Stop motion (also known asstop frame animation) is ananimatedfilmmaking andspecial effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames is played back. Any kind of object can thus be animated, butpuppets with movable joints (puppet animation) orplasticine figures (clay animation orclaymation) are most commonly used. Puppets, models or clay figures built around anarmature are used inmodel animation. Stop motion with live actors is often referred to aspixilation. Stop motion of flat materials such as paper, fabrics or photographs is usually calledcutout animation.
The term "stop motion", relating to the animation technique, is often spelled with ahyphen as "stop-motion"—either standalone or as acompound modifier. Both orthographic variants, with and without the hyphen, are correct, but the hyphenated one has a second meaning that is unrelated to animation or cinema: "a device for automatically stopping a machine or engine when something has gone wrong".[2]
Before the advent ofchronophotography in 1878, a small number of picture sequences were photographed with subjects in separate poses. These can now be regarded as a form of stop motion or pixilation, but very few results were meant to be animated. Until celluloidfilm base was established in 1888 and set the standard for the moving image, animation could only be presented via mechanisms such as thezoetrope.
In 1849,Joseph Plateau published a note about improvements for his Fantascope (a.k.a.phénakisticope). A new translucent variation had improved picture quality and could be viewed with both eyes, by several people at the same time. Plateau stated that the illusion could be advanced even further with an idea communicated to him byCharles Wheatstone: a combination of the fantascope and Wheatstone'sstereoscope. Plateau thought the construction of a sequential set of stereoscopic image pairs would be the more difficult part of the plan than adapting two copies of his improved fantascope to be fitted with a stereoscope. Wheatstone had suggested using photographs on paper of a solid object, for instance a statuette. Plateau concluded that for this purpose 16 plaster models could be made with 16 regular modifications. He believed such a project would take much time and careful effort, but would be quite worth it because of the expected marvelous results.[3] The plan was never executed, possibly because Plateau was almost completely blind by this time.
In 1852,Jules Duboscq patented a "Stéréoscope-fantascope ou Bïoscope" (or abbreviated as stéréofantascope)stroboscopic disc. The only known extant disc contains stereoscopic photograph pairs of different phases of the motion of a machine. Due to the long exposure times necessary to capture an image with the photographic emulsions of the period, the sequence could not be recorded live and must have been assembled from separate photographs of the various positions of the machinery.
In 1855,Johann Nepomuk Czermak published an article about his Stereophoroskop and other experiments aimed at stereoscopic moving images. He mentioned a method of sticking needles in astroboscopic disc so that it looked like one needle was being pushed in and out of the cardboard when animated. He realized that this method provided basically endless possibilities to make different 3D animations. He then introduced two methods to animate stereoscopic pairs of images, one was basically a stereo viewer using two stroboscopic discs and the other was more or less similar to the laterzoetrope. Czermak explained how suitable stereoscopic photographs could be made by recording a series of models, for instance to animate a growing pyramid.[4]
On 27 February 1860,Peter Hubert Desvignes received British patent no. 537 for 28 monocular and stereoscopic variations of cylindrical stroboscopic devices (much like the later zoetrope).[5] Desvignes'Mimoscope, received an Honourable Mention "for ingenuity of construction" at the1862 International Exhibition in London.[6] Desvignes "employed models, insects and other objects, instead of pictures, with perfect success".[7]
In 1874,Jules Janssen made several practice discs for the recording of the passage of Venus with his seriesPassage de Vénus with hisphotographic revolver. He used a model of the planet and a light source standing in for the sun.[8] While actual recordings of the passage of Venus have not been located, some practice discs survived and the images of one were turned into a short animated film decades after the development ofcinematography.
In 1887,Étienne-Jules Marey created a large zoetrope with a series of plaster models based on hischronophotographs of birds in flight.[9]
It is estimated that 80 to 90 percent of allsilent films are lost.[10] Extant contemporary movie catalogs, reviews and other documentation can provide some details on lost films, but this kind of written documentation is also incomplete and often insufficient to properly date all extant films or even identify them if original titles are missing. Possible stop motion in lost films is even harder to trace. The principles of animation and other special effects were mostly kept a secret, not only to prevent use of such techniques by competitors, but also to keep audiences interested in the mystery of the magic tricks.[11]
Stop motion is closely related to thestop trick, in which the camera is temporarily stopped during the recording of a scene to create a change before filming is continued (or for which the cause of the change is edited out of the film). In the resulting film, the change will be sudden and a logical cause of the change will be mysteriously absent or replaced with a fake cause that is suggested in the scene. The oldest known example is used for the beheading inEdison Manufacturing Company's 1895 filmThe Execution of Mary Stuart. The technique of stop motion can be interpreted as repeatedly applying the stop trick. In 1917, clay animation pioneerHelena Smith-Dayton referred to the principle behind her work as "stop action",[12] a synonym of "stop motion".
