Most directors choose to stick with either animated movies or live-action, but some directors are versatile enough to excel at both. Animation and live-action require vastly different skill sets for directors. This is why so few directors stray from their comfort zones. Even some of the most adventurous directors working today have yet to cross over from live-action to animation. However, some live-action directors have made brilliant animated movies in recent years. It's becoming more often for successful directors to dip their toes into animation.

Some directors see animation as just another option in their tool kit, and they'll resort to it if they believe that's what the story requires. This is often true when directors fixate on one particular style of animation and try to explore the limits of its potential. Wes Anderson has had a lot of success with stop-motion animation and Richard Linklater has returned time and time again to rotoscoping when it fits the themes of his movies. Animation and live-action require fundamentally different approaches from directors, so it takes a special talent to master both.

10)Brad Bird

The Incredibles (2004), Ratatouille (2007), Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Brad Bird is perhaps most famous for his Pixar movies. He directed both Incredibles movies and Ratatouille. The Incredibles 2 may have received only modest reviews, but Bird can confidently lay claim to two of the best Pixar movies of all. Before pioneering 3-D animation techniques, Bird directed The Iron Giant in 2-D, and it's no less magical than his work with Pixar. Bird seemed like an unlikely pick to helm a Mission: Impossible movie, but Ghost Protocol brought fresh new ideas to the franchise when they were badly needed. The franchise has gone from strength to strength since then.

9)Steven Spielberg

Jaws (1975), Jurassic Park (1993), The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

Even after decades of remarkable work, Steven Spielberg is still finding new creative avenues to explore. 2011's The Adventures of Tintin is a perfect example of Spielberg's eagerness to take on new challenges. It wasn't just his first venture into animation, but the motion-capture style of animation was quite unlike anything that had come before it. Although some similarities can be drawn to the movies of Robert Zemeckis, The Adventures of Tintin uses motion capture to toe the line between cartoonish fantasy and realistic human-looking movements.

8)Robert Zemeckis

Back to the Future franchise, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), The Polar Express (2004)

Robert Zemeckis' work helped pave the way for The Adventures of Tintin, but he has been on the cutting edge of new technologies in filmmaking for decades. He directed three movies using motion capture animation techniques, starting with The Polar Express in 2004. Beowulf and A Christmas Carol are similarly unnerving in places, but Zemeckis' work has pushed the boundaries of the medium. His other groundbreaking contribution to the art of animation is Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a joyous blend of animation and live-action that still holds up 36 years later.

7)Phil Lord & Christopher Miller

The Spider-Verse movies, 21 Jump Street (2012), The Lego Movie (2014)

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are leading the way for mainstream animated movies. Not only have they reinvented the game with their two Spider-Verse movies, but they also have The Lego Movie and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in their list of credits. Despite being most famous for huge animated blockbusters, Lord and Miller also directed 21 Jump Street and its sequel, showing that they can also master live-action whenever they feel like it. Their upcoming sci-fi movie Project Hail Mary will be their first return to live-action directing since leaving Solo: A Star Wars Story midway through production.

6)Wes Anderson

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Isle of Dogs (2018)

Wes Anderson's movies display his love of control in all aspects of filmmaking, and stop-motion animation gives him the ability to manipulate every minute fiber of his characters to his liking. Fantastic Mr. Fox in particular is one of the best stop-motion animated movies ever made. Anderson also uses stop-motion animation in some of his live-action movies, with the alien in Asteroid City and the shark in The Life Aquatic being two memorable examples. The French Dispatch features a car chase drawn in 2D animation, showcasing how Anderson can branch out into different styles.

5)Guillermo Del Toro

Pan's Labyrinth (2006), The Shape of Water (2017), Pinocchio (2022)

Guillermo del Toro already had two Academy Awards to his name for Pan's Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, and he added a third for his dark reimagining of Pinocchio in the Best Animated Feature category. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is set in Italy during the interwar years, when the country was under the thumb of Mussolini's fascist dictatorship. This reflects Pan's Labyrinth, which is a dark fable about life in General Franco's Spain. Pinocchio is incredibly accomplished for del Toro's first animated movie, but he could direct more in the future.

4)Richard Linklater

Before Sunrise (1995), A Scanner Darkly (2006), Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood (2022)

Throughout a career which has mostly produced live-action movies, Richard Linklater has periodically returned to experiments in rotoscope animation. The most recent of these animated movies, after Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, is Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood. Linklater uses rotoscoping to mirror the nostalgic feeling of children's comic books, which perfectly ties into the film's themes of wide-eyed enthusiasm and childhood imagination. Linklater's career has been all about creative experimentation, as evidenced by Boyhood and Before Sunrise.

3)George Miller

The Mad Max franchise, Happy Feet (2006), Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)

George Miller's two most famous protagonists are Max Rockatansky, a hardened warrior struggling for survival in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and Mumble, a cute penguin who loves to dance. The Mad Max franchise and Happy Feet seemingly have very little in common, but this just speaks to Miller's adaptability as a filmmaker. After directing two Happy Feet movies and Babe: Pig in the City, Miler revived the Mad Max franchise for the critically acclaimed Fury Road in 2015. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is hitting theaters in May, so it seems Miller won't be returning to animation for a while.

2)Gore Verbinski

The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Rango (2011), The Lone Ranger (2013)

Gore Verbinski directed the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and he reunited with Johnny Depp for Rango, his first animated feature. Rango is a Western about a pet chameleon who finds himself alone in the vast desert, embroiled in a small town's struggles over its dwindling water supply. Despite winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, Gore Verbinski hasn't directed another animated movie since. Aside from Pirates of the Caribbean, Verbinski is also known for directing horror movies, with The Ring and A Cure for Wellness in his filmography.

1)Tim Burton

Beetlejuice (1988), Corpse Bride (2005), Frankenweenie (2012)

Tim Burton's melancholic animated movies are an extension of his dark aesthetic sensibilities. Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie are both grim fairy tales about life after death, but they are filled with charm and wit. Corpse Bride has a wonderful soundtrack by Danny Elfman which perfectly complements Burton's gloomy style. It's worth noting that although he didn't direct either movie, Burton produced both The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, two stop-motion animated movies with a similarly dark edge to them.