I forgot to say it in the video, but this is actually my 100th video! I'm so proud of this community I've created and the conversations we've fostered. Thanks to all of you for watching my babble on a hundred times!

@gimphandjeff

22 күн бұрын

Congrats! I found your channel and it inspired me to read the books. I'm currently on The Two Towers and I have been blown away by Tolkien.

@raphaelponzi

22 күн бұрын

Congrats. Love the hair - obviously going for the Chun-Li Street Fighter vibe.

@Puddlewiggle

22 күн бұрын

The reading made me choke up and want a physical reread, not just a re-listen.

@willemvandebeek

22 күн бұрын

Congratulations! 🥳

@sebastianevangelista4921

22 күн бұрын

@@gimphandjeff I started reading LoTR just yesterday.

That quote about Gollum as just an old weary hobbit is one of my favorites from the books, such pain and sorrow and loneliness it those lines. I also adore that the reason Gollum worked so well is because all of the wonderful people cooperated together, it was not just one thing.

The death threats over media thing makes me so sad, especially for characters like Jar Jar who I grew up with and loved as a kid. I’m glad Ahmed Best still got to be a part of the Star Wars universe. His performance was great and he’s such a standup dude.

@svr5423

22 күн бұрын

I really dislike the character, but I have nothing against the actor. It baffles me that people can’t separate them in their heads and take it so personally.

I remember recognition for Andy growing and growing year by year, from "some guy in mocap costume", right after Two Towers release, to respected artist. Happy to see it here, thanks for the video

Andy Serkis definitely deserved an Oscar for his Gollum, at least he has received global recognition for his work

@sabineb.5616

18 күн бұрын

Alex, you are right. Andy Serkis should've at least won one Oscar for his great performance. He and Jackson's CGI crew should've won for turning Gollum and King Kong into full fledged characters with beautiful souls. And there was a lot of talk that Andy Serkis should've won an Oscar for his Cesar in "The Planet Of The Apes " trilogy. I don't understand why the Academy is so unflexible. They should've created a new category many years ago.

@claytonberg721

13 күн бұрын

Tim Robbins won that year for Mystic River. Tim Robbins was really good in a very good movie that got overshadowed by ROTK. I feel he deserved that award. I would have subbed out Alec Baldwin and put Andy Serkis in as a nomination however.

@sabineb.5616

13 күн бұрын

@@claytonberg721, I would've to re-watch "Mystic River". I saw it a long time ago and really liked it. But l think that the Academy should create a new category for motion capture performances! This could reward the CGI crew and the actors or actresses whose performances were captured. Does anyone know btw if there have been notable motion capture performances by women? Qnyway, such an Oscar won't need to be awarded each year, but only if there have been outstanding motion capture performances. And it wouldn't take away Oscars which reward regular performances.

@claytonberg721

13 күн бұрын

@@sabineb.5616 serkis is an easy one to say he should be recognized but after that it becomes a lot more difficult. Some have said Cooper should have been nominated for Rocket in GotG III. But unlike Serkis he was never on set, Sean Gunn was the on camera reference. Motion capture performances by women? Lauren Mary Kim provided the motion capture for the Ahsoka in the fight against Darth Maul. But of course Ashley Eckstein provided the voice. Obviously that's TV/Streaming. Lauren Mary kim has done stunts for daredevil (doubling for Elektra), the mandalorian (the armorer and fennec shand) and others. She's pretty bad assed. There must be more women actors doing mo-cap I'm just not remembering them.

@sabineb.5616

13 күн бұрын

@@claytonberg721 , thanks for the info about female mo-cap performers 😀 I also think that there must be more by now. I will look into this. Characters like Gollum, Kong, Cesar or Rocket have been brought to life not by a single person but by a bunch of people. That's why an Oscar, if the Academy will create a new category needs to be shared.

I thought Andy had such a good job with gollum that he couldn't get any better but i think he did as Caesar in the planet of the apes movies. He is truly amazing.

From an action perspective, there is a brilliant fight scene in the final episodes of Star Wars Clone Wars that was done entirely in mocap. The fight between Ahsoka and Darth Maul is so dynamic, detailed, and precise and it’s because they got skilled performers to perform the choreography in performance capture suits.