Frenchtrick film pioneerGeorges Méliès claimed to have invented the stop-trick and popularized it by using it in many of his short films. He reportedly used stop-motion animation in 1899 to produce moving letterforms.[13]
Spanish filmmakerSegundo de Chomón (1871–1929) made many trick films in France forPathé. He has often been compared to Georges Méliès as he also made many fantasy films with stop tricks and other illusions (helped by his wife,Julienne Mathieu).
Le théâtre de Bob (April 1906)[14] features stop motion with dolls and objects to represent a fictional automated theatre owned by Bob, played by a live-action child actor. The film used to be credited to Chomón, but he didn't come to Paris (to work forPathé) until later. Direction and special effects have been attributed to Gaston Velle.[15]
De Chomón'sLa maison ensorcelée (December 1907,[16] or 1906[17]) features stop-motion-animated cuttlery and food, among other special effects that depict paranormal acitivity.
De Chomón'sSculpteur moderne was released on 31 January 1908[18] and features heaps of clay molding itself into detailed sculptures that are capable of minor movements. The final sculpture depicts an old woman and walks around before it's picked up, squashed and molded back into a sitting old lady.[19]
American film pioneerEdwin S. Porter filmed a single-shot "lightning sculpting" film with a baker molding faces from a patch of dough inFun in a Bakery Shop (1902), considered as foreshadowing of clay animation.
In 1905, Porter showed animated letters and very simple cutout animation of two hands in theintertitles inHow Jones Lost His Roll.[20]
Porter experimented with a small bit of crude stop-motion animation in his trick filmDream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906).
The "Teddy" Bears (2 March 1907), made in collaboration withWallace McCutcheon Sr.,[21] mainly shows people in bear costumes, but the short film also features a short stop-motion segment with small teddy bears.[22]
On 15 February 1908, Porter released the trick filmA Sculptor's Welsh Rabbit Dream that featured clay molding itself into three complete busts.[23] No copy of the film has yet been located. It was soon followed by the similar extant filmThe Sculptor's Nightmare (6 May 1908) by Wallace McCutcheon Sr.[24]
J. Stuart Blackton'sThe Haunted Hotel (23 February 1907)[25] featured a combination of live-action with practicalspecial effects and stop motion animation of several objects, a puppet and a model of the haunted hotel. It was the first stop motion film to receive wide scale appreciation. Especially a large close-up view of a table being set by itself baffled viewers; there were no visible wires or other noticeable well-known tricks.[26] This inspired other filmmakers, including French animatorÉmile Cohl[27] and Segundo de Chomón. De Chomón would release the similarThe House of Ghosts (La maison ensorcelée) andHôtel électrique in 1908, with the latter also containing some very early pixelation.
The Humpty Dumpty Circus (1908, considered lost) by Blackton and his British-American Vitagraph partnerAlbert E. Smith showed an animated performance of figures from a popular wooden toy set.[28] Smith would later claim that this was "the first stop-motion picture in America". The inspiration would have come from seeing how puffs of smoke behaved in the interrupted recordings for a stop trick film they were making. Smith would have suggested to get a patent for the technique, but Blackton thought it wasn't that important.[29] Smith's recollections are not considered to be very reliable.[30][31]
Blackton'sThe Haunted Hotel made a big impression in Paris, where it was released asL'hôtel hanté: fantasmagorie épouvantable. WhenGaumont bought a copy to further distribute the film, it was carefully studied by some of their filmmakers to find out how it was made. Reportedly it was newcomerÉmile Cohl who unraveled the mystery.[32] Not long after, Cohl released his first film,Japon de fantaisie (June 1907),[33] featuring his own imaginative use of the stop-motion technique.It was followed by the revolutionary hand-drawnFantasmagorie (17 August 1908) and many more animated films by Cohl.
Other notable stop-motion films by Cohl includeLes allumettes animées (Animated Matches) (1908),[34] andMobilier fidèle (1910, in collaboration withRomeo Bosetti).[35]Mobilier fidèle is often confused with Bosetti's object animation tour de forceLe garde-meubles automatique (The Automatic Moving Company) (1912).[36][37] Both films feature furniture moving by itself.
