Animation technique where individual frames from live action footage are traced onto paper, used as a guide for naturalistic movement or as reference points for
mattes.
One of the most famous early uses can be seen on the dancing skeletons in the 1932
Betty Boop cartoon
Minnie the Moocher.
Used throughout the
Disney blockbusters (
Snow White was completely rotoscoped) and
Ralph Bakshi infamously rotoscoped the entire cast in his version of The
Lord of the Rings.
Also the name of the projecting machine used to trace the images.