@FelicityUwU

19 күн бұрын

I did hear the perspective of one person who liked how the non mocap fights were "floaty" and that there was something about it he preferred. And I suppose in a world where the force can throw things and people, letting people be a bit floaty makes sense. I have no opinion on this as I haven't watched any of the show though. But I thought I'd bring it up and ask if you have any thoughts on that opinion I heard.

One of the few good things to come out of the pandemic was Andy Serkis reading The Hobbit. Especially for a non-native English speaker like myself, it was such a treat to hear Tolkien's words spoken in such an incredible voice.

@BillupsOMally

22 күн бұрын

His audiobook performances of the Lord of the Rings are absolute gold as well.

@Jess_of_the_Shire

22 күн бұрын

I love his audiobooks so much! He reads the new version of Terry Pratchett's Small Gods, and it's just excellent

@Simone-bc2fo

22 күн бұрын

@@Jess_of_the_Shire I've never read anything by Pratchett, although I have it on good authority that he is one of the greats. Maybe I'll start from that audiobook. Thanks for the suggestion!

@Jess_of_the_Shire

22 күн бұрын

@@Simone-bc2fo I highly recommend almost any of his works. Going Postal or The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents are also favorites of mine.

@sebastianevangelista4921

22 күн бұрын

@@Jess_of_the_Shire What's your favorite sub-series of Discworld? Maven of The Eventide has an excellent review of Carpe Jugulum if you're in the mood for Pratchett's Witch material.

Thank you for this great video topic. I'm still amazed that Gollum doesn't look laughable over 20 years later. They really were pioneers in technology as well as artists. I remember hearing that the program for realistic CG fire didn't exist until right as the Balrog needed to be rendered. So, if the first movie was made even 1 year earlier, Durin's Bane would not have held up nearly as well as it has.

@Jess_of_the_Shire

22 күн бұрын

It really is crazy how lucky they got. The timing was perfect!

Aside from this video being great, I cant get over how great Jess' hair looks.

"It holds up better than almost every one of its contemporaries." I'll agree, with a caveat. It also holds up better than most examples since. Very well done. Masterful even. Great video again, Jess!

Animated Aragorn tripping during his run is just like live action Aragorn kicking the helmet. They kept the footage because it worked for the story.

Andy Serkis as Gollum was the first time I remember understanding what great acting is

I hadn't heard of him until I stumbled across rave reviews of his readings for the audio books, "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit." Like you, he sings! (...though, admittedly, his voice is not as beautiful as yours.) His narration is fantastic as he attempts to bring each character to life. I would be excited to enjoy his video productions. If I have a favorite celebrity, it may very well be him.

@stefanlaskowski6660

22 күн бұрын

Just finished the Audible version of Serkis' LotR yesterday, and started his The Hobbit today. Truly wonderful. So I listened to them out of order. Sue me. I've already read them all at least thirty times.

Andy Serkis is one of the best things to happen to Middle Earth for me. I've done The Silmarillion twice this year listening to him read it and he's just great.

@scripturalcontexts

21 күн бұрын

He does an audiobook of it? Awesome

@oliverjones5350

21 күн бұрын

@@scripturalcontexts He does The Hobbit and Rings as well, definitely worth a gander.

Thank you for your work, this is a great recap of the motion capture history that do not leave anyone in the shadow. The relation between Andy Serkis and animators is as you said an ego story. Serkis wasn't recognized at start as a whole actor for his performance on Gollum, he started so to take all the credit of the final performance and animators weren't happy to be spoiled of their hard job. Now, he's using the spot he has to share the light with all the artists that work on the performance, and this is great. In fact, the credit for a performance is dependent of the shot. Some are heavily focus on the actor (even if there is always a work of adaptation on the CG character), and some others are even not taken from the main actor but from another mocap specialist actor or just from animators self-filmed references. Unfortunately, because the actors are the visible faces of the industry, because the mocap is a pretty recent and complex technic, and because they like the magic of the FX, the industry used to put the light on the actors only when they talk to a large public, even if with time there is more and more visibility for the whole job like you did here ❤

Andy Serkis was perfect in the role. His talent and dedication made his Gollum iconic. Thank you for another outstanding video! Congrats on your 100th video!

Remember seeing this Performance at a German Movie Theater. The small screen, just doesn't do it justice. Andy Serkis is a treasure.

The pinnacle of rotoscoping is definitely Fleischer’s Betty Boop short “Snow-White.” Tracing Cab Calloway’s dance moves as they animated him as a ghost transforming into all sorts of shapes and objects was definitely not cheating.