Of the more than 300 short films produced between 1896 and 1915 by British film pioneerArthur Melbourne-Cooper, an estimated 36 contained forms of animation. Based on later reports by Melbourne-Cooper and by his daughter Audrey Wadowska, some believe that Cooper'sMatches: an Appeal was produced in 1899 and therefore the first stop-motion animation. The extant black-and-white film shows amatchstick figure writing an appeal to donate aGuinea for whichBryant & May would supply soldiers with sufficient matches. No archival records are known that could proof that the film was indeed created in 1899 during the beginning of theSecond Boer War. Others place it at 1914, during the beginning ofWorld War I.[38][39] Cooper created moreAnimated Matches scenes in the same setting. These are believed to also have been produced in 1899,[40] while a release date of 1908 has also been given.[41] The 1908Animated Matches film by Émile Cohl may have caused more confusion about the release dates of Cooper's matchstick animations. It also raises the question whether Cohl may have been inspired by Melbourne-Cooper or vice versa.
Melbourne-Cooper's lost filmsDolly’s Toys (1901) andThe Enchanted Toymaker (1904) may have included stop-motion animation.[27]Dreams of Toyland (1908) features a scene with many animated toys that lasts approximately three and a half minutes.
As a means to plan his performances, ballet dancer and choreographerAlexander Shiryaev started making approximately 20- to 25-centimeter-tall puppets out ofpapier-mâché on poseable wire frames. He then sketched all the sequential movements on paper. When he arranged these vertically on a long strip, it was possible to give a presentation of the complete dance with a home cinema projector. Later on, he bought a movie camera and between 1906 and 1909 he made many short films, including puppet animations. As a dancer and choreographer, Shiryaev had a special talent to create motion in his animated films. According to animatorPeter Lord his work was decades ahead of its time. Part of Shiryaev's animation work is featured in Viktor Bocharov's documentaryAlexander Shiryaev: A Belated Premiere (2003).[42][43]
Polish-RussianLadislas Starevich (1882–1965), started his film career around 1909 inKaunas filming live insects. He wanted to documentruttingstag beetles, but the creatures wouldn't cooperate or would even die under the bright lamps needed for filming. He solved the problem by using wire for the limbs of dried beetles and then animating them in stop motion. The resulting short film, presumably 1 minute long,[44] was probably titled by the Latin name for the species:Lucanus Cervus (Жук-олень, 1910, considered lost).
After moving to Moscow, Starevich continued animating dead insects, but now as characters in imaginative stories with much dramatic complexity. He garnered much attention and international acclaim with these short films, including the 10-minuteThe Beautiful Leukanida (Прекрасная Люканида, или Война усачей с рогачами) (March 1912), the two-minuteHappy Scenes from Animal Life (Веселые сценки из жизни животных), the 12-minuteThe Cameraman's Revenge (Прекрасная Люканида, или Война усачей с рогачами, October 1912) and the 5-minuteThe Grasshopper and the Ant (Стрекоза и муравей, 1913). Reportedly many viewers were impressed with how much could be achieved with trained insects, or at least wondered what tricks could have been used, since few people were familiar with the secrets of stop motion animation.The Insects' Christmas (Рождество обитателей леса, 1913) featured other animated puppets, including Father Christmas and a frog. Starevich made several other stop motion films in the next two years, but mainly went on to direct live-action short and feature films before he fled from Russia in 1918.
Willis O' Brien's first stop motion film wasThe Dinosaur and the Missing Link: A Prehistoric Tragedy (1915). Apart from the titular dinosaur and "missing link" ape, it featured several cavemen and an ostrich-like "desert quail", all relatively lifelike models made with clay.[45] This led to a series of short animated comedies with a prehistoric theme for Edison Company, includingPrehistoric Poultry (1916),R.F.D. 10,000 B.C. (1917),The Birth of a Flivver (1917) andCurious Pets of Our Ancestors (1917). O'Brien was then hired by producer Herbert M. Dawley to direct, create effects, co-write and co-star with him forThe Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1918). The collaborative film combined live-action with animated dinosaur models in a 45-minute film, but after the premiere it was cut down to approximately 12 minutes. Dawley did not give O'Brien credits for the visual effects, and instead claimed the animation process as his own invention and even applied for patents.[46] O'Brien's stop motion work was recognized as a technique to create lifelike creatures for adventure films. O' Brien further pioneered the technique with animated dinosaur sequences for the live-action featureThe Lost World (1925).
