Aniforms

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An Aniform is a flat, two‑dimensional cartoon figure that a puppeteer moves to be shown to live audiences or on TV. It was created by Morey Bunin and his wife Charlotte. Aniforms aren’t full animation; they look like moving pictures created in real time, with the figure appearing animated on screen.

The figures are open 2D shapes that can simulate many objects. They are flexible and moved with rods or wires attached to the figure, which are kept hidden from the audience. Bunin’s company, Aniforms, Inc., filed for a patent in 1960 and received U.S. Patent 3,070,920 in 1963. The patent describes the figures and how they are controlled by hidden hardware. Bunin later improved the method using chroma key technology: painting the background blue and reversing the black‑white signal so a black outline on white could be keyed over a different background. This improvement led to U.S. Patent 3,899,848, issued in 1975.

Aniforms were used on several TV productions. The character “Fred” and other Aniforms are often described as more puppet than animation, because of their simple, flat form and limited movement. This gave the illusion of real-time human interaction with an animated figure.

Stephen Colbert and his company, Spartina Productions, started Late Night Cartoons, Inc. to create real-time interactive animations for broadcast. They have worked with developers of Adobe Character Animator and produced projects ranging from a live animated Trump and Clinton interview in 2016 to shows like Our Cartoon President, Tooning Out the News, and Fairview. A project called Washingtonia was announced in 2021 with a trailer, but as of 2024 it had not aired.

Adobe Character Animator uses motion capture to track real-time movement of drawn characters, but it usually requires a crew of many animators—about 25 to 30—to produce a 10‑minute episode for a tight 24‑hour turnaround. Other tools used in TV production for real-time or rapid animation include CrazyTalk, CrazyTalk Animator, and Live2D, which let 2D characters move without full frame‑by‑frame animation or a 3D model.