Summary
Stop-motion is one of the most basic and time-consuming methods of animation. As told by its second name of ‘claymation,’ it’s the process of posing clay models, photographing them, and then stitching all the photographs together to create the illusion of movement.
Stop-motion has been used for animation since the medium’s infancy, with the first known film to use the technique - The Humpty Dumpty Circus - dating back to 1898. It has also been used tobring giant monsters and mechs to lifefor decades, ranging from RoboCop to King Kong. Eventually, CGI took over in the mainstream, but the homegrown charm of stop-motion is undeniable. Here are the films that showcase it best.
10Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Aardman Animations
Released in late 2024, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl reaffirmed Aardman Animations as the king of stop motion. Furthermore, it proved that it is still possible to make a fresh, modern film with timely social commentary even with a technique as old as stop-motion.
Vengeance Most Fowl stars the Aardman mascots in a rivalry against one of their oldest nemeses: Feathers McGraw. When Wallace invents an AI-controlled lawn gnome to help around the house, McGraw sees this as an opportunity to use technology for evil. With a diverse cast and stellar comedic pacing, Vengeance Most Fowl is a refreshingly fun film.
Phil Tippett
Too often, animated movies fall into the trappings of being meant solely for children. We knowanimation can be for adultstoo. Unfortunately, corporate execs never moved past the cartoon mindset, forcing creators to comply for funding.
Like many stop-motion films, what Mad God lacks in budget it makes up for heart. Experimental and ingenious, this film was produced over three decades of labour. The lack of a conventional plot might deny it commercial success, but Mad God is destined to be a cult classic.
8Coraline
Laika
Coraline is one of the rare cases of the film adaptation being better than the book. The story feels like it’s truly brought to life in this movie.
Coraline is a darkly humorous film about a young girl finding out that the reality she wishes for might have too many strings attached to it. It’s a gothic coming-of-age story that is at times terrifying. There are a few changes from the book, all for the better.
7Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
Netflix Animation And Various Production Companies
Directed by Pan’s Labyrinth creator andDeath Stranding supporting actorGuillermo del Toro, this version of Pinocchio is a sweeping stop-motion epic. Its two-hour runtime, long for an animated movie and almost unheard of for stop-motion, is fully justified with the labour of love on display.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is an incredible World War 2-era reimagining of the classic Italian story. The film explores what it means to be human using the titular puppet as its focal point. Being a musical, it also boasts some fantastic vocal performances.
6The Boxtrolls
Formed in 2005, Laika is a relatively new production company. However, the studio’s passion for stop-motion is undeniable. Alongside Coraline, one of Laika’s finest showings is 2014’s The Boxtrolls.
The Boxtrolls is neither as popular or as critically acclaimed as some other stop-motion films. It is, however, undeniably funny and has an exquisitely gothic art direction. Voiced by Ben Kingsley, Archibald Snatcher is one of the most compelling and delightfully hateful antagonists in the realm of stop-motion. Be sure to stick around for the post-credits scene, which shows how much love Laika puts into its filmmaking.
5The Pirates In An Adventure With Scientists
The early 2010s were a strange time for stop-motion animation. Even though there were studios and indie filmmakers working in the medium, CGI films were the decisive money-makers. Feature-length stop-motion films were a gamble that most distribution companies were not interested in.
However, against all odds The Pirates In An Adventure With Scientists came out and, despite modest earnings, didn’t end up abox office bomb. Directed by Aardman’s Peter Lord, the film serves up vast quantities of dry British humour. Its swashbuckling animation is pleasing to the eye. It’s a pity that the film wasn’t more profitable - despite Aardman’s plans, we were denied a sequel.
4Chicken Run
The debt owed by the entire medium of stop-motion animation to Chicken Run cannot be overstated. Released in 2000, this film kept stop-motion relevant for the new millennium. It was Aardman’s first feature, and it was glorious. Chicken Run quickly became, and remains to this day, the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film in history.
The film was produced at a rate of one minute a week, and each minute is packed with clever comedy. Wallace and Gromit may be the mascots, but these chickens trying to escape their poultry farm are the ones who put Aardman on the map for an international audience.
3Fantastic Mr. Fox
Indian Paintbrush
Here’s the deal: this film was based on a book by Roald Dahl, directed by Wes Anderson, and stars the voices of George Clooney and Meryl Streep. It would be very hard tonotmake a good film with so much talent at the helm.
Wes Anderson’s passion for the childhood classic shines through in every frame of Fantastic Mr Fox. Realizing the original book was too short, he combined the story with its first draft to create a feature-length narrative that’s endlessly quotable and funny.
2Corpse Bride
Tim Burton And Laika
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is his most famous animated feature. However, Corpse Bride is the better film. Drenched in a gloom that calls back to the gothic director’s Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride has stunning art design and an earworm-infested soundtrack.
This film is a marvel, doubly so because its voice roles were recorded in isolation. With no immediate feedback to adjust their cadences off of, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter acquit themselves admirably in the recording booth. An essential film forthose with gothic leanings.
1Mary And Max
Adam Elliot
Mary and Max isn’t just the best stop-motion animated film of all time - it’s one of the most beautiful movies ever made. This tale of an unlikely friendship between an Australian girl with a rough upbringing and an American man with Asperger’s syndrome is heartrending and reflective.
Everything about Mary and Max is handled with thoughtfulness and tact: the poignant tale of pen-pals, the lighting of each scene, and the use of silence and music. The use of Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s Perpetuum Mobile is enough to drive you to tears. With online friends being something of a norm for modern audiences, this film hits even harder.
