5 Animated Movies that Combine Multiple Styles

Source: Unsplash

One way to stand out in the animation industry is by having distinct visuals in your work—even more so when it involves the blend of more than one animation style. It’s grown to be a popular method of animated movie-making.

If you are a fan of a blend of mixed media or mixed animation styles, check out this list of 5 animated movies with multiple styles. And if you have watched any of them, guess which animation styles were involved in the making!

Table of Contents

5 Different Styles of Animation

5 Animated Movies with Multiple Styles

How To Manage Animation Projects as an Animator

TL;DR

• These animated movies took full advantage of the freedom that animation provides which incorporated multiple styles into one movie.

• From traditional animation style to CGI, or from noir to pop art, these animations have it all in one bundle.

5 Different Styles of Animation

Source: Canva Collection

1. Hand-Drawn Animation

If you grew up with animations from the 80s and 90s, and especially classic Disney movies, this type of animation was common and the norm at the time. Despite the ‘simplicity’ of this 2D traditional animation, there is nothing simple about this animation style, with its painstaking process of drawing frame-by-frame animation. Or, rather, paper-by-paper animation. You can use this if your story is strong and when expression and character psychology matter more than speed or scalability, as the whole process can be slow and expensive.

2. Vector Animation

This style usually uses defined shapes to make it lightweight and best suited for digital platforms, such as advertisements and commercials. A go-to style for animators who wish to illustrate complex ideas, whether to tell brand stories or for educational purposes. This vector animation works best when you need to prioritise clarity and consistency over emotional depth.

3. Stop-Motion Animation

One of the most complicated animation styles from this list. Stop-motion style animates physical objects frame-by-frame to produce tactile visuals. It’s the attention to detail from the minute movement that makes it a time-consuming way of animating and costly. Albeit the struggle of stop motion, the result is always satisfying to watch.

4. 3D Animation

A more common animation style nowadays is with the advancement of technology and readily accessible software like Blender. This 3D animation style is created by using depth, realism, and camera freedom, perfect for animators who deal with repeated assets and complex storytelling.

5. Graphic Novel Animation

Unlike these previous animation styles, graphic novel animation is similar to how a comic book would look if there were bits of movement and scene transitions. This animation style combines illustrated panels, limited motion, and cinematic pacing. Producing an aesthetic style, great for storytelling, with strong composition.

Creating an animated film with this graphic novel animation style needs sharp art direction and a strong narrative rhythm. Perfect way to show complex artwork or illustrations without sacrificing the beauty of the overall visual look.

If you’re an artist or creative looking for solutions to manage your projects better, feel free to explore our project management product by clicking the link here.

5 Animated Movies with Multiple Styles

1. Into the Spider Verse

Source: New York Times

• Release date: December 14, 2018

• Genre: Action, Superhero, Adventure, Fantasy

• Country of Origin: US

• Directors: Peter Ramsey, Bob Persichetti, Rodney Rothman

• Rated: PG

Into the Spider-Verse is an animated movie that likely comes to the mind of many when thinking of diversity in its animation style. It follows Miles Morales, who, once bitten by a radioactive arachnid, develops powers akin to those of Spider-Man.

He meets Peter Parker in a battle with Kingpin—a fight which Parker had lost. It’s then up to Miles Morales to heed the title of Spiderman, to which he is joined by alternate versions of himself from the multiverse.

These parallels of himself are presented through a combination of traditional animation and CGI, each character emulating various art styles. A Noir Peter Parker, Peni Parker of manga-like qualities, and the anthropomorphic, pop-art pig Peter Parker are the most notable examples of this. If you haven’t watched it yet, it still isn’t too late!

2. Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie

Source: CBR

• Release date: October 6, 2012

• Genre: Fantasy, Psychological Thriller, Magical Girl

• Country of Origin: Japan

• Directors: Akiyuki Shinbo, Yukihiro Miyamoto

• Rated: PG-13

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is set in a world where creatures can grant girls one wish—on the condition that they must become magical witches who fight against evil borne of despair. The titular protagonist, Madoka, becomes a magical girl after a creature resembling a cat approaches her. This animated movie initially appears innocuous and similar to others from the popular “magical girl” genre.

Protagonists are 2D animations, with an art style akin to cute shoujo anime, while Madoka Magica’s villains are stop-motion animations of paper and collage and is of hand-illustrated quality.

These antagonistic witches are the complete antithesis to those like Madoka—in ways other than moral alignment. They diverge in animation style, completely. It’s a cult classic for a reason, and before you stumble onto any spoilers, watch it yourself.

