I am a fan of all things related to Evil Dead 2 (order the 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray here), Sam Raimi‘s classic 1986 sequel to the gruesome and horrifying splatterpunk epic that launched his directing career. It’s my absolute favorite movie of all time and nothing will ever, nor can ever, replace it.

There’s a video that has been floating around online for nearly three years in which the last 45 seconds of the movie’s trailer has been animated using the technology known as rotoscoping, where live-action footage is traced over frame-by-frame by animators.

You can watch the video here below.

The technique was invented by the animation pioneer Max Fleischer in 1915 and was utilized by Walt Disney for his studio’s first full-length feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Ralph Bakshi used rotoscoping in several of his animated films like Wizards, The Lord of the Rings, and American Pop. Although the technology hasn’t been employed much since its heyday it still pops up on occasion. Most recently Richard Linklater brought back rotoscoping in his acclaimed films Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly.

The rotoscoping technique works beautifully when used on the Evil Dead 2 footage. Raimi’s filmmaking style has always drawn its inspiration from comic books – something that came in mighty handy when he was chosen to direct the Spider-Man movies – and the rotoscoping really heighten that quality. I would love it if Raimi made one last Evil Dead sequel using this technique. Then at least Bruce Campbell could dodge the aging issue and there would be no limitations on what the filmmakers could put on the screen. It will never happen, but a person can dream.

The animation was done by Pretend for Real Studios. You can watch more of their videos here.

Video

[Hat Tip to Darren O!]