The 40 Best Stop-Motion Animated Movies of All Time
Created by Igor_Brynner.
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This technique has been used since the dawn of cinema to bring objects to life and manufacture magical worlds. Before the days of CGI, it was a primary way to produce special effects, in classics from King Kong, to Jason and the Argonauts, to Star Wars. It’s called stop-motion.
It’s rumored that the legendary cinema pioneer Georges Melies accidentally discovered it when his camera jammed once, and upon restarting it he noticed how everything slightly changed. Soon after, stop-motion films began appearing in Europe. What started as a novelty turned into an art form when artists with unique skill and vision began making their films utilizing it.
Most commonly, it’s associated with puppet, but over the course of cinema development other mediums were used as well-figures made of clay (claymation), puppetoons (ready-made figurines), silhouettes. The final results are often fascinating, but the process is traditionally painstaking.
To make the character move, the filmmaker has to take a picture, adjust the figure, take another, and so on. As there are 24 frames in a second of film, it can take hours to shoot each second. That’s especially true for more advanced works, with multiple characters.
With the advent of CGI, stop-motion is considered passé. But it’s still alive and well, with new interesting works coming out almost every year. Much like each painter has a unique brush stroke, each animator creates a uniquely looking work, as the creation of characters and scenes is literally a hands-on experience here.
This list consists of a variety of films made using stop-motion, and was compiled in order to best illustrate this unique art form.
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Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed
1926 — a.k.a. The Adventures of Prince Achmed, in 13 top lists Check -
2 new
Novyy Gulliver
1935 — a.k.a. The New Gulliver, in 1 top list Check -
3 new
Le roman de Renard
1937 — a.k.a. The Story of the Fox, in 4 top lists Check -
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Alice in Wonderland
1949, in 0 top lists Check -
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Cisaruv slavík
1949 — a.k.a. The Emperor's Nightingale, in 2 top lists Check -
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Inspirace
1949 — a.k.a. Inspiration, in 0 top lists Check -
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Neighbours
1952, in 5 top lists Check -
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Le nez
1963, in 1 top list Check -
9 new
Mad Monster Party?
1967 — a.k.a. Mad Monsters Party?, in 1 top list Check -
10 new
Cheburashka
1971, in 0 top lists Check -
11 new
La planète sauvage
1973 — a.k.a. Fantastic Planet, in 10 top lists Check -
12 new
Le château de sable
1977 — a.k.a. The Sand Castle, in 1 top list Check -
13 new
The Little Prince
1979, in 0 top lists Check -
14 new
Skazka skazok
1979 — a.k.a. The Tale of Tales, in 6 top lists Check -
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The Wind in the Willows
1983, in 0 top lists Check -
16 new
Krysar
1986 — a.k.a. The Pied Piper, in 1 top list Check -
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Dver
1986 — a.k.a. Door, in 0 top lists Check -
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Son
1988 — a.k.a. Dream, in 0 top lists Check -
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Vtoroe YA
1989, in 0 top lists Check -
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Bolshoy podzemnyy bal
1987 — a.k.a. Big Underground Ball, in 0 top lists Check -
21 new
Neco z Alenky
1988 — a.k.a. Alice, in 10 top lists Check -
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Balance
1989, in 1 top list Check -
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Creature Comforts
1989, in 1 top list Check -
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The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb
1993, in 1 top list Check -
25 new
The Nightmare Before Christmas
1993, in 15 top lists Check -
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Rigoletto
1993, in 0 top lists Check -
27 new
In Absentia
2000, in 0 top lists Check -
28 new
Princes et princesses
2000 — a.k.a. Princes and Princesses, in 0 top lists Check -
29 new
Aria
2001, in 0 top lists Check -
30 new
Dog
2001, in 0 top lists Check -
31 new
Shisha no sho
2005 — a.k.a. The Book of the Dead, in 0 top lists Check -
32 new
Blood Tea and Red String
2006, in 1 top list Check -
33 new
Game Over
2006, in 0 top lists Check -
34 new
Madame Tutli-Putli
2007, in 0 top lists Check -
35 new
$9.99
2008, in 0 top lists Check -
36 new
Fantastic Mr. Fox
2009, in 9 top lists Check -
37 new
Mary and Max.
2009 — a.k.a. Mary and Max, in 6 top lists Check -
38 new
Panique au village
2009 — a.k.a. A Town Called Panic, in 2 top lists Check -
39 new
Coraline
2009, in 3 top lists Check -
40 new
Gadkiy utyonok
2010, in 0 top lists Check -
41 new
The Boxtrolls
2014, in 0 top lists Check
Last updated on Feb 19, 2018; source