I love the end credits sequence from Laika’s The Boxtrolls. In it, Mr. Pickles (Richard Ayoade) and Mr. Trout (Nick Frost) hypothesize about the true nature of their existence. Turns out, their trippy theory is pretty spot-on!
The Boxtrolls will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on Jan. 20.
I know that there’s probably a pretty great joke somewhere about stop-motion animators and Anne Frank both spending lots of time cooped up in tiny, dimly lit rooms, but I can’t think of a way to condense all of that down to Twitter size.
Instead, here are the facts: Ari Folman, director of Waltz With Bashir and The Congress, will be making a stop-motion Anne Frank film with the DP of Fantastic Mr Fox. For more details, click here.
The United States Postal Service has issued a set of four stamps featuring characters from the Rankin/Bass classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The limited edition ‘Forever Stamps’ (ironic, no?) are currently available in your local Post Office and at USPS.com.
According to IndieWire.com, Wes Anderson (Fantastic Mr. Fox) recently revealed that his next film may be stop-motion animation. In a Q&A at the Lisbon And Estoril Film Festival, Anderson said that the story would be divided into episodes, inspired by Vittorio De Sica’s The Gold Of Naples. The Gold Of Naples is made up of six short vignettes, the only connecting thread being that they’re all set in Naples.
NBC has announced an hour-long, stop-motion animated special starring the characters from Will Ferrell’s hit holiday film, Elf.
Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas premiers Dec. 16 at 8 p.m. and will feature NINE new songs, including Happy All the Time, A Christmas Song and Nobody Cares About Santa Claus. Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory) will voice Buddy, with Mark Hamill, Ed Asner, Fred Armisen, Gilbert Gottfried, Jay Leno and Kate Micucci also doing voices. The film will be animated by Screen Novelties.
It’s a stop-motion music video…made with yarn…that’s also a tear-jerker.
Created by the amazing Ainslie Henderson.
Related: Kanye West - Animation Aficionado
The wily wizards at DBLG Animation made a stop-motion film using figures created in CG and printed — frame by frame — on a 3D printer.
This begs the question: Is this CG animation, stop-motion animation…or both?
Many thanks to pinball1998 for the tip!
Three months ago, Skunk did a detailed ‘First Look’ post for Jack & The Cuckoo-Clock Heart. It was packed with posters, pics and production info. The only problem? The trailer was in French. Well, the English language trailer has finally arrived. Enjoy, mono-linguists!
The stop-motion films of Laika just seem to be getting better and better. First there was quirky, captivating Coraline. Then the spooky, silly ParaNorman. Now Laika’s dropped a tantalizing trailer for their next pic, The Boxtrolls. I’m really digging the film’s grimy, grotesque, European arthouse aesthetic. It kinda reminds me of a stop-motion City of Lost Children!
The Boxtrolls hits U.S. theaters 9/26.
Jack & the Cuckoo-Clock Heart is Stéphane Berla and Mathias Malzieu’s stop-motion adaptation of Malzieu’s fantasy/romance novel, La Mécanique du Cœur. The story revolves around Jack, a young man born in 1870s Scotland on ‘the coldest day ever.’ Because of the extreme cold, Jack’s heart stops beating. An attending midwife saves him by replacing his heart with a cuckoo-clock, only this has an unintended side effect: Jack must never get angry or excited, or the clock will stop working. As he grows up, Jack realizes that he also cannot risk falling in love, because that too could stop his fragile, clockwork heart. Très tragique! Très Enchanté!
For posters, pics and production info, click through.