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New York artistHelena Smith Dayton, possibly the first female animator, had much success with her "Caricatypes" clay statuettes before she began experimenting with clay animation. Some of her first resulting short films were screened on 25 March 1917. She released an adaptation ofWilliam Shakespeare'sRomeo and Juliet approximately half a year later. Although the films and her technique received much attention of the press, it seems she did not continue making films after she returned to New York from managing a YMCA in Paris around 1918. None of her films have yet surfaced, but the extant magazine articles have provided several stills and approximately 20 poorly printed frames from two film strips.[47]
By 1920 Starewicz had settled in Paris, and started making new stop motion films.Dans les Griffes de L'araignée (finished 1920, released 1924) featured detailed hand-made insect puppets that could convey facial expressions with moving lips and eyelids.
One of the earliest clay animation films wasModelling Extraordinary, which impressed audiences in 1912.[citation needed]
The early Italian feature filmCabiria (1914) featured some stop motion techniques.[citation needed]
Starewicz finished the first feature stop motion filmLe Roman de Renard (The Tale of the Fox) in 1930, but problems with its soundtrack delayed its release. In 1937 it was released with a German soundtrack and in 1941 with its French soundtrack.
Hungarian-American filmmakerGeorge Pal developed his own stop motion technique of replacing wooden dolls (or parts of them) with similar figures displaying changed poses and/or expressions. He called it Pal-Doll and used it for hisPuppetoons films since 1932. The particular replacement animation method itself also became better known aspuppetoon. In Europe he mainly worked on promotional films for companies such asPhilips. Later Pal gained much success in Hollywood with a string ofAcademy Award for Best Animated Short Films, includingRhythm in the Ranks (1941),Tulips Shall Grow (1942),Jasper and the Haunted House (1942), theDr. Seuss pennedThe 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (1943) andAnd to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (1944),Jasper and the Beanstalk (1945),John Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946),Jasper in a Jam (1946), andTubby the Tuba (1947). Many of his puppetoon films were selected for preservation in the United StatesNational Film Registry.
Willis O' Brien's expressive and emotionally convincing animation of the big ape inKing Kong (1933) is widely regarded as a milestone in stop-motion animation and a highlight of Hollywood cinema in general.
A 1940 promotional film forAutolite, an automotive parts supplier, featured stop-motion animation of its products marching past Autolite factories to the tune ofFranz Schubert'sMilitary March. An abbreviated version of this sequence was later used in television ads for Autolite, especially those on the 1950s CBS programSuspense, which Autolite sponsored.
The first British animated feature was the stop motion instruction filmHandling Ships (1945) byHalas and Batchelor for theBritish Admiralty. It was not meant for general cinemas, but did become part of the official selection of the 1946Cannes Film Festival.
The first Belgian animated feature was anadaptation of the Tintin comicThe Crab with the Golden Claws (1947) with animated puppets.
The first Czech animated feature was the package filmThe Czech Year (1947) with animated puppets byJiří Trnka. The film won several awards at theVenice Film Festival and other international festivals. Trnka would make several more award-winning stop motion features includingThe Emperor's Nightingale (1949),Prince Bayaya (1950),Old Czech Legends (1953), orA Midsummer Night's Dream (1959). He also directed many short films and experimented with other forms of animation.
Ray Harryhausen learned under O'Brien on the filmMighty Joe Young (1949). Harryhausen would go on to create many memorable stop motion effects for a string of successful fantasy films over the next three decades. These includedThe Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953),It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955),Jason and the Argonauts (1963),The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), andClash of the Titans (1981).
It wasn't until 1954 before a feature animated film with a technique other than cel animation was produced in the US. The first was the stop motion adaptation of 19th century composerEngelbert Humperdinck's operaHänsel und Gretel asHansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy.
In 1955,Karel Zeman made his first feature filmJourney to the Beginning of Time inspired byJules Verne, featuring stop motion animation of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures.
Art Clokey started his adventures in clay with a freeform clay short film calledGumbasia (1955), which shortly thereafter propelled him into the production of his more structured TV seriesGumby (1955–1989), with the iconic titular character. In partnership with theUnited Lutheran Church in America, he also producedDavey and Goliath (1960–2004). The theatrical featureGumby: The Movie (1992, released in 1995) was abox-office bomb.
On 22 November 1959, the first episode ofUnser Sandmänchen (Our Little Sandman) was broadcast onDFF (East German television). The 10-minute daily bedtime show for young children features the title character as an animated puppet, and other puppets in different segments. A very similarSandmänchen series, possibly conceived earlier, ran on West German television from 1 December 1959 until theGerman reunification in 1989. The East German show was continued on other German networks when DFF ended in 1991, and is one of the longest running animated series in the world.[citation needed] The theatrical featureDas Sandmännchen – Abenteuer im Traumland (2010) was fully animated with stop motion puppets.
