As an early tool for narrative storytelling,stop-motion allowed audiences to suspend their disbelief. Since the pioneering days in the industry, stop-motion has been incorporated in live-action films as well as entire movies being made with clay, paper cut-outs, and other unique methods artists have invented to bring this style of animation to life.
The relationship between a craftsman and the director is ever more present with stop-motion as an entire world is being created from scratch. The immersive nature creates a pathway for audiences to explore worlds of horror, comedy, and hyperreality. Personifying themes to make the medium one of the most intriguing.
10‘Isle of Dogs’ (2018)
Wes Anderson’screative style has become one of the most recognizable aesthetics in film using his style to enhance his narratives.Isle of Dogsis a quirky tale of a dog-born disease that has begun to infect the fictional city of Megasaki, leading the mayor’s twelve-year-old son to go to Trash Island where the dogs are exiled.
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The Japan-based story used real miniature sets and puppets created for the world, though the majority of the film was touched up using VFX.Isle of Dogscreates a world that feels dystopian though not too far off from a reality that could be our own. The best feature is the dogs who are voiced byBryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, andBill Murray.
9‘The Little Prince’ (2015)
The Little Princeis an adaptation that does not follow the traditional narrative but rather an interesting intersection that takes place with normal computer-generated animation following a young girl as she copes with moving. Gaining a meaningful connection with an elderly neighbor takes the protagonist as well as the audience on a venture through the familiar storybased on the novelof the same name.
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The stop-motion sequences take place in the flashbacks of the elderly man, mostly likely the original narrator, The Aviator, voiced byJeff Bridges.The original children’s story is immensely metaphysical dealing with the philosophy of love and loss. Though a daunting task, thecomputer-generated animationhelps provide a framework for which the stories of the Little Prince can come through, providing a world that children are able to escape into.
8‘The Wolf House’ (2018)
The Wolf Houseis anadult-animated horror dramathat uses stop-motion animation to explore elements of surrealism.From the horrifying storiesof a German Nazi that came over to Chile to help other fleeing Nazi war criminals. This stop-motion film is unlike anything before.
The Chilean art film was made in a self-contained workspace, using paint, paper mache, clay molds, and puppets. The darkfantasy takes elements of the Grimm Brothers’Three Little Pigs to create one of the spookiest environments in animation. This one is not for kids but for the fans who want to be taken into the macabre.
7‘Coraline’ (2009)
Coralinecan be considered a gateway into the horror genre and offers a unique look into an eleven-year-old girl, the titular Coraline (Dakota Fanning). Coraline is an extremely relatable character, courageous and naive like the viewers, who explore her new family home. Though she finds what we all wished for, a hidden door leading into a mirage of a seemingly perfect world, she eventually must escape.
In association with Laika studios,Coralinewas the first stop-motion movie to be filmed instereoscopic 3D, meaning they used two images as a means to create more depth and enhanced look. They had to photograph both the right and left sides of the mold before the team was able to create a new sense of realism that opposed the dark and gloomy ambiance of the film.
6‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio’ (2022)
Guillermo del Torohas a knack for creatures - his hit filmPan’s Labyrinthestablished the director’s career in the spooky arts. He has been able to take classic stories and transform them into something that is beautiful, doing so again withPinocchio, which took home the Academy Award for Best Animation Film in 2023.
The film’s style helps to accentuate the darkness of the story. Pinocchio’s father, Geppetto, brings most of the emotional depth as a depressed parent who lost his son; the animation style really accentuates Geppetto’s inner struggles and the melancholy his character feels.
5‘Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit’ (2005)
Stemming from the short films ofNick Park and Aardman Animations,Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbitfollows Wallace, an eccentric inventor, and his silent yet cheeky dog, Gromit. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, two for the shorts and one for the feature.
With a detailed storyboard, the two came alive through set and Plasticine models (much like the clay you used when you were a kid). The film uses the inventions of Wallace and the physical presence of Gromit to showcase what the artists are able to do with the simplest materials leaving audiences in awe thinking about the hard work put into the piece.
4‘Anomalisa’ (2015)
A unique perspective on stop-motion comes from the mind ofCharlie Kauffmanand his co-directorDuke Johnson.Anomalisais a realistic film that takes viewers on a character study of Michael Stone, voiced by Harry Potter actorDavid Thewlis, as the film personifies the mundanity of the human experience.
Only using three voice actors the film heightens the sense of banality and lack of finding a human connection as almost everyone Michael encounters feels the same way. His hollow soul manifests through stop-motion, a medium that is normally used for creating exorbitant worlds. Kaufman instead depicts Michael Stone as a hallowed soul,utilizing stop-motion puppetry in different capacities.
3‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ (1993)
A master of spookiness,Tim Burtondecided to take the daring approach of using stop-motion instead of Disney’s approach used sincetheir renaissance era.
The Nightmare Before Christmastransports anyone watching it into the world of Halloween Town. A dreamy aesthetic takes over for the melancholy of Jack the Skellington, and the liminal world Burton puts you in feels natural. The dialogue is even delivered in a song-like fashion, with the help ofDanny Elfmandoing the singing voice and the soundtrack.
2‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ (2009)
Anderson’s first attempt at stop-motion led the way to the pun-centric world of the animals that live around farms. During the making of the film, Anderson had actors such as Bill Murray andGeorge Clooneyact out what their characters were doing as they recorded the voice-over work.
Like many animal-centric stories, Anderson’s writing comes in handy as the wit of the characters makes them super enjoyable and the simplicity of the story is able to reach children as well as adults. This parallels themes of greediness in life that otherwise could not be expressed.
1‘Fantastic Planet’ (1973)
Fantastic Planetis a French film that feels just as existential as the Nouvelle Vague, while also creeping into the world of action and sci-fi. It follows the relationship between small human-like creatures and their oppressors, a large blue-skinned species, much like the relationship between humans and dogs.
The film used paper cut-outs to create the images, creating still images and slicing them into sections before compositing backgrounds to be made into frame-by-frame stop-motion. The allegory created from the medium lets the themes of human and animal rights come to the surface. Traveling through the compelling world of Ygam becomes frightening though it is tough to look away.
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