The all-time best computer-generated characters
It walks, it talks, it moves like a genuine living creature. But it doesn’t ask for backstage perks or $20 million contracts. No wonder computer-generated figures are becoming some of Hollywood’s most popular stars. |
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CHARACTER STUDY He was beaten to the punch by such B-listers as Mr. Magoo, Dudley Do-Right, and Josie and the Pussycats. But now, after 30-plus years as a Hanna-Barbera ‘toon, Scoobert ”Scooby” Doo — the canine ghostbuster with a speech impediment — finally makes it into a live-action movie. |
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CHARACTER STUDY These legal aliens (the outer-space kind) are long, tall, cool, caffeinated freaks. Sleeble, Neeble, Geeble, and Mannix, as we’ve come to know them, have cushy (and presumably high-paying) jobs with the Men in Black. They also crash in the coolest bachelor pad in CG land, and display more machismo than Vince McMahon and the entire WWE. |
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CHARACTER STUDY Adopted ”son” to a family of well-off New Yorkers, E.B. White’s storybook rodent gets animated with some help from the always popular Michael J. Fox. |
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CHARACTER STUDY Prior to 1993, 2-D textbook illustrations and the prehistoric renderings of ”Land of the Lost” dinosaurs left many an imagination dissatisfied. But then Industrial Light & Magic’s computer generated T. Rex made prehistory into movie history, by snacking on lawyers, velociraptors, and the like. He later played the lead in the sequel (”The Lost World”) and made a cameo in ”JP3.” |
Jurassic Park: Universal Pictures’;
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CHARACTER STUDY A liquid-metal improvement on the original Terminator, the T-1000 is sent from the future to kill John Connor (Edward Furlong) and battle Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800. In his evildoing, this shape-shifter takes on the form of a coffee-sipping rent-a-cop, a linoleum floor, and his favorite disguise: an aviator-spectacled Los Angeles police officer (Robert Patrick). Scary. |
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CHARACTER STUDY Of somewhat human origin (he’s actually a hobbit beneath that oily skin), Gollum has become a detestable, slithering slug. Possessed by the One Ring, he lurks in the shadows, following hobbits Frodo and Samwise on their journey to Mount Doom. |
imageCredit = ‘Lord of the Rings: New Line’;
Shrek made our list of best CG characters
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CHARACTER STUDY A fractured fairy tale hero, this not-so-jolly green giant would be just fine if not for the wall he builds between himself and the outside world. But as happy endings go, this one’s a doozy: He gets the ogrrrl of his dreams and a new best friend — albeit a jackass. |
Yoda made our list of best CG characters
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CHARACTER STUDY After thrice appearing as a puppet (”Empire Strikes Back,” ”Return of the Jedi,” and ”The Phantom Menace”), this backwards-speaking midget gets a well-deserved retooling in ”Episode II” as a youthful, high-flying CG Jedi. Freed from the restraints of strings and intrusive hands, Yoda seems even more real — and he continues to benefit from the versatile voice of Frank Oz, who previously spoke for ”The Muppets”’ Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear and ”Sesame Street”’s Grover and Cookie Monster. |
imageCredit = ‘Star Wars-Episode 2: Attack of the Clones: © & TM Lucasfilm, Ltd.’;
Jar Jar, E.T., and Draco made our list of worst CG characters
Find out which other computer generated movie stars made our ”best” list
And a Few of Our Least Favorites… |
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imageCredit = ‘Star Wars-Episode 1: The Phantom Menace: © & TM Lucasfilm, Ltd.’;
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