Just FYI, a friend of mine is doing physical therapy at home which is being recorded using this sort of technique that the therapist can track his movements. So there is some real world application for this. Congratulations by the way on your 100th video! You’re doing a great job.

I think Serkis should have won an Oscar for his portrayal of Gollum

Serkis’ work as Gollum was huge. And his evolution of the mocap performance art was perfectly realized as Ceaser. It truly is a shame he didn’t get an Oscar for his performances as Ceaser in Dawn or War of the Planet of the Apes.

@sabineb.5616

18 күн бұрын

It has to be said, that the animators contributed a huge part to Gollum. Andy Serkis AND the CGI-crew should've won a shared Oscar!

Andy Serkis is talented. Yes, he is my precioussss. I always look forward to your videos- they are incredibly well-researched, entertaining, and thought-provoking. I have many happy memories reading Tolkien's books and watching the movies with friends.

@Jess_of_the_Shire

22 күн бұрын

Thank you so much! It's a joy to have you here watching

@prodigalfraudaddy-es1gl

20 күн бұрын

​@@Jess_of_the_Shireneed a "hunt of gollum" short movie in youtube watchalong ..esp since its going to b the new lotr movie to be made by peter jackson and serkis .im surprised u havent yet

The Lord of the Rings films, Andy Serkis and Gollum was one of those instances when talent collided and we got something truly great. You need someone like Andy but you also need people to see it and embrace it and run with it. If you do anything arty and you talk to anyone else arty and due to that you both raise your game, and inspire each other, you'll know what I mean.

Congrats on your 100th video! 🎉

@Jess_of_the_Shire

22 күн бұрын

Thanks so much!

Brilliant! Loved this! Brilliant! And Bravo! What I would really love is for you to listen to the Andy Serkis reading of the entirety of the Lord of the Rings, unassisted by any other voices or background accompaniment for sound effects or anything, because I consider this one of the best readings of ANY story I have ever heard!

Anyd Serkis' work as King Kong and as Caesar in Planet of the Apes is legit.

I work in filmmaking and never realized how far back capturing motion picture went, love thinking about those people basically figuring out video over 100 years ago. Also that part where Sméagol feels like a hobbit for a moment always makes me tear up.

Thank You, Jess, for Your deep insight in Gollums creation. Andy Serkins is really one of the most devoted and emotinal actors. Much like Your en- and delighting storytelling about LOTR- storytelling and filmmaking. Thank YOU so much to take us into the shire and beyond ❤

It's crazy to think that Andy Serkis's video audition and facial reactions being so strong singlehandedly invented motion capture and changed the entire film industry.

@geneticjen9312

21 күн бұрын

...

When I worked at Finsbury Park underground station, Andy Serkis came through the station. The staff were thrilled to meet him and Andy was an absolute gentleman. One of the staff asked him to do the Gollum voice, which is something he is probably asked a lot but he complied without hesitation.

12:10 Andy Serkis, the High Elder of the Council of Gimps. Dank references write themselves whenever a true mad lad is discussed.

Congratulations on your 100th video! Once again, your video is interesting and informative on more things then just LOTR content. Your channel is thoroughly relaxing and Treebeard levels of cozy. Thank you for uploading, these videos genuinely help me relax and ease the burden of a troubled mind. Your work is legitimately helping those who struggle with mental health. Cheers!

5:45 Can you imagine John Hurt’s reaction when he saw that in the theater? Such a legendary actor with a blooper that was left in a cartoon 😂

I just want to point out that all the face animation at that time was hand animated, and the only mocap data was from the body which required tons of cleanup and reworking. Today we can mocap faces pretty well but in early 2000s that was not the case. Andy likes to take a lot of the credit for Gollum's success but animators and modelers are the real heroes.

Jess, I love your outfit and especially the space buns ! So adorable 🐻💖

Jess’s CGI avatar looks amazing in this video. The tech really advanced. Gorgeous and charming, just like the real one.

Sending death threats to actors has always baffled me. Like you pointed out, there is the major issue of "why would you send death threats to ANYONE? That is so messed up," but then there's also the fact actors aren't even the ones deciding what happens to the character and the story. It's like shooting the messenger.

