This past Sunday’s episode of ‘The Simpsons’ included a 3-minute segment at the end that was live animation.
Back in 1997 in The Simpsons episode “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show”, Homer Simpson got an up-close look at the world of animation when he became the voice talent behind the animated dog Poochie. When Homer asked whether the episode was airing live, a veteran voice actor dryly replied, “Very few cartoons are broadcast live. It’s a terrible strain on the animators’ wrists.”
Using an upcoming version of Adobe Character Animator, a feature of After Effects CC, the show was able to improv a live broadcast by synchronizing the motion of the mouth to the voice actor who answered call-in questions improv.
For more details, see the Adobe blog and watch the segment below.