11 Binge-Worthy Films That Mix Live Action With Animation

Movies that mix live action with animation offer a unique viewer experience that blurs the line between reality and fantasy. The best ones make you forget — even if only for 90 minutes or so — that the animated characters on-screen aren’t really interacting with the flesh-and-blood actors.

J. Stuart Blackton’s 1900 short film The Enchanted Drawing is considered the first movie to mix live action and animation. In The Enchanted Drawing, Blackton draws a wine and glass and then takes the glass off the easel and into his hand. It’s 124-year-old movie magic!

In more recent times, movies such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Tron, Alita: Battle Angel, and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland continue to combine live action and animation in innovative ways. How many can you binge in one or two weekends?

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

Robert Zemeckis’ Who Framed Roger Rabbit imagines an alternate 1947 Hollywood in which humans and cartoon characters coexist in the real world. Charles Fleischer voices Roger Rabbit, a toon framed for murder. Kathleen Turner smolders as the sultry voice of his wife, Jessica Rabbit, who famously says, “I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.”

It’s still a gas to imagine a world in which familiar characters such as Betty Boop, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny, and Woody Woodpecker all compete for parts and fret over their career choices like the rest of us. The beloved fantasy-comedy won three Oscars: Best Film Editing, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Visual Effects.

Space Jam (1996)

This fan-favorite sports comedy stars basketball legend Michael Jordan as an exaggerated version of himself opposite Looney Tunes characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweetie, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, and more.

One of the best moments in Space Jam is when Jordan takes Bugs Bunny’s advice and uses “cartoon physics” to freakishly extend his arm and make a game-winning slam dunk. Roger Ebert described Space Jam as a “happy marriage of good ideas,” and one that today’s youth will still want to binge even if they have never heard of Looney Tunes.

The much-maligned sequel, 2021’s Space Jam: A New Legacy starring LeBron James, also combines live action and animation but without any of the original’s charm.

Mary Poppins (1964)

Julie Andrews made her film debut as the titular nanny in 1964’s beloved musical fantasy-comedy Mary Poppins. Whether she’s descending from the sky using an umbrella as a parachute or singing and dancing with animated barn animals, Andrews navigates her half-animated, half-live-action world with aggressive — and contagious — optimism that just might inspire you to sing along.

Critics universally praised Andrews’ performance and innovative animated sequences such as the tea party on the ceiling. The movie won five Oscars, including Best Actress for Andrews and Best Special Visual Effects.

The 2018 sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, also mixes live action with animation and is worth adding to your binge-watching list if you’re feeling extra “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

Cool World (1992)

Some people wrongly assume animated movies must be aimed squarely at children, but Cool World is a notable exception. The PG-13 fantasy stars Gabriel Byrne as a cartoonist who gets transported to the cartoonlike “Cool World,” which he created. Brad Pitt plays a Cool World detective and Kim Basinger plays a captivating femme fatale “doodle” who longs to cross over to the real world.

Although Cool World failed at the box office, critics praised the combination of live action and visual effects that look like walking through a painting. Cool World also has a real cool soundtrack to accompany the cool visuals, featuring songs by David Bowie, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Moby, and Ministry.

James and the Giant Peach (1996)

The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick directed the 1996 musical fantasy James and the Giant Peach based on the novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. Produced by Tim Burton, James and the Giant Peach features a combination of live-action and stop-motion animation in a story about the titular orphan who travels to New York City along with a group of charismatic invertebrates in a giant peach.

The stop-motion animation on some of the characters, especially Miss Spider (voiced by Susan Sarandon), is candy for the eyes. In the live-action segments, Joanna Lumley and Miriam Margolyes slay as James’ nasty aunties.

While watching James and the Giant Peach during your binge marathon, look for a cameo by The Nightmare Before Christmas‘ Jack Skellington in the Oscar-nominated film.

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

Sam Raimi directed this spiritual prequel to The Wizard of Oz that tells the origin story of Oscar Diggs (James Franco) — a traveling stage magician and con artist who gets transported to the magical land of Oz. Just like the 1939 MGM musical, Oz the Great and Powerful starts in the real world in black and white before bursting into color when Oscar arrives in Oz.

