Is it easier to empathize with animated characters?

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I love movies, all kinds of movies. But I especially love animated films: Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, Studio Ghibli, you name it.

Those films speak to me on a very emotional level. When other films entertain me, these really take me on an emotional journey much more than real life films can.

With most films I watch them and like or dislike them but with animated films I laugh and cry and get excited and hold my breath - this only happens with very little real life films, but almost with every animated film I watch. I don't much care for children in films, but I love animated kids. I love talking animals. Or funny little aliens. Or even talking wardrobes and tea-pots. And I can empathize with those animated characters in a way that I can't with real life characters.

Maybe because those animated faces are so much more expressive than real life faces and I actually get their emotions whereas with real life films I'm much more interested in the plot. I'm not really sure what it is.

Does anyone feel the same? Is it easier to empathize with animated characters than with real life characters?

I've also noticed that I empathize with animated characters easier than characters portrayed by actual people. I do still find it natural to empathize with children and animals in most media, but overall animated characters manage to get more of an emotional/whatever response out of me.

I think I empathize with them more for the same reason. Animated characters usually have exaggerated expressions and reactions that make it a lot more clear to me how they're feeling. It's also often actually easier for me to pay attention to what's happening in animation since it's obviously not usually as detailed as real life scenes, so I can pay attention to the characters and plot better.