From what I know, or think I know...
The hair was computer controlled, which makes sense, because physical effects can usually be emulated with (complicated)mathematical processes.
The faces were hand animated. Problem was, as I see it, Square had created such detailed models that viewers were expecting these characters to behave as realistically as they appeared visually.
Final Fantasy made a huge technological leap. Computer animation is still a reasonably new technology when you consider that 2D animation has existed for over 50 years. Humans have never been animated in feature films to appear exactly like the real thing.
Now that we've suddenly got the technology to make humans appear pretty damned real, animators haven't adapted to this new visual style - they're still used to audiences being aware that their characters aren't living actors. Maybe in a few years we'll stop going to animated films being aware that they were created with computers.
Who cares, though. If Square spent less time on the technology and more on story they'd have made a better film. Final Fantasy will look dated in a few years, and the story won't be enough to hold it up as a good film.
[ August 31, 2001: Message edited by: LuxoJr ]
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