Japanese puppet animatorTadahito Mochinaga started out as assistant animator in short anime (propaganda) filmsArichan (1941) andMomotarō no Umiwashi (1943). He fled toManchukuo during the war and stayed in China afterwards. Due to the scarcity of paint and film stock shortly after the war, Mochinaga decided to work with puppets and stop motion. His work helped popularize puppet animation in China, before he returned to Japan around 1953 where he continued working as animation director. In the 1960s, Mochinaga supervised the "Animagic" puppet animation for productions byArthur Rankin Jr. andJules Bass' Videocraft International, Ltd. (later calledRankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) andDentsu, starting with the syndicated television seriesThe New Adventures of Pinocchio (1960-1961). The Christmas TV specialRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has been telecasted annually since 1964 and has become one of the most beloved holiday specials in the United States. They made three theatrical feature filmsWilly McBean and His Magic Machine (1965),The Daydreamer (1966, stop motion / live-action) andMad Monster Party? (1966, released in 1967), and the television specialBallad of Smokey the Bear (1966) before the collaboration ended. Rankin/Bass worked with other animators for more TV specials, with titles such asThe Little Drummer Boy (1968),Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970) andHere Comes Peter Cottontail (1971).
British television has shown many stop motion series for young children since the 1960s. An early example isSnip and Snap (1960-1961) byJohn Halas in collaboration with Danish paper sculptor Thok Søndergaard (Thoki Yenn), featuring dog Snap, cut from a sheet of paper by pair of scissors Snip.
Apart from their cutout animation series, British studioSmallfilms (Peter Firmin andOliver Postgate) produced several stop motion series with puppets, beginning withPingwings (1961-1965) featuring penguin-like birds knitted by Peter's wife Joan and filmed on their farm (where most of their productions were filmed in an unused barn). It was followed byPogles' Wood (1965-1967),Clangers (1969-1972, 1974, revived in 2015),Bagpuss (1974) andTottie: The Story of a Doll's House (1984).
Czech surrealist filmmakerJan Švankmajer's released his short artistic films since 1964, which usually contain much experimental stop motion. He started to gain much international recognition in the 1980s. Since 1988 he has mostly been directing feature films which feature much more live action than stop motion. These includeAlice, an adaptation ofLewis Carroll'sAlice's Adventures in Wonderland, andFaust, a rendition ofthe legend of the German scholar. Švankmajer's work has been highly influential on other artists, such asTerry Gilliam and the Quay brothers (although the latter claim to have only discovered Švankmajer's films after having developed their own similar style).
French animatorSerge Danot createdThe Magic Roundabout (1965) which played for many years on theBBC.
Polish studioSe-ma-for produced popular TV series with animated puppets in adaptations ofColargol (Barnaby the Bear in the UK,Jeremy in Canada) (1967-1974) andThe Moomins (1977-1982).
In the 1960s and 1970s, independent clay animatorEliot Noyes Jr. refined the technique of "free-form" clay animation with his Oscar-nominated 1965 filmClay (or the Origin of Species). Noyes also used stop motion to animate sand lying on glass for his musical animated filmSandman (1975).
Italian director Francesco Misseri created the clay animation TV seriesMio Mao (1970-1976, 2002–2007),The Red and the Blue (Il Rosso e il Blu, 1976), and a TV series with an animatedorigami duckQuaq Quao (1978-1979).
The British artists Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall (Cosgrove Hall Films) produced two stop-motion animated adaptions ofEnid Blyton'sNoddy book series, including the original series of the same name (1975–1982) andNoddy's Toyland Adventures (1992–2001), a full-length filmThe Wind in the Willows (1983) and later amulti-season TV series, both based onKenneth Grahame'sclassic children's book of the same title. They also produced a documentary of their production techniques,Making Frog and Toad.
In 1975, filmmaker and clay animation experimenterWill Vinton joined with sculptorBob Gardiner to create an experimental film calledClosed Mondays which became the first stop-motion film to win an Oscar. Will Vinton followed with several other successful short film experiments includingThe Great Cognito,The Creation, andRip Van Winkle which were each nominated for Academy Awards. In 1977, Vinton made a documentary about this process and his style of animation which he dubbed "claymation"; he titled the documentaryClaymation. Soon after this documentary, the term was trademarked by Vinton to differentiate his team's work from others who had been, or were beginning to do, "clay animation". While the word has stuck and is often used to describe clay animation and stop motion, it remains a trademark owned currently by Laika Entertainment, Inc. Twenty clay-animation episodes featuring the clownMr. Bill were a feature ofSaturday Night Live, starting from a first appearance in February 1976.
