Watching The Mask But Without VFX

The Mask is a classic movie that surprisingly still holds up incredibly well even by today's standards, and even though the movie was a great success, it has never really received all the credit it is due. Maybe this is because it was released in 1994, alongside films like Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, or True Lies, or perhaps it is because of its light-hearted comedic screenplay, but The Mask just wasn't taken seriously even though it pushed the limits of what was possible with VFX and became the first film to have a photo-real 3-D cartoon character using computer animation.

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The Mask movie was loosely based on a comic of the same name which in turn was based on the works of the cartoonist legend Tex Avery. The works of Tex Avery were heavily referenced throughout the movie in various ways: with props, Images, Gags and iconic movements.

In fact, Avery's work was referenced so much that it actually became part of the look and the personality of The Mask himself and for the style of the visual effects.
VFX artists at ILM studied Tex Avery's work and began to build up a library of drawings and clips for use as reference material.

ILM then did a photo shoot with Jim Carrey and then their art department began manipulating his face to get an idea of how far they could go and just how it would look...

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[commanderkeen]

Let's also not forget that Jim Carrey released Dumb & Dumber, The Mask and Ace Ventura Pet Detective all in the same year (1994), playing three vastly different characters perfectly. Underrated actor

[paulmark]

This is mindblowing. What's even more mind-blowing is that the producers actually allow us to see the raw footage and it being mixed with cgi. Makes me appreciate this movie even more.

[BingBangPoe]

The Mask was _decades_ ahead of its time in terms of production value. The CGI still looks good _to this day._

[jackmetrro]

Jim Carrey is probably the only human on Earth that is even close to being a real life cartoon

[joeshmoe]

"Jim's head was then removed, and replaced with a C.G. wolf's head."

Man, medical advancements these days always astound me.

[lightningmcseed]

There is no CGI in The Mask. Jim Carrey can just do that.

[bagenius]

Fun fact: Some of the people that worked on the CGI for this film were the ones that worked on the CGI for Jurassic Park

[AllenHanPR]

It's important to note Jim Carey was a big fan of Tex Avery, that's why he is so animated. Probably why The Mask worked out so well, He was probably very easy to work knowing the exaggerated acting he needed to do.

[lilbrandon]

Classic. As a kid, I probably watched this movie over 1000 times. I could literally play out almost the whole movie myself at one point. Not Jim's BEST work, but definitely his most iconic.

[PotatoTune]

This movie was created for Jim, such a magnificent actor!

[OfentseMwaseFilms]

Jim Carey will always be the goat for releasing 3 Hit films in 1 Year in 1994!

[JonteJak]

Absolutely LOVE this movie! Saw it obsessively on VHS back in the days. It's still one of my all time favorites 😍

[ChrisLee-yrtz]

Forget the cgi. I can still remember sitting the cinema when Cameron Diaz entered her first scene. My heart stopped and I couldn't breathe.

[mitchliam]

Jim Carey feels more like family than an actor. He puts so much was heart and soul into every character that it stays with you even after the end of the film. Such a prolific actor and comedian. The VFX team here too deserve props.

[thepaddyladdy]

I’d say if they re-released this in the cinema it would do better in the box office than it did back in 94. This film is legendary!

[robertsaca]

Jim is one of the best actors of all time imo. Hilarious, sad, serious, sometimes simultaneously.

[PKMN]

You know why the CGI in this movie still holds up well? It's because love and effort were put into it. It honestly feels more alive than what we get from Modern Hollywood.

[forgedude]

Fun fact: Jim also saved some VFX money as he can be really flexible with facial expressions and make exaggerated facial gestures ( just like a cartoon). Having such exaggerated facial expressions for the Mask character was intended since the beginning, and they thought they would do it with VFX in the post but when Jim started acting, they didn't have to.

[bittersweet]

Amazing how amazing the CGI was in 1994. It looks much much advanced than some movies using CGI these days.
Brilliant 👍🏼

[bigfoot]

The Mask is a standalone movie. This is an historical movie than can never be replicated. Thanks God for Jim Carrey.