Will Scott Pilgrim’s Cinematic Fight Scenes Be Animated?

Posted by Rob Hunter (rob@filmschoolrejects.com) on February 4, 2009

One of the more anticipated films due out next year is Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.  Based on an ongoing comic book series by Brian Lee O’Malley, the movie stars Michael Cera as the title character forced to battle the seven evil ex-boyfriends of the girl he loves (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).  It’s easy to picture Cera slacking off, moping around, and pining for the girl… but can anyone actually see him fighting?  An interesting possibility has arisen that may make that question moot.  Cera may not need to break a sweat at all.

The photo above is from Wright’s MySpace blog where he posts a picture a day.  Many of them have had to do with the new film (and many others seem to focus on coffee cups…) including pics of cast members, scripts, and various Toronto locales. Granted, the picture could be just about anything.  Animatic storyboarding?  Opening credit sequence?  Or perhaps, just maybe, could it be test animation for one of the film’s many fight sequences?  Hmm?  Consider the evidence.

1) Co-star Brandon Routh recently spoke with Collider and revealed the movie is a mix of “real people and drawn animation” which admittedly isn’t saying much, but I don’t see him saying that if the animation was relegated strictly to the credit sequence.  There are no animated characters in the film, and there’s no reason to believe the actors are playing against animated backdrops like in the “classic” Cool World.

2) Look at the picture above!  Cera’s coif is unmistakable in the silhouette on the left!

3) Seriously, try for just one second to imagine Cera throwing a punch or a kick.  Do you see his gangly, uncoordinated arms connecting with anything aside from the banana stand wall?

Well?  Thoughts?  (I never said I had a lot of evidence…)  The movie could easily pop into a live action/animated mash-up each time Pilgrim goes head to head with an ex.  It makes stylistic sense based on the film’s source material, it helps the film stand out from other comic adaptations, and it keeps Cera from having to break a sweat.  Everybody wins.

This is just a theory, and a hare-brained one at that. True or not though, this movie is guaranteed to be awesome.

Read more articles by Rob Hunter