Take On Me



Take On Me utilizes extensive rotoscoping. It begins with a young woman, played by actress Bunty Bailey, in a London cafe, reading a comic book about competitive motorcycle racing. While reading, the waitress writes out the bill for her to pay.

The winner of the race, played by the band's lead vocalist Morten Harket, winks at the girl from the page. A cartoon hand reaches through the comic book, inviting the girl to enter his animated world. Through a creative effect they both view each other through a mirror which shows them, and the band members, alternately in live action and animated.

When the waitress of the cafe comes back for the bill, she finds the girl missing and believes that she has left without paying. She angrily crumples up the comic book and throws it into the wastebasket. As this happens, two of Harket's competitors in the race come back for revenge. One, wielding a pipe wrench, smashes the mirror. Harket punches one of the thugs and retreats with the girl into a maze created by the crumpled paper. Harket tears a hole so the girl can escape as he faces the two thugs. The girl reappears on the floor next to the waste basket in the coffee shop, heavily ink-stained, to the surprise of the entire shop cliente and employees. The startled girl grabs the crumpled comic book and runs out of the coffee shop to her home, where she tries to smooth out the creases.

One of the panels shows Harket lying unconscious, and she begins to cry. Harket then wakes up and starts hitting against the edges of the panel. Suddenly, he appears in the girl's room and throws himself back and forth against the corridor walls, flashing between animated and live action. Eventually, he becomes the latter, and he and the girl embrace each other.