, you could throw in some rough CG models in a movie and pass it off, but there was no way you could throw up a total animated feature and remotely hope to pass it off as a live-action one. The technology simply wasn’t there at the time, and only recently has the line become blurred.

A few years back, The Jungle Book hit theaters, and while Mowgli himself was purely live-action, everything else around him was animated. Still, we called it a live-action film. Now, with The Lion King, we have a film that is 100% animated movie…and yet we still call it live-action. But is it right to be calling it as such? Director Jon Favreau thinks the term “live-action” is on the money. Here’s why.

“Well, it’s difficult because it’s neither, really. It depends what standard you’re using. Because there’s no real animals and there’s no real cameras and there’s not even any performance that’s being captured that’s underlying data that’s real. Everything is coming through the hands of artists. But to say it’s animated I think is misleading as far as what the expectations might be. And it also changes the way you sit and watch it. Because hopefully, you could just watch it without it being introduced. If we put up that Rafiki footage and didn’t say what it was, some people might know, some people might not know how it was done, but it causes you to be present and mindful and pay attention because you’re trying to figure out what you’re looking at. And that’s a great disposition to be in as an audience member.

I remember when I saw Gravity, I didn’t know what I was gonna expect, I just heard it was cool. I didn’t know how they did half the tricks. And I was completely drawn in by it and it was the experience I remember going to the movies for when I was little. It just washes over you. I think calling it live-action is also not appropriate either, because it sounds like we’re trying to present something that isn’t accurate. And I don’t know what we’re gonna call it. I don’t know. But remember, things have to sort of fit into one clickable headline, so it’’s hard to have the nuance.”

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He’s got a point there. At the end of the day, it’s all about “genre” expectation. I put “genre” in quotes because I don’t believe animation is a genre, but when it comes to pitching a story to American audiences, billing something as either live-action or animated really changes the way one goes into the film and the overall expectations they have.

So, I suppose, going forward, it all depends on the message you’re trying to get across and how you want to sell it to our customers.

But how do you feel about it? Do you agree with Favreau? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: /Film