Some of the animated characters that Oscar interacts with look incredibly tactile, especially a porcelain doll named China Doll voiced by Joey King. The transformation of Mila Kunis from Theodora into the Wicked Witch of the West features some wicked animation as well.

Oz the Great and Powerful had a 3D theatrical release and is available at home on Blu-ray 3D. If you have the capability, seek out the 3D version to add another dimension to Raimi’s playful recreation of the mythical land of Oz.

Paddington 2 (2017)

In this sequel to 2014’s Paddington, gentle Paddington Bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) is framed for a theft that he did not commit. The combination live action and animated film features an extensive pop-up book segment as just one of its many visual treats.

Paddington 2 is the rare sequel that received even more critical praise than its predecessor, which is why it’s on this list instead of the 2014 original. In the Nicolas Cage film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, several characters unabashedly sing the praises of Paddington 2.

Paddington 2 earned more than $227 million worldwide at the box office, which prompted StudioCanal to green-light Paddington in Peru, set for release in November 2024. There’s still plenty of time to watch Paddington and Paddington 2 first!

Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

Robert Rodriguez’s underrated cyberpunk action movie Alita: Battle Angel is about the titular cyborg (Rosa Salazar) who wakes up in a new body with no memories intact. She embarks on a journey to discover her identity and purpose in a strange new world.

Not only does Rodriguez use motion-capture animation on Salazar to bring Alita to life, supporting actors played by Christoph Waltz and Jennifer Connelly look so real that it’s difficult to tell if you are looking at the actors’ real skin or CGI texturing. The result is a completely immersive experience that warps one’s perception of reality and allows sequences such as the Motorball competitions to defy the laws of physics.

Alita: Battle Angel is available in a 4K Ultra HD combo pack with a Blu-ray 3D, so you have the choice of watching it in Dolby Vision HDR for even more lifelike colors and contrast, or in 3D to give the world even more depth.

Warcraft (2016)

Duncan Jones directed this action-fantasy movie based on the video game series of the same name about warring clans of orcs and the humans caught in the middle of the conflict. The movie stars Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, and Dominic Cooper, to name a few in the large ensemble cast.

Jones commented on Twitter, “The best CGI has you forgetting its CGI, and accepting the visual as whatever it is supposed to be. Like props. No one has an issue with ‘props’ in film, do they?” Like Alita: Battle Angel, Warcraft does indeed feature a mixture of live action and animation that makes it difficult to discern which is which as the fantastical creatures and humans battle before a magical portal.

Although critics didn’t care for Warcraft, it’s worth including in a binge-watching marathon for its stunning visuals — especially when seen in 3D.

Tron

In Tron, Jeff Bridges plays Kevin Flynn, a video game designer who gets digitized and transported into the grid of his company’s mainframe computer, where a powerful artificial intelligence threatens the outside world. The live-action/animated sci-fi adventure also stars Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, and Barnard Hughes.

Tron became a moderate success at the box office, but only now can audiences appreciate just how ahead of its time it was — not just for its groundbreaking visual effects and computer animation, but for challenging ’80s viewers to imagine a future where AI might become a real threat to humans.

The Oscar-nominated movie spawned a sequel, Tron: Legacy (with Tron: Ares set for 2025), as well as several video games, comic books, and an animated series.

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland stars Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Mia Wasikowska as Alice, and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen. When we go down the rabbit hole with Alice, Wonderland comes to life with weird and wonderful characters from the mind of author Lewis Carroll.

Burton uses a combination of live action and computer animation to distort the proportions of the Red Queen’s head and other elements in Wonderland, which gives the movie a whimsical, surreal feel. By the time Alice faces the Red Queen’s Jabberwocky dragon toward the film’s end, viewers have become completely immersed in Burton’s Wonderland and accept everything on-screen as tangible.

Alice in Wonderland earned over $1 billion at the box office and spawned a live-action/animated sequel, 2016’s Alice Through the Looking Glass, which Burton did not direct but again starred Depp, Wasikowska, and Bonham Carter.