Stopmotion

Ray Harryhausen called it "Dynamation", Rankin-Bass called it "Animagic", Bob Gardiner called it "Sculptimation", Will Vinton called it "Claymation", but it all fits under the umbrella of stop-motion animation! The act of moving a puppet one frame at a time to animate movement is the oldest form of animation, with puppets made of 2-dimensional paper segments that were shifted between frames (think Monty Python). We still see "puppet" animation today in the 2D digital world that modernizes this technique. Often critisized as being lazy, but it can be done right (Centaurworld). They will always miss the charm of classic stop-motion though, the ability to tell that an object is real and physical, and to see every stitch and fingerprint and mistake that tells you this is in real life. It feels magical.

I love all kinds of stopmotion, but the more surreal the better! I'm linking a bunch of my favorite stuff below for you to check out.

Weird Stopmotion

• The Gumby Show (1956)
• Gumby Adventures (1988)
• A Town Called Panic
• Волшебник Изумрудного Города (The Wizard of the Emerald City (TV series, 1974)

Will Vinton

• Nostalgic Showcase Presents: Will Vinton Studios

My Physical Collection

Collection:

• Ray Harryhausen Special Edition Collection (Ray Harryhausen)
• Year Without a Santa Claus (MOM Production)
• Santa Claus is Comin to Town (MOM Production)
• Jack Frost (MOM Production)
• Miser Brother's Christmass (MOM Production)
• Claymation Christmas (Will Vinton)
• Martin the Cobbler (Will Vinton)
• Rip Van Wrinkle (Will Vinton)
• The Adventures of Mark Twain (Will Vinton)
• James and the Giant Peach (Henry Selik)
• The Nightmare Before Christmass (Henry Selik)
• Corpse Bride (Tim Burton)
• Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson)

Wish list:

• Some LAIKA collection to round it out (most likley just the first four)
• Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson)
• Wendell and Wild (Henry Selik)
• The Little Prince (Will Vinton)
• Smokey the Bear (MOM Production)
• More MOM Production films
• Snowden Christmas Special
• Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
• Claydream
• Closed Mondays (Will Vinton)
• Aardman films

Like other forms of animation, stop-motion has a long history of not giving appropriate credit to the artists involved. Whether it's Rankin-Bass not crediting the individuals within the Japanese MOM Productions, Bob Gardiner being overtaken by Will Vinton just to be overtaken by LAIKA, or the whole Tim Burton/Henry Selik misinformation. (Selik directed Nightmare with Burton's art. Burton directed Corpse Bride. Selik directed Coraline.) Stopmotion has a long history of being used in SFX in otherwise live-action movies, and those companies and artists rarely escape the blanket "SFX" label to be honored among the other well-known stopmotion creators.

I also have complaints with LAIKA, and their shift towards a corporate invironment and more CGI. If I cannot see the fingerprints, what is the point of even using stopmotion?