At very much the same time in the UK,Peter Lord andDavid Sproxton formedAardman Animations that would produce many commercials, TV series, short films and eventually also feature films. In 1976 they created the characterMorph who appeared as an animated side-kick to the TV presenterTony Hart on hisBBC TV programmeTake Hart. The five-inch-high presenter was made from a traditional British modelling clay calledPlasticine. In 1977 they started on a series of animated films, again using modelling clay, but this time made for a more adult audience. The soundtrack forDown and Out was recorded in a Salvation Army Hostel and Plasticine puppets were animated to dramatise the dialogue. A second film, also for the BBC followed in 1978. A TV seriesThe Amazing Adventures of Morph was aired in 1980.
Sand-coated puppet animation was used in the Oscar-winning 1977 filmThe Sand Castle, produced by Dutch-Canadian animatorCo Hoedeman. Hoedeman was one of dozens of animators sheltered by theNational Film Board of Canada, a Canadian government film arts agency that had supported animators for decades. A pioneer of refined multiple stop-motion films under the NFB banner wasNorman McLaren, who brought in many other animators to create their own creatively controlled films. Notable among these are thepinscreen animation films of Jacques Drouin, made with the original pinscreen donated byAlexandre Alexeieff and Claire Parker.
Czech filmmakersLubomír Beneš andVladimír Jiránek debuted their animated puppet charactersPat & Mat, two inventive but clumsy neighbors, in the 7-minute shortKuťáci in 1976. Since 1979, over 100 episodes have been broadcast irregularly.[49] Since 2014, new episodes were presented in theatrically released package films. The series became very popular in several countries, especially in The Netherlands, the only country where the characters are voiced.
One of the main British animation teams,John Hardwick and Bob Bura, were the main animators in many early British TV shows, and are famous for their work on theTrumptonshire trilogy (Camberwick Green,Trumpton andChigley). Their company was named Stop Motion Limited,[50] the term having been their trademark until it becamegeneric.[51]
Disney experimented with several stop-motion techniques by hiring independent animator-directorMike Jittlov to make the first stop-motion animation ofMickey Mouse toys ever produced, in a short sequence calledMouse Mania, part of a TV special,Mickey's 50, which commemorated Mickey's 50th anniversary in 1978. Jittlov again produced some impressive multi-technique stop-motion animation a year later for a 1979 Disney special promoting their release of the feature filmThe Black Hole. TitledMajor Effects, Jittlov's work stood out as the best part of the special. Jittlov released his footage the following year to 16mm film collectors as a short film titledThe Wizard of Speed and Time, along with four of his other short multi-technique animated films, most of which eventually evolved into his own feature-length film of the same title. Effectively demonstrating almost all animation techniques, as well as how he produced them, the film was released to theaters in 1987 and to video in 1989.
In the 1970s and 1980s,Industrial Light & Magic often used stop-motion model animation in such films as theoriginalStar Wars trilogy: the holochess sequence inStar Wars, the Tauntauns and AT-AT walkers inThe Empire Strikes Back, and the AT-ST walkers inReturn of the Jedi were all filmed using stop-motion animation, with the latter two films utilisinggo motion: an invention from renowned visual effects veteranPhil Tippett. The many shots including the ghosts inRaiders of the Lost Ark , the Dragon inDragonslayer, and the first two feature films in theRoboCop series use Tippett's go motion.
In the UK, Aardman Animations continued to grow.Channel 4 funded a new series of clay animated films,Conversation Pieces, using recorded soundtracks of real people talking. A further series in 1986, calledLip Sync, premiered the work ofRichard Goleszowski (Ident),Barry Purves (Next), andNick Park (Creature Comforts), as well as further films by Sproxton and Lord.Creature Comforts won the Oscar for Best Animated Short in 1990. In 1986, they also produced a notablemusic video for "Sledgehammer", a song byPeter Gabriel.
In 1980, Marc Paul Chinoy directed the 1st feature-length clay animated film, based on the famousPogo comic strip. TitledI go Pogo. It was aired a few times on American cable channels but has yet to be commercially released. Primarily clay, some characters required armatures, and walk cycles used pre-sculpted hard bases legs.[52]
Stop motion was also used for some shots of the final sequence of the firstTerminator movie, also for the scenes of the small alien ships inSpielberg'sBatteries Not Included in 1987, animated byDavid W. Allen. Allen's stop-motion work can also be seen in such feature films asThe Crater Lake Monster (1977),Q - The Winged Serpent (1982),The Gate (1987) andFreaked (1993). Allen's King KongVolkswagen commercial from the 1970s is now legendary among model animation enthusiasts.
