With Rocket Raccoon's story coming to a close as the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise end, the crew decided to compile Bitesize Breakdown's consensus Top Five Animated/Mo-Cap Characters in Live Action Films.
Each writer ranks his or her top 15 characters in the category. Those lists are then weighted on a reverse point system. After all the points are tallied up, the entries with the most total points make up the Bitesize Top Five.
5. DAVY JONES
In a movie that has a noticeable dip in quality and narrative coherence than its predecessor, one of the shining standouts of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is Bill Nighy's performance as Davy Jones. One of the most underrated creature designs of the modern era, the half man/half aquatic pirate is ripped straight from lore and reimagined as a pipe-smoking, peg-legged menace to Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and his crew. Nighy's voice work, ILM's animators (combining both computer-generated images and hand-drawn animation), and Gore Verbinski's direction makes Jones a delightful character overshadowed by Sparrow's zany antics. - Darryl
4. ROCKET RACCOON
Everyone’s favorite trash panda, aka Rocket, has got to be one of the best motion-capture characters to ever grace the silver screen. He’s certainly my favorite Guardian of the Galaxy. By having Rocket voiced by the talented Bradley Cooper, combined with Sean Gunn’s great motion-capture work, the character pops off the screen. It makes their work some of the best in the MCU. Together they crafted a realistic approach to the character that made Rocket resemble his comic book counterpart perfectly. - Paige
3. SMÉAGOL/GOLLUM
The history of motion-capture should be divided into two time periods: Before Sméagol and After Gollum. Three minutes of Sméagol talking to Gollum is better than some actors’ entire career. Yes, there may be more acclaimed Andy Serkis mo-cap roles, but nothing brought more clout to the seriousness of the art form than this transformational dual role. - Amarú
2. THANOS
From a character perspective, Thanos is a presence that haunts more than 20 MCU movies without being on screen all that much; a big bad that is mostly just alluded to until he finally arrives in full form in Infinity War. When he takes center stage, Josh Brolin delivers an incredible performance, bouncing easily between outright villainy, measured reason, and, at times, heartbreaking relatability. Even on a superficial level, I’m not sure I could have picked a better voice for The Mad Titan either. - Quentin
1. CAESAR
When I think of mo-cap performances, Andy Serkis' portrayal of Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy is always the first to come to mind. The three-film arc of Caesar is among the best character arcs in years, mo-cap or otherwise, and it is all thanks, in large part, to Serkis' ability to humanize the ape. He's exceptional and the strongest case yet for a mo-cap performance deserving a Best Actor nomination. The final shot of his eyes in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes still sticks with me. - Nick
HONORABLE MENTIONS
ROGER RABBIT
KING KONG
HULK
KORG
TED
Photo Credits: Photo 1, 2, 4 - Disney; Photo 3 - New Line Cinema; Photo 5 - 20th Century Studios