As recently as the 1950s a character called Frank the Frame Burner drove his horse and cart around London collecting cast-off 19th-century gilt frames to melt down.

FORBES: Features

On his screen is a single frame of the character Alex the Lion with a mathematical grid over his face and a big, bulging eyeball.

NPR: Making an Animated Escape to 'Madagascar'

Today, though, Venrock racks up startlingly high gains in an unimaginably compressed time frame--by acting entirely out of character.

FORBES: Personality Change

Every piece of visual information is presented head-on, with empty spaces at the side of the frame where, you can be certain, a character will soon step in and start blathering on in the kind of halting cadences usually reserved for small-town dinner theater.

CNN: 'Chasing Amy' excruciating, and not in a good way

It's often done in just one frame, and the audience is hardly aware it's happened says chief character animator Rex Grignon.

NPR: Making an Animated Escape to 'Madagascar'