Theme: Toons/Live-Action and Animation

Toons are cartoon characters. Not just regular cartoon characters, more specifically, it is a name given to cartoon characters reacting with live-action actors. The term was coined by the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) set in an Alternate Realities where humans and cartoon characters coexist.

Toons had existed before they were even given a name with Disney having conducted blends of animation and live-action beginning with The Reluctant Dragon (1941) and most famously in Mary Poppins (1964) and Pete’s Dragon (1977).

Roger Rabbit spawned a brief fad for copycat toon films, although the practice died away shortly thereafter as the advent of CGI animation meant that live-action and drawn elements began to blend seamlessly with little dividing line.