I prefer practical effects, but I have NO problems with Performance Capture, as long as it's used right. Peter & co beautifully demonstrated the absolute PERFECT balance of the two. Andy should have gotten at least a nomination for his utterly stunning performance. 🖖😎🤘🇨🇦🕊️

Its so awesome to look back on it now , I watched every second of the appendices in the extended versions , I would get them the day they were released . The amount of pioneering techniques used in these films from motion capture to " Bigatures" and the people on stilts in the giant people suits ( cant remember what they called those ) is just awe inspiring, Happy 100th Jess thank you for all the great content

Benedict Cumberbatch's motion capture of Smaug was exquisite, and was the next big step in the evolution of this acting/art form. Weta studios again...

This look is just...chef kiss

8:07 Ahmed Best has been redeemed in the Star Wars community. Fans have learned that blaming the actors for poor writing is like blaming James Cameron for the Terminator having an Austrian accent. Also, Best recently played a new role in season 3 of The Mandalorian, where he performed BRILLIANTLY. When Order 66 was issued, his new character risked his life to save baby Grogu, and in Star Wars, if you save Grogu, you’re granted a pardon for all previous bad movies 😅

I really enjoyed learning about Gollum. Congratulations on 100 videos as well. Thank you, Jess. ❤❤

One of my favourite uses of mocap would be in the Monsterverse, particularly for King Ghidorah in King of the Monsters. It's such a good cross between cgi and the traditional suitmation in the older toho movies. And the mocap really brought Ghidorah and his three heads to life and imbued them with so much personality, that it's become my favourite interpretation of their character.

Amazing how so much brilliance was in every part of these movies!

God bless you and your work lady Jess 💙💙💙 deep respect from Croatia-Europe 👍👍👍💙💙💙

Another fascinating video Jess. Congrats on reaching your 100th 👍

Gollum is the one character that breaks my heart. I had hoped he would have been redeemed.

Congrats on 100, well over 100k subs, too that’s a pretty remarkable return

@Jess_of_the_Shire

22 күн бұрын

Thank you so much!

I love the move Battle Angel Alita, it used a lot of Mo-Cap or performance capture, So without Lord of the Rings, there would not have been Alita.

In ROTK, I completely forgot Gollum wasn't flesh and blood. It's hard to fathom how far we went from the cringeworthy green screen shot of the Fellowship in Rivendell, to the realistic Gollum in such a short time span.

Congrats on getting to 100 videos! Looking forward to the next 100! 👏

I'm not a fan of Jar Jar, but blaming the actor for that is a stretch even if you don't take it to the extreme of death threats. I completely concur with your prescription for such people. I already knew a lot of what you talk about here in regards to how ground breaking the techniques used to produce Gollum were, but some of it was still new to me. Interestingly, knowing all of the details somewhat reduces my sympathy for the actors that are laboring in relative anonymity doing motion capture. I used to think that there really ought to be a special Oscar category just for the actors doing that kind of work. I still think that there needs to be a category for motion capture characters, but the Oscar shouldn't just go to the actor because it takes a whole team of artists to make it work. Andy Serkis deserves the acclaim he's received for his portrayal of Gollum, but the animators deserve more credit than I, at least, was previously giving them. By the way, is there some source that gives a good summary of what is known about this new Lord of the Rings movie? I'm aware that something was announced about this, but I don't know anything beyond the bare fact that such a movie has been announced. I gather from what you said here that Andy Serkis is involved somehow, but I don't know who else is involved or what the relationship between the movie and The Lord of the Rings will be. My initial reaction was to ignore it as something that would undoubtedly be a disappointing failure (or possibly worse, a disappointing success) but if Andy Serkis is involved I may have to give it more of a chance.

Very interesting video! I loved hearing the history of motion capture. It really helped put everything into context. And congrats on 100 videos!

Ma'am, you have achieved peak nerd. And it is beautiful to see, keep it up!!

@Jess_of_the_Shire

22 күн бұрын

Haha thank you so much!

I love this channel. It feeds my love for lotr and dissecting it. Your work is amazing

My first real “mo-cap” experience was the computer game Prince of Persia. It uses rotoscoped footage of the creator’s brother doing the stunts.

Just to be clear. Jar Jar was not hated because he was animated. Jar Jar was despised because he was an idiot, a fool, who caused nothing but trouble. He was in the movie to be laughed at. One thing you did not mention was how the skin of Gollum was created. A person did a fake dead Boromir for the boat scene. The fake Boromir was so real, the person who did the pain job was cross-trained with a computer guy so they could both learn from each other. The skin of Gollum was made of many translucide layers instead of 1 single texture. It is the many layers that makes Gollum so realistic.