In 1985,Will Vinton and his team released an ambitious feature film in stop motion called "The Adventures Of Mark Twain" based on the life and works of the famous American author. While the film may have been a little sophisticated for young audiences at the time, it got rave reviews from critics and adults in general.[citation needed] Vinton's team also created the Nomes and the Nome King for Disney's "Return to Oz" feature, for which they received an Academy Award Nomination forSpecial Visual Effects. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Will Vinton became very well known for his commercial work as well with stop-motion campaigns includingThe California Raisins andThe Noid.
Jiří Barta released his award-winning fantasy filmThe Pied Piper (1986).
From 1986 to 1991,Churchill Films producedThe Mouse and the Motorcycle,Runaway Ralph, andRalph S. Mouse for ABC television. The shows featured stop-motion characters combined with live action, based on the books of Beverly Cleary. John Clark Matthews was the animation director, with Justin Kohn, Joel Fletcher, and Gail Van Der Merwe providing character animation.[53] The company also produced other films based on children's books.
From 1986 to 2000,over 150 five-minute episodes ofPingu, a Swisschildren'scomedy, were produced by Trickfilmstudio.
Aardman Animations'Nick Park became very successful with his short claymationCreature Comforts in 1989, which hadtalking animals voicingvox pop interviews. Park then used the same format to produce a series of commercials between 1990 and 1992. The commercials have been credited as having introduced a more "caring" way of advertising in the UK.Richard Goleszowski later directed two 13-episodeCreature Comforts TV series (2003, 2005–2006) and a Christmas special (2005). Also in 1989, Park introduced his very popular clay charactersWallace and Gromit inA Grand Day Out. Three more short films and one feature film and many TV adaptions and spin-offs would follow. Among many other awards, Park won theAcademy Award for Best Animated Feature for the feature-length outingWallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Park also worked on theChicken Run movie, which was another film from Aardman Animations.
In 1992,Trey Parker andMatt Stone madeThe Spirit of Christmas, a short cutout animated student film made withconstruction paper. In 1995 they made a second short with the same titled, commissioned as a Christmas greeting byFox Broadcasting Company executiveBrian Graden. The concepts and characters were further developed into the TV hit seriesSouth Park (since 1997). Except for the pilot, all animation has been created on computers in the same style.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), directed byHenry Selick and produced byTim Burton, was one of the more widely released stop-motion features and became the highest grossing stop-motion animated movie of its time, grossing over $50 million domestic. Henry Selick also went on to directJames and the Giant Peach andCoraline, and Tim Burton went on to directCorpse Bride andFrankenweenie.
The stop-motion featureThe Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb was released in 1993.
In November 1998, the first episode ofBob the Builder released on BBC. Bob the Builder was a popular British stop-motion television series created by Keith Chapman & produced and owned byHIT Entertainment.
In 1999, Will Vinton launched the first US prime-time stop-motion television series calledThe PJs, co-created by actor-comedianEddie Murphy. The Emmy-winning sitcom aired on Fox for two seasons, then moved to the WB for an additional season. Vinton launched another series,Gary & Mike, for UPN in 2001.
In 1999,Tsuneo Gōda directed 30-second sketches of the characterDomo. The shorts, animated by stop-motion studio Dwarf, are currently still produced inJapan and have received universal critical acclaim from fans and critics. Gōda also directed the stop-motion movie seriesKomaneko in 2004.
The BBC commissioned thirteen episodes of stop frame animatedSummerton Mill in 2004 as inserts into their flagship pre-school program,Tikkabilla. Created and produced by Pete Bryden and Ed Cookson, the series was then given its own slot on BBC1 and BBC2 and has been broadcast extensively around the world.
Other notable stop-motion feature films released since 2000 includeFantastic Mr. Fox (2009),$9.99 (2009),Anomalisa (2015),Henry Selick'sWendell and Wild (2022) andGuillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022).
In 2003, the pilot film for the seriesCurucuru and Friends, produced by Korean studio Ffango Entertoyment is greenlighted into achildren's animated series in 2004 after an approval with the Gyeonggi Digital Contents Agency. It was aired inKBS1 on November 24, 2006, and won the 13th Korean Animation Awards in 2007 for Best Animation. Ffango Entertoyment also worked withFrontier Works inJapan to produce the 2010 film remake ofCheburashka.[54]
Since 2005,Robot Chicken has mostly utilized stop-motion animation, using custom madeaction figures and other toys as principal characters.
