Animation : Re-Thinking Live Action Script as Animated Feature? by Daniel Stuelpnagel

I see people refer to Animation / Animated Feature as a "genre" which I do not necessarily share that view, I see it as a Form ... a story form that perhaps overlaps with genre,

it's a delivery system if you will, certainly a format, but yes with certain specific conventions of the form in what is getting produced,

and yet there might be opportunities to redefine the form by pioneering new projects (if they are successful in getting produced) that can open up the form into some fresh territory.

And just possibly that could be motivated by budget savings?

I recognize that characterizing a feature script that might otherwise "obviously" be live-action as an Animated Feature is probably NOT necessarily a way to reach for budget savings, in terms of time and money it might actually push a project from certain budget levels into a higher range of cost;

however ... when I think of some of the specific post-quarantine budget challenges, and think about elements like Talent, Locations, FX, certain types of sports / motorsports things on-screen and other expensive story elements, it seems to me like the Animated Feature paradigm could at least be a way to, if not reduce the budget, at least bring it into a range where budget might be less susceptible to overages and more predictable.

so if a mid-budget feature concept that feels like it could be exciting as an animated feature can be characterized that way, I feel like due to the technology budget being basically something that falls within certain metrics and you could look at comps and figure out how to contain the budget range and hedge against wild fluctuations,

it might be an opportunity to shake up my thinking and write something new as an animated feature even though it might not fit with everyone's ideas about what that form should be in terms of story?

Am I dwelling in fantasy camp land here or does this make any kind of sense? Or does CGI blur the lines on these definitions enough that it doesn't even matter anymore?