3. Mind Game

Source: Nishikata Film Review

• Release date: July 28, 2004

• Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama

• Country of Origin: Japan

• Director: Masaaki Yuasa

• Rated: Not Rated (USA)

Mind Game is an experimental, adult comedy anime that centres around NEET Nishi, who dies before he can confess to his lifelong crush, Myon. He’s sentenced to limbo—until a god grants him a second chance. This Japanese animated movie involves intertwining plots, allegory, and philosophical themes—packaged in a visually psychedelic box.

To achieve this mind-bending quality, it employed various types of animation styles and methods. Its animation studio didn’t take any shortcuts like making 3D models and filtering on different styles. Instead, they had truly utilised methods like rotoscoping, CGI, traditional animation, live-action collage, and watercolour. It’s wacky, eclectic, and worthwhile if you’re a fan of beautiful visuals.

4. The Animatrix

Source: MiscRave

• Release date: June 3, 2003

• Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adventure

• Country of Origin: US

• Directors: Shinichirō Watanabe, Koji Morimoto, Peter Chung

• Rated: PG-13

Mind Game is an experimental, adult comedy anime that centres around NEET Nishi, who dies before he can confess to his lifelong crush, Myon. He’s sentenced to limbo—until a god grants him a second chance. This Japanese animated movie involves intertwining plots, allegory, and philosophical themes—packaged in a visually psychedelic box.

To achieve this mind-bending quality, it employed various types of animation styles and methods. Its animation studio didn’t take any shortcuts, like making 3D models and filtering on different styles. Instead, they had truly utilised methods like rotoscoping, CGI, traditional animation, live-action collage, and watercolour. It’s wacky, eclectic, and worthwhile if you’re a fan of beautiful visuals.

5. Waking Life

Source: Movieweb

• Release date: October 19, 2001

• Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

• Country of Origin: US

• Director: Richard Linklater

• Rated: R

This 2001 animated movie is a surreal drama that uses a broad range of philosophical questions. Played by Wiley Wiggins, the nameless protagonist jumps from one dream to another, stuck in perpetual slumber. Between false awakenings, he meets and prods different characters to understand questions about lucidity, reality, and life.

Through an in-house method similar to rotoscoping, each sequence was drawn and animated by different artists—the multiple personal animation styles blending and blurring reinforce the dreamlike quality of the movie. It’s a stunning experience, but watch it yourself to come to your own conclusion.

How To Manage Animation Projects as an Aspiring Animator

If you’re an aspiring animator, and you feel inspired by these movies to produce your own animated story. It’s essential to learn how to manage a large animation project, even if you’re just starting as a solo animator.

1. Set Project Objectives and Deadlines

Before starting your animation project, note down what you’re trying to achieve and when you want to achieve this. If you struggle to set the start time of your project, we recommend using a backward planning method to predict your project timeline. What it does is essentially based on your project goal and estimated date; you work backwards by reducing the goal and date until you inevitably ‘start from scratch’.

Doing it this way can give you a timeframe of whether your goals can be achieved realistically as well.

2. Build Your Creative Workflow with Tools

Utilise project management tools as you set up your animation project, as they fill the gaps of what you should focus on and how to better structure your project. When choosing tools for animation specifically, it’s important to choose ones that can hold visual files. And a good bonus for the software is to have a feedback and collaboration tool that logs them into their respective channels.

For example, the TESSR Review feature does that and more. Not only can you upload multiple renditions of an animated scene, but you can also mark video frames, record voice notes, and assign action items without switching software. Additionally, the feature has the ability to mark up and annotate directly on the scene with drawings, shapes, and even highlighted details. This helps you with your daily workflow to be more manageable and efficient.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What’s the role of project management in animation projects?

Creative project management can help you manage your tasks and coordinate better while also predicting potential risks and coming up with solutions before they can happen. Therefore, animators can focus on what they’re passionate about rather than worrying about the admin tasks.

Why does ‘traditional’ project management not work with projects like animation?

Projects from the creative industry, like animation, won’t thrive in ‘traditional’ project management, as it is often rigid and doesn’t allow the chaotic nature of creative projects. Hence, creative project management like TESSR came forward to better adapt to the flexible nature of these projects. They understand the importance of freedom and space for creatives to thrive, but also the structure that is needed to keep teams accountable and reaching goals.

Author Bio

From Malaysia, Leia Emeera is a writer at TESSR, and a published author. She has been putting pen to paper ever since she learned how to, and has an anthology to her name, titled 'Ten'. Leia loves music, games and her beloved labrador retriever, George. She aims to further her studies in English Literature and Creative Writing the moment her gap year ends. 'Till then, you will find her sitting behind a desk, writing with TESSR.

Connect with her on LinkedIn: Leia Emeera

With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies like parodies of animated shows and plots for board games. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Now an advocate for mental health and effective project management for the creative industry. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.