Since 2009,Laika, the stop-motion successor toWill Vinton Studios, has released fivefeature films, which have collectively grossed over $400 million:Coraline (2009),ParaNorman (2012),The Boxtrolls (2014),Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) andMissing Link (2019).
Directors likeTim Burton andWes Anderson are still using stop-motion animation in some of their live action films.[55][56]
In November 2024,Disney releasedMickey & Minnie's Christmas Carols, a series of five stop-motion shorts featuring Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto.
Stop motion has very rarely been shot instereoscopic3D throughout film history. The first 3D stop-motion short wasIn Tune With Tomorrow (also known asMotor Rhythm), made in 1939 by John Norling. The second stereoscopic stop-motion release wasThe Adventures of Sam Space in 1955 by Paul Sprunck. The third and latest stop motion short in stereo 3D wasThe Incredible Invasion of the 20,000 Giant Robots from Outer Space in 2000 by Elmer Kaan[57] and Alexander Lentjes.[58][59] This is also the first ever 3D stereoscopic stop motion and CGI short in the history of film. The first all stop-motion 3D feature isCoraline (2009), based onNeil Gaiman'sbest-selling novel and directed by Henry Selick.Another recent example is theNintendo 3DS video software which comes with the option for Stop Motion videos. This has been released December 8, 2011 as a 3DS system update. Also, the filmParaNorman is in 3D stop motion.
Another more complicated variation on stop motion isgo motion, co-developed byPhil Tippett and first used on the filmsThe Empire Strikes Back (1980),Dragonslayer (1981), and theRoboCop films. Go motion involved programming a computer to move parts of a model slightly during each exposure of each frame of film, combined with traditional hand manipulation of the model in between frames, to produce a more realisticmotion blurring effect. Tippett also used the process extensively in his 1984 short filmPrehistoric Beast, a 10 minutes long sequence depicting a herbivorous dinosaur (Monoclonius), being chased by a carnivorous one (Tyrannosaurus). With new footagePrehistoric Beast becameDinosaur! in 1985, a full-length dinosaurs documentary hosted byChristopher Reeve. Those Phil Tippett's go motion tests acted as motion models for his first photo-realistic use of computers to depict dinosaurs inJurassic Park in 1993. A low-tech, manual version of this blurring technique was originally pioneered byWładysław Starewicz in the silent era, and was used in his feature filmThe Tale of the Fox (1931).
The reasons for using stop motion instead of the more advancedcomputer-generated imagery (CGI) include the appeal of its distinct look and the notion that it accurately displays real-life textures, while CGI texturing can look more artificial and isn't always quite as close to realism.[60][61] This is appreciated by a number of animation directors, such asGuillermo del Toro,[62]Henry Selick,[63]Tim Burton[64] andTravis Knight.[65]
Guillermo del Toro aimed to praise the benefits of stop motion in his moviePinocchio, saying that he wanted "the expressiveness and the material nature of a handmade piece of animation — an artisanal, beautiful exercise in carving, painting, sculpting".[66]
Many young people begin their experiments in movie making with stop motion, thanks to the ease of modern stop-motion software and online video publishing.[67] Many new stop-motion shorts use clay animation into a new form.[68]
Singer-songwriterOren Lavie's music video for the songHer Morning Elegance was posted on YouTube on January 19, 2009. The video, directed by Lavie and Yuval and Merav Nathan, uses stop motion and has achieved great success with over 25.4 million views, also earning a 2010 Grammy Award nomination for "Best Short Form Music Video".
Stop motion has occasionally been used to create the characters forcomputer games, as an alternative to CGI. TheVirgin Interactive EntertainmentMythos gameMagic and Mayhem (1998) featured creatures built by stop-motion specialist Alan Friswell, who made the miniature figures from modelling clay and latex rubber, over armatures of wire and ball-and-socket joints. The models were then animated one frame at a time, and incorporated into the CGI elements of the game through digital photography. "ClayFighter" for theSuper NES andThe Neverhood andHylics 2[69] for thePC are other examples.
Scientists at IBM used ascanning tunneling microscope to single out and move individual atoms which were used to make characters inA Boy and His Atom. This was the tiniest scale stop-motion video made at that time.[70]
Replicating the distinct tactile look of traditional stop motion has gained popularity in contemporary media through the use of CGI. This approach can often provide a more cost-effective and accessible means of achieving the stop motion aesthetic. Noteworthy among such endeavors is the work ofBlender animator Ian Worthington, exemplified by his 2021 short film "Captain Yajima".[71] Another prominent example of this trend includesThe LEGO Movie, which uses CGI to replicate the visual style and imperfections of stop motion.[72]
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