Delta State, the first rotoscoped television series was not done cheaply or quickly, but was done well. All images © 2004 Alphanim, France 2, Nelvana Limited, Deltanim Productions Inc.

Okay, so it was a stretch for the Greek alphabet gag, but the definition of gamma (used as an adjective) according to Merriam-Webster is: “of, relating to, or being one of three or more closely related chemical substances.” The chemicals, here? Good, Cheap and Fast. Of which, I remind you, the universal laws of Nature dictate that a maximum of only two are possible at any given time.

And, more often than not, only one at a time.

Why the alchemical intro? Because French producer Alphanim’s newest animated series, Delta State (26x26) — the first entirely-rotoscoped animated television series ever made — may not have been cheap ($11 million) or fast (27 months from shoot to post), but it’s good… real good. And not only does it turn the traditional pencil lead of rotoscopy into digital animated gold, the degree of contrast — another definition of gamma — with existing programs for young adults is intense.

Alphanim's Christian Davin (left) took the Socratic route and made Delta State, "for the kids we believe we once had been." Clément Calvet looks toward a second series and a feature film.

Out of the Inkwell and into the Fire
First invented by Max Fleischer in 1915 and used for his series of films, Out of the Inkwell, rotoscopy is consistently debunked by animation purists. In spite of the fact that such nobility as Walt Disney (for the Prince and heroine of Snow White, no less), George Dunning (Yellow Submarine, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” sequence), Ralph Bakshi (Lord of the Rings, Wizards, etc.) and Don Bluth (Anastasia) — not to mention Fleischer himself, the creator of Koko the Clown, Betty Boop and Popeye — have used it successfully.

Or, unsuccessfully, as its detractors will argue, the realism of the result incompatible with artistic license and the medium itself (the act of tracing a crime!) That said, the purists are more forgiving, fans even, of nobler uses of the technology where characters are mixed with live action and animated traditionally like Anchor’s Away (1945), Mary Poppins (1964) or Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). And, of course, of the special effects in live-action films perfected over the last 60 years or more as a result of its analog and digital use. (No less an animation icon than Ub Iwerks himself pioneered the use of rotoscopy in the `40s for live-action cinema special effects, notably on Hitchcock’s The Birds.)

For the most part, however, the visual results of rotoscoping (Fleischer’s Gulliver’s Travels (1939), for example — for the anecdote, the second animated feature ever made, two years after Snow White) were, and still are, considered cheating, trick photography, legerdemain.

So why rotoscopy? “It was a creative choice, first and foremost,” says Alphanim’s managing director, Clément Calvet.