The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is now streaming on Disney+, and it’s been a hit among critics and Marvel fans alike. Currently, the “Special Presentation” is up on Rotten Tomatoes with a 91% critics score and an 83% audience score. ComicBook.com’s Nathaniel Brail gave the special a 4 out of 5 and called it “a holly-jolly good time.” Most of the Guardians of the Galaxy stars appeared in the special, including Michael Rooker as Yondu. Of course, Yondu died in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and director James Gunn has said many times they will not be resurrecting the character. Not only did Yondu appear in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special in a flashback, but those moments were done in rotoscope, which is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage. That means Rooker was actually on set during the production.
For the #GuardiansoftheGalaxyHolidaySpecial, we used old-school rotoscoping animation in the style of the Ralph Bakshi films I liked growing up – and to give us that 1970’s & ‘80’s nostalgic Christmas Special feel. pic.twitter.com/udYmYGpHvV