I know this is a silly detail, but I love when you cut your talk in different takes, but the audio comes first and the image comes then, so there is a second when we hear you but your are visible still finishing the prior sentence. Is just, elegant.

Thanks for this very interesting video and special thanks for all the research that went into preparing this video. Love it ❤

Lovely content, all your in-depth research is amazing! :D

Hi Jess, thanks for another fascinating video! I wasn’t aware how far back motion capture’s beginnings lie! I remember when the LOTR movies came out, how amazing the animation was and how seamless it fitted into the live action. Watching Gollum on the big screen, my mind was blown how realistic he was. Especially, as at the same time, the Harry Potter movies were released and their tricks were one or two classes below LOTR. Modern characters may be technically better than Gollum, but I never again experienced this incredulity about how a computer can create such realism!

Great video, Jess! I hope Andy Serkis sees this someday 😊

If only more filmmakers did it as well as Jackson and Serkis. And congratulations!

Babble on young lady! Your info is a blessing. "SUPPORT JESS ON PATREON"!

I appreciate you explaining the meaning of chronophotography. I was lost.

Love the channel. The outro music might be one of the best.

To answer your question at 7:24, I'm pretty sure that Jar Jar was not motion-capture or rotoscoped at all. He was 100% created by computer.

While the CGI was frankly ahead of its time, I wonder what a practical effects version of Gollum would have looked like, and if it would have involved simply casting a child for the role. Love the twin-bun look, btw!

@Jess_of_the_Shire

22 күн бұрын

That would be so odd haha

Congrats on your 100th video!

Don't forget the side fork of mocap and rotoscoping called WALDO. A Waldo is like mocap suit except it's used to program robots and audioanimatronic figures and motorized puppets. Instead of being filmed or scanned it sends electric or electronic signals to the system, based on what the human wearing it is doing.

@BanazirGalpsi1968

22 күн бұрын

You can see it in action in a clip from wonderful world of color where they show the dad from carousel of progress being controlled by a guy in a Waldo. Jim hensons puppets now use Waldo's in certain cases. And the digital version of the Trex in Jurassic park was animated with a special modified Waldo.

Andy Serkis is on the same level as the greatest actors in history

Gollum haunted my dreams my whole life (the first movie came out right after I was born) and I didn't actually give the lotr a chance until 2020. And I'm so glad my parents convinced me because now I'm obsessed with this world❤

Thank YOU for making EXCELLENT content 😊

Andy Serkis not sharing the Oscar for Gollum is such a shame. His performance inspired a new art form.

6:50 and prince of persia from 1989 was rotoscoped (as well as the earlier Karateka from 1984 but that one isn't as well known I'm afraid)

Despite flopping in the US due to the super conservative nature of the US audience (apparently a hitech battle cyborg with enhanced vision and big eyes made US audiences uncomfortable), Alita was a huge success everywhere else and is one of the best examples around of contemporary motion capture.

I can remember a secret MK character called mocap, how times have changed. Jess I love the Goth look absolutely beautiful.

I think people who disregard motion capture think that just because it rests more animation work for the effect department by providing them a template to work over don´t realize that just because something has a better, bigger impact doesn´t mean it´s something cheap. For example in my school most of the topics we see are also uploaded to our platforms in which we can download the presentations and study them ourselves without having to write down the content, some do because it helps them memorize better the information, I don´t because writing down something doesn´t help memorize it as my mind tends to get in auto-mode and I just write whatever I´m supposed to without actually paying attention to it, but the fact is that the information is there, essentially making it simple to access it without having to write it and saving that time for the teacher to explain more and give us better examples. One would say that we are getting lazy because now we depend on a screen and the platforms, but that doesn´t take away the fact that it simplifies stuff to give us room to do other stuff, listen to the teacher´s explanations and such. Technology gives us tools we can use not out of laziness but because simplifying thins helps us concentrate on other stuff and it gives for a better product al together.

Some sci-fi movies have some great motion capture, like: District 9, Ex Machina, and recently the Fallout TV-series. Anyways, those are the ones I can remember off the top of my head. I think it is relative cheap as well nowadays. Always love it when an art-student with a low budget can create something fantastic.

Jar Jar was a character people didn't like. I never heard anybody complain about the quality of the visual effects used to render him. Happy 100th video by the way!

loved the tech dive, it takes a while for the Academy to catch up, witness Harryhuasen's work that today looks so dated, but it took years for the Academy to see it for the wonderful work it was, at the time. I remember when Jumanji! first came out how the cgi looked so good and then watching it on tv years later, I couldn't believe how hocky it looked! The art is galloping ahead of what I can keep up with.

The outfit, the hair, the lip; absolute 10/10 outfit

@on_spikes6867

21 күн бұрын

go away

Love your work!

I love you and your videos. Thank you for making this for us. LLAP 🖖

My favorite mo-cap role has to be Bill Nighy as Davy Jones

Speaking of performance capture, I'm still hoping for the Alita: Battle Angel sequel. This video brought me to tears because, let's face it, I just have a deep love of theater!

04:56 Anyone who gives Blue Eye Samurai shit for rotoscoping will have to fight me.

Alita: Battle Ángel was another great motion capture film with the main protagonist being a motion captured actress.

new Jess vid just dropped 🔥

Gollum is really what makes Lord of the Rings (and the Hobbit I guess) for me. All the other characters feel like archetypes. Gollum feels like what it means to be human

Congratulations on having reached 100 videos, Jess, this might be one of your best videos and therefore an excellent way to compliment your achievement! When you consider how young this channel is it's absolutely remarkable just how far it has come and you should feel proud of that fact. I really learned a lot from this and can now appreciate Andy Serkis even more than I already did given the scheduling of it all. His performance was so damn good that a whole field of special effects arose from him and that is absolutely amazing. Somehow it was only only just yesterday that I came across the news regarding The Hunt For Gollum. If it does indeed turn out to be good then great, but otherwise I’m not sure about it because it feels a tad unnecessary. Maybe my cynicism towards Hollywood is just creeping through and it will indeed be a great character piece, but otherwise it feels like they're aping off of nostalgia like many recent Hollywood films. PS given your love of puppetry you might enjoy the series Farscape (four seasons plus a miniseries) because it involved the Henson Company branching out into more mature storytelling. It still puts a lot of other sci-fi designs and effects to shame!

@Jess_of_the_Shire

22 күн бұрын

Thank you so much! I love getting to make videos here. I have the best audience! The new movie is definitely a bit hard to be hopeful for. I just wish they would stop trying to wring out these older stories and focus on making new ones. At the very least, the fact that LotR has a built in audience and built in advertisement should mean that they can go out on a limb and try something risky and truly inspired, but I doubt that will be the case. I'll check out Farscape! Thanks for the recommendation!

@sebastianevangelista4921

22 күн бұрын

@@Jess_of_the_Shire Farscape is one of my all time favorite shows and I hope you enjoy it! I think you hit the nail on the head regarding the film.

I'd say that the greatest motion capture and CGI of all time is Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean. That performance combined with the visuals made him seem completely real. But Gollum is a close second. He was so life-like and real.

I'm cautiously optimistic about Mr. Serkis's upcoming Tolkien movie. I can't imagine Gollum looking or sounding any other way since his performance. I'm surprised that he'd not read the books, seeing as how he nailed the part so well.

Jar Jar Binks could have been great if they had the guts to make him a Sith Lord (Palpatine's master) whose annoying persona was only a disguise for a much darker personality. He should have been the eponymous Phantom Menace and this should have been revealed to the audience at the end of the film rather than waiting until a future film to give people time to hate him for the wrong reasons.

Very well-documented video. I can see all the work you put into it. You did a good job clearly summarizing the continuum from early hand-drawn work to modern techniques, while moving efficiently to our favorite Hobbit gone wrong. I was a bit surprised by the absence of Bakshi's rotoscoped LotR in your timeline, but there was a lot of ground to cover, and we're all here for Gollum anyway. Great work reaching 100 videos, all worth many views - and yes, I include the awesome sock-puppet show in that list!

Yay! Even the most die-hard book purists I know agree that Mr. Serkis turned in a perfect performance as Gollum.

I do hope that the film industry start to have practical and CGI together lots of older movies hold up very well when they mix practical and CGI together.

4:54 "... people have considered rotoscoping to be the lazy man's way out." I've seen some great examples where rotoscope provided the base onto which much more elaborate animation was added but the large majority of time it looks like the technique was chosen for budgetary over artistic reasons. Aside from deliberate design choices like A-ha's "Take On Me" video, if you can tell what the original live action looked like, it's more tracing that animation