NHL players became 3D animated cartoons Tuesday night in a unique game broadcast put on the Disney Channel.
What was otherwise a regular-season game between the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden that aired on ESPN became the “Big City Greens Classic” in a simultaneous broadcast on Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney+. The broadcast took the action from the Capitals-Rangers game and converted it to live animation rendered in the style of Disney’s hit show “Big City Greens,” using the NHL’s player and puck tracking information to determine the animated characters’ movements.
The “Big City Greens Classic” was called by Drew Carter and Kevin Weekes, who both did motion capture work to be added to the broadcast.
The goalies and two skaters were replaced by characters from the show. Bill Green took the spot of Washington goalie Darcy Kuemper and Grandma Alice was in net instead of the Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin. The character of Cricket Green replaced Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck, while Tilly Green subbed in for the Capitals’ Evgeny Kuznetsov.
All the other characters were animated avatars of themselves.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NHL players become cartoons in Disney’s ‘Big City Greens Classic’