The first fully CGI character appeared almost 40 years ago in ‘Young Sherlock Holmes‘, and it still looks surprisingly great. That character showed up in a live-action movie at a time when computer graphics were barely being used on screen, let alone trusted enough to stand on their own. What’s even more impressive is that the scene doesn’t feel like a rough experiment; it still works visually today.
The movie openly shows it, lets the camera move around it, and places it next to real actors. Nearly four decades later, that decision remains the same, and the movie that pulled it off did so years before CGI became mainstream.
‘Young Sherlock Holmes’ Introduced The First Fully CGI Character 41 Years Ago
The movie we’re talking about is ‘Young Sherlock Holmes‘, released in 1985. While the film received mixed reviews, it made history by featuring the first fully CGI character ever used in a professional movie. The scene shows a stained-glass knight breaking out of a church window and stepping directly into the live-action world. The knight is completely computer-generated, with effects.
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At the time, placing a digital character into a real environment like this was unheard of. The camera moves around the knight, giving viewers a near 360-degree look at it. The interaction with actor Donald Eccles’s reverend character feels natural, which makes the moment even more impressive for a mid-1980s film.
Why This CGI Still Looks Surprisingly Good Today
Even now, the stained-glass knight holds up visually. The movement feels controlled, the lighting matches the real setting, and the character doesn’t stick out as fake. That’s more than can be said for a lot of CGI created many years later. A major reason for this quality is the involvement of Industrial Light & Magic, the same team behind Star Wars.
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Their experience with blending visual effects into live-action scenes shows clearly in how carefully the knight is integrated. The industry recognized the achievement at the time. Young Sherlock Holmes earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects, although it lost to Cocoon. Still, the nomination confirmed that this CGI work stood out, even in an era filled with practical effects.
Many people assume Toy Story marked the true beginning of CGI, but that film arrived ten years later. While Toy Story became the first fully CGI feature film, it built on the groundwork already laid. Before that, the Canadian TV series ReBoot proved that entire shows could be made using CGI. Pixar itself wasn’t founded until 1986. That’s what makes this nearly 40-year-old